School Basketball: Hoopsters take to the court for 2010-11 season

The beginning of a sports season is always exciting, and the boys and girls basketball teams’ first practices last week were no exception. “Just getting back in the gym, it really gets your blood going,” explained JV girls Coach Brian Doelger, a new coach this year, after the girls’ November 18 practice. “For me, it was definitely the best day of the year so far.”

The athletes will be practicing hard over the next few weeks to prepare for their first games in December, and they, along with Coach Doelger and the other coaches, are hoping their enthusiasm along with plenty of hard work will translate into victories for the Indians players.

YOUNG ROSTER FOR BOYS

The boys squad is a much younger team this year, with a huge influx of new players. JV Coach Jay Card, who in 2008 coached junior high basketball, is looking forward to working with the athletes: “This is a bunch of kids that have started with me in junior high, and so I’ve been working with these kids on fundamentals from way back. I expect to pick up where we left off and continue forward.”

“We have a huge set of enthusiastic young players” varsity Coach Mundy said of the 10 freshmen and 5 sophomores on the court during the team’s November 18 practice.

After nine varsity boys graduated this past spring, there are few upperclassmen on the roster: just three juniors and four seniors. Coach Mundy and Coach Card haven’t figured out yet which of the 22 players will play varsity and which will fill out the JV roster.

Whether rookie or veteran, all players will have plenty to work on this season. Coach Mundy is hoping to keep the team in tip-top physical shape: “We’re not going to win games on our height, so we want to be fast.”

He’s stressing defense this season, he said, and is running drills that help the boys improve their shot percentage, a weak point of past Indians teams.

The varsity boys may have a tough season ahead of them: Smithtown Christian, a team the Indians consistently beat in past seasons, isn’t fielding a varsity basketball team this year, and the Southampton squad kept their skills sharp in a summer basketball league.

But in addition to coaches Mundy and Card, the team will benefit from volunteer coach Jim Colligan, who coached basketball in the Carle Place district for over 30 years. This is his second year with the Indians. “He’s a tremendous asset to us,” said Coach Mundy.

The varsity boys open their season at noon on December 11 at McGann-Mercy. JV boys play their first game on December 16 on the Island at 4 p.m. against Ross.

GIRLS HIT THE COURT

Just eight girls took to the court for their  first basketball practice last week – the other nine were gearing up for the state volleyball championships this past weekend and couldn’t risk an injury. But even with just half the team, varsity Coach Peter Miedema was excited about what he saw: “In the few drills that we worked on, from the start until the end, they picked it up and they were able to apply it … It’s always a good feeling when you see the girls’ energy and positivity.”

Coach Miedema is already seeing small improvements, he said at the end of practice. “We started an hour- and-a-half ago, and now we’re better athletes and better basketball players, and that’s all that we can ask for.”

The JV girls will be led by new coach, Brian Doelger, who just last June was voted Suffolk County Coach of the Year. He’ll serve as a “new voice to inspire the kids,” Coach Miedema said.

Last year, he coached basketball at Half Hollow Hills High School. Before that he coached King’s Park High School for one year and at Saint Anthony’s for five. He said he’s excited to be coaching here on the Island.

Coach Miedema didn’t have a projection for how the girls on the whole will perform: “I’m not going to say, ‘We’re going to win this many games.’ The girls are going to go out and be better than they were last year, and that’s all I can ask for.”

The coaches will decide soon who will play on varsity and who will play on JV.

The first girls JV game is at Southampton at 3 p.m. on December 3 and the first varsity game is on Shelter Island at 6:15 p.m. the same day against East Hampton.