Season Recap: Hackley Boys Basketball

Hackley's boys basketball team finished its season 13-15. The season ended with a first- round playoff loss to Poly Prep.

While the record may have been a losing one, when you consider the Hornets play in the Ivy League, it's actually an accomplishment to get close to .500 playing the tough competition that the Hornets do.

"We played in a very tough New York City League," Hackley coach Steven Froley said. "We are the only Westchester school in the league. We had some really good moments. We had some games I thought we really should've won but just fell short. But the kids played hard all year and that's what you want from the team."

The biggest win of the season for Hackley was its triumph against Collegiate, the defending two-time New York State Class B Federation Champion.

"We beat Collegiate here on a Friday night (Feb. 5). They won the league for a third straight year and they are going back up to Glens Falls to defend their two-time federation crown," Froley said. "We actually beat them by 19 points (56-37). On any given night, our league is very competitive from top to bottom. If you are not ready to play, any team can beat you."

Froley said having the opportunities to play a team like Collegiate is why he likes coaching in the Ivy League.

"I think it's one of the best leagues around," Froley said. "We get great kids who are very coachable. When we go outside our league and play some of the Catholic and public schools, we do very well."

Leading the Hornets against that tough schedule was senior forward Jon Salandra, who was named to the Ivy League first team.

"Jon was our leading scorer and leading rebounder," Froley said. "Many games he just refused to have the team lose. He just took the team on his shoulders. He had a 40-point game in a game against the King school. He was just one of the top six, seven players in our league."

Earning second-team honors was senior guard Sam Budlong. Budlong was the Hornets best 3-point shooter as he made 53 treys on the season.

Budlong was the Hornets shooting guard last season but moved to point guard this year.

That's because Froley said the Hornets needed someone who could handle the ball at the point and he did just that this winter.

Both Salandra and Budlong were three-year varsity players that will be missed. The two starters from this year's squad that will be returning next year are junior guard Conor McDermott and junior forward Marquis Wilson,

Froley expects big things from this duo next year as they will be expected to lead another wise young squad. Two key players coming up from the JV team are point guard Matthew Goldman and 6-6 eighth-grade center Andrew Wolf.

"We are going to be young because we only have two returning starters but I am looking forward to it," Froley said. "It's a good group of kids. We have some talent and we have some good young kids coming up through the program."