No Regrets For Pioneers Despite Disappointing End

Last Thursday, as shot after shot clanged off the rim and Bloomfield Tech’s lead widened, it became apparent that the New Providence boys’ varsity basketball team's season would come to an end on its own court, in its own gym and in its own town, but not on its own terms.

The Pioneers shot a frigid 6-for-25 in the second half, allowing No. 8 Bloomfield Tech to turn a six-point deficit into a 15-point win that

The upset loss in the quarterfinals of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 playoffs was the frustrating end to what had been an otherwise successful season for the Pioneers; they had nineteen wins and a share of first place in their conference with two other schools.

New Providence coach Art Cattano, in his 28th season at the helm, pulled out his four seniors with less than a minute left so that they could get one last standing ovation from the home crowd made up of their family, friends and peers. 

The four senior starters, center , forward and guards and , gave Cattano size, speed, athleticism and reliability throughout the season, especially in crunch time. 

While the 6-foot-7 Cole was the star and the pillar, averaging 18 points, almost 10 rebounds and almost five blocks a game, each senior had his moments and took a turn or two as the leading scorer.  

“I think any one of our five starters can be the leading scorer in the game,” Cattano said after an early-season win at Roselle. “It’s just a matter of who steps up that game. We don't [just] rely on [Cole], we don't [just] rely on [guard] Vinny [Fuschetto], it's really any one of those kids that can score." 

As Cattano became choked up when searching for the words to describe Cole’s career, two things were clear: that the coach cared very deeply for his team on a level other than basketball and that he would have provided the same compliments that he did for Cole if asked about any of his departing seniors. He just happened to have been asked about 1,000-point scorer Cole at the time.

“I don’t usually get like this,” Cattano said, his words getting caught in his throat.  “It’s not so much [Cole’s] career, it’s the person he is.  Just can’t say enough about him really.  Tremendous, tremendous person.”

And even though his seniors’ reliability suddenly waned in a game where, as the higher seed and home-court team, they were expected to win, the glass-half-full Cattano chose to reflect on the success of the season instead of worrying about what could have been.

“I thought it was a great year,” he said.  “[We] beat some big schools, we played some good competition; you win 19 games, that’s a good year, a real good year for us.”

After going 11-13 last year, Cattano and the seniors steered the Pioneers to an 8-0 start this season; their first loss was on the road to , a game that they led inside of 10 seconds before a Highlanders’ player nailed a game-tying 3-pointer.

Turnover woes momentarily got the season off track, costing the Pioneers two-straight games and putting them on the brink of losing a third that gave them a one-point victory.

The Pioneers had the No. 11 seed in the UCIAC tournament, and ; New Providence trailed the Rams by 14 points with three minutes left in the third before going on a 26-4 run that took up 10 minutes. 

The Pioneers would advance, but they couldn’t keep the momentum alive in the , losing by 10. 

In the sectional tournament, , and had the advantage for most of the game against Bloomfield Tech before the bottom of the net became elusive; Bloomfield Tech outscored the Pioneers 36-15 in the second half to halt New Providence's campaign permanently.

Still, Cole, who scored in double figures in every game but one, wasn’t talking about regrets or disappointments after the loss; he was focusing on the positives of his experience and the success the Pioneers had enjoyed.

“Definitely the best season [of my high school career],” Cole said.  “I think we had a good group of guys and our chemistry was really clicking, so I think that was the best part of my high school career.”

“I’m definitely going to miss it,” he added. “I’ve been playing with these guys for years, five or six years, so it’s real sad that it’s ending now. But, it’s been a great run.  I’m glad I got the opportunity to play with them all.”