Season Preview: Boys’ Basketball With Promising Youth

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Photo courtesy of iBerkshires

With the basketball season up and running again, the boys’ team is ready for competition. Head Coach Bob Thistle is excited about the upcoming season: “we’ve got a great group of kids. Certainly think the county maybe feels like we’re down a little bit ‘cause we graduated some great players, but these kids who we have now are hungry to prove themselves… so I’m excited.”

The team’s five graduated seniors include Sean McCormick, Sam Dils, and Brady Foehl, some of the best players on last year’s team. The group is on the younger side now, but junior Mitchell Jezouit is not worried: “I’m really excited for the season. It might not seem like we have many guys coming back, but this is for sure a good team and I think we’ll definitely have a fun time.”

The team has two brand new captains to lead: senior Evan Sheridan and junior Toby Foehl. Foehl, in particular, is someone to look out for, according to Thistle, who noted that he “has had a great career here so far. He has about 500 points in two seasons, he’s been a very established and clutch player for us for a couple years.” He added that he is also excited for new players to get a chance to be noticed. “I think the great part about a new season is that, and I feel this way as a teacher and a coach, you’re always surprised, so I think that there’s a number of people who could step up for us. There are a number of guys who are probably under the radar right now… in 5 or 10 or 15 games I think there’ll be some surprises along the way.”

Last year, the team had a winning record of 15-7. There are people in the county who believe that, with the loss of players and experience, the team is much less likely to reach that point. However, Mitchell Jezouit is confident in the team: “I think people look over us, but I think what matters is what we have in here.” Freshman Derrick Paris added that “we are definitely younger, but I think we can show everyone how good we are.”

The team’s opening game is Tuesday at 7:00 in the Greylock gym against Greenfield.