Sports
Mepham Boys Basketball Opens 2011-12 Season With Promising Start
The Pirates have won their first two games of the season against Calhoun and Half Hollow Hills East.
The Mepham boys basketball team has already put its struggles from last season behind them. With a 2-0 start to the 2011-12 season after a 56-47 win against Calhoun and a 77-67 win at Half Hollow Hills East, the Pirates are primed for a turnaround year.
Under fourth-year head coach Rich Wojcieski, a senior-oriented group will lead Mepham after just two key players graduated from last year's team.
“I expect the team to work hard and focus on details and I expect them to have a pretty successful season,” Wojcieski said. “They work really well together and they seem to know the court and where each person is going to be.”
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Two key seniors that will look to lead the team on both ends of the floor are third-year varsity players Kyle Wechsler and J.T. Elsasser. Wechsler scored a career-high 35 points in the win over Half Hollow Hills East.
“We are trying to make the playoffs. That is the goal, so we will keep working hard everyday in practice and we should reach it,” Wechsler said. “We have been playing together for awhile, so we have a good chemistry.”
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Along with Wechsler and Elsasser, seniors Matt Morrow, Dan Kaminsky and Kris Waldron will also look to play large roles in the Mepham frontcourt. Kaminsky has scored double-digit points in both games thus far, including a team-high 14 in the win over Calhoun.
Senior Chris Brucato, junior Cam Brennick and sophomore David Gilroy will also provide key minutes coming off of the bench this season.
“I expect to keep winning. We got off to a good start, so we have to keep up the hard work and I think we’ll have a good season,” Elsasser said. “We have a lot of seniors, so we have a lot of experience. We are looking to show the younger kids what varsity is all about.”
Playing out of Conference AA-III, making the playoffs will be a tough, but reachable goal for Mepham. Elmont, the Nassau County Class AA champions from last season, will serve as the main competition, along with Great Neck South, Herricks, and newcomer to the conference, Westbury. Long Beach, Kennedy and Carey round out the conference pool.
Mepham will play one more non-league game at Seaford on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. before getting into league play on Dec. 16 with a road game at Long Beach. For complete schedule information, visit the Nassau Boces Athletics page.
