Sports

Sports & Recreation

Preseason signs point to much better 2022-23 season for NA boys’ basketball team

Photo by Jason Bernstein

The North Arlington boys basketball team takes a team photo after practice on Saturday, Dec. 3. Standing left to right: Jesse Calfayan, Kyle Villani, Ian Raftery, Daniel Janosek, Vincent Richard, Jaydon Morales. Kneeling left to right: Declan Hughes, Ibrahim Gabr, Justin Bunnell, Adam Gabr.

By Jason Bernstein

jason@theobserver.com

With a new head coach and several first-year varsity players, this preseason represents a clean slate and a fresh beginning for the North Arlington boys’ basketball team.

And while the Vikings have turned the page from the struggles of the past, coach Marcus Jimenez does sometimes need to reference last year’s trying 2-22 record as a reminder of the on-going changes that need to be made.

“Occasionally I’ll bring it up when we’re in practice when players slack off a little bit or lose focus,” said Jimenez. “I just quickly remind them that the better teams, the good teams, the elite teams, this is what they’re doing (in practice). We gotta put in the work in order to get the reward.”

Rewards like an appearance in Bergen County Jamboree, a division title or a home state playoff game might seem distant after winning five or fewer games in each of the past six seasons. But if the preseason is any indication, the depth and the talent to be better in 2022-23 is there, especially as Jimenez has seen this group buy into his top priorities - improving leadership and communication.

“They’re getting out of their comfort zone little by little,” Jimenez said. “I really emphasize communication day in and day out, leadership day in and day out. Those are the two things I’ve been harping on and the players are starting to get it.

“They’ve all been putting in the work, they’ve all been buying in. But when we’re faced with adversity, what’s going to happen and who’s going to provide that leadership. We’re going to be young, but we can’t be dysfunctional.”

Jimenez’s squad has already faced some adversity as it has been without the services of point guard Sean McGeehan, who led the team in assists and steals last season and is working his way back from injury.

With McGeehan out of the lineup, the leading returning scorer from a season ago is junior Vincent Richard, a 5-foot-10 wing, who flashed some potential as an outside shooter last year.

Kyle Villani is another returning player with varsity experience and on a team with little size and no true forwards, at 6-foot-1, he and fellow senior Daniel Janosek (6-foot-2) will likely have to do

Expectations run high for Kearny girls’ basketball team with many players returning

By Jason Bernstein

jason@theobserver.com

There’s been an unfamiliar feeling for Jody Hill as she observes her Kearny girls basketball team practice this preseason. With seven of the top nine scorers from last season’s 17-10 squad back and an unprecedented amount of work put into the offseason, the Kardinals enter the winter with a level of experience and expectation that is higher than its been in a very long time.

“It’s a new feeling for sure because we’re coming into practice and so many of them have been through the program and know the drills, know what we’re trying to instill and we can progress that much quicker,” said Hill, who enters her 25th season as head coach. “I can’t remember the last time that we had as much experience as we have coming in. We’re feeling really great about that.”

Unfortunately for Hill and Kearny, that depth and maturity has already been tested when senior forward and lockdown defender Julia Araujo suffered a season-ending injury during the state soccer tournament, creating a huge void in the lineup.

“There’s really nobody who can replace Julia because she was an elite athlete,” Hill said. “Between her size, her quickness and her mobility, she was probably our best defender on the team and she was a great rebounder who runs the floor. There’s no one person that can replace everything that she did for us and it is a blow to the program. (Fortunately), we do have a lot of great athletes who can help fill that spot as best as we can.”

Even in Araujo’s absence, the Kardinals have the pieces to contend for its first Hudson County title in girls basketball. The biggest reason is in the front court where Ava Hyams (14.6 points, 9.0 rebounds rebounds per game) and Maci Covello (13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game) are back for a fourth year in the starting lineup.

According to Hill, the 5-foot-11 Covello, who recently earned Third Team, All-State honors for soccer by NJ.com, has continued to expand her game in the post, adding to her already intimidating presence in the paint, while also being capable of bringing the ball up the court.

The 5-foot-11 Hyams, who recently committed to play at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, will see more time at forward, but is truly capable of playing any position and taking any role on the court, leading the team in assists, steals, 3-pointers, rebounds and scoring last season.

“The two of them are two of the most special players I have ever coached and have ever seen and have watched grow since their freshman year,” Hill said. “Both are two of the most versatile players that I have coached during my 20-plus years.”

Hyams shift from point guard to more of a point forward is a credit to the development of a trio of Kardinal point guard options.