The boys basketball team are ready to improve upon their 18-3 season last year are looking to be one of the most entertaining and fast-paced teams in the Hockomock League.
The two senior captains – Justin Grimaldi and Jacob Lok – are the two most experienced players on the team. Justin averaged 15.2 points last season which was good for the second leading scorer on the team. Grimaldi was number 11 in the Hockomock for points scored. Lok brings that gritty defense and toughness that defines the Tigers.
“My goal for us is to have a strong season and win the Hockomock League. I just want us to be a team people can be afraid of,” Grimaldi said.
Head coach Eric MacKinnon is back and has high hopes for their team going into this season. He feels great about this core of athletes.
“I’m excited to work with our team this season. We have a mix of experienced players from last year’s team along with several players who haven’t played varsity basketball yet,” he said.
Grimaldi says it feels good to be a captain and he likes the role of other kids looking up to him because he likes the responsibility of having authority over the other kids.
“It’s good and you have to take control of the team and be able to do things like that.” Grimaldi said.
Coach MacKinnon has some goals for the team this season as they hope to do a lot better than last year. They had a solid year overall but they are looking to improve their game in different parts like fast break and transition and they are just looking to play a lot of hard fought basketball.
“Our goals are always to make the state tournament, win our league, and host at least one home playoff game,” Coach MacKinnon said.
There are a lot of seniors to look forward to this year for the team as they have Lok, Grimaldi, Dylan Pompilus and Zaire Maddox. There is some great leadership to guide these young players in this upcoming season.
“Seniors Jacob Lok and Justin Grimaldi are our captains this year. They were both captains and starters as juniors and are a couple of the most experienced players in the Hockomock League,” MacKinnion said. “Senior Dylan Pompilus has made a big jump this off-season as well.”
Grimaldi feels good about the team as a whole this season and he thinks the whole team’s mindset is to have a positive season and create good opportunities for the new players.
“I feel good, we lost some seniors but we should be pretty good. Our mindset is to just have a good and fun season as a team all together,” he said.
Coach MacKinnon is looking forward to their season because he has high expectations for his team based on last season. He wants to do better and improve in different parts they struggled on.
“Every year you have to find what will work best for the personnel you have and you have to adjust based on what your best players are good at. We will do many of the same things as last year but will also make some adjustments on both sides of the ball.”
