North Brunswick Township High School will lean on its experience in its effort to achieve a winning boys’ basketball season.
“We think we return a nice nucleus of kids from a team that did qualify for the state tournament,” coach Ed Breheney said. “Really, our three returning starters from last year are our three co-captains: [senior guard] Jordan Salisbury, [senior guard] Maneet Batra and [senior guard] Avery Claggett.
“Other seniors include Mwanzaa Fitzpatrick, Dan Reardon and Chernoh Barrie. So that’s six seniors that we expect to lead the team. Because of that, we’re optimistic about some things.”
The Raiders finished the 2016-17 season with a 13-13 record, ending the year with a 63-47 loss to Old Bridge High School in the first round of the Central Jersey, Group 4 state sectional tournament.
Breheney believes a renewed focus on defense will make the difference this year.
“We felt that our program over the years really prided themselves on defense,” he said. “There were times last year where we lived up to that standard, and there were times last year where it was not up to our standards defensively. So I think we learned a hard lesson, and our senior class were county champs as freshmen and were county champs as [junior varsity]. So I think last year, they learned the hard lesson that it takes a little bit more defensively to shut these teams down. So, we’re hoping lesson learned. We just have to defend better. ”
North Brunswick plans to spread the ball around.
“We’re confident that we’re going to be able to score,” Breheney said. “We don’t just rely on one person scoring. We have a bunch of guys that can put it in the basket, so we like our balance.”
The three captains want to set the tone this year.
“This year, I expect for us to play hard every game,” Salisbury said. “We’re going to compete in the states. We’re going to compete in the [Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament]. We’re going to be one of the better teams in the area.”
“Obviously, our sight is on getting to a state championship and the GMCs,” Batra said. “We just need to go out there and get it done.”
“We just want to work hard, do well in practice and focus on our defense,” Claggett said. “Our defense was our fault last year, and we’re just trying to get better on that end.”
The players realize what must be accomplished.
“To meet our goals, all we have to do is focus,” Salisbury said. “We just have to go hard every day in practice and stay focus from November all the way to March.”
“[We] definitely need to pay attention more to defense this year,” Batra said. “Last year, we didn’t go as hard on defense as we should have been and didn’t pay attention enough. This year, we’re trying to turn that around. Hopefully, we’ll come out on top if we do.”
“This year, we’re going to do all of that and move the ball better as well,” Claggett said. “If we move the ball around more, it’ll be a lot easier for us to win.”
The Raiders begin their season on the road against Sayreville War Memorial High School on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. North Brunswick’s home opener is on Dec. 21 against John F. Kennedy Memorial High School at 7 p.m.
