Swampscott boys hoop gets new look

The Swampscott High boys basketball team will have a new look and a new coach this season.With the graduation of three players, Dan Trentsch, Val Temin and Steven Bowers, the Big Blue lost most of their offense. It will be up to new coach Dave Born to put the puzzle back together.Born, who was an assistant coach at Watertown High for 16 years, took over for Justin Fucile, who stepped down at the end of last season. Born will have a couple of experienced players to build around, including senior Chad Nelson, a center/forward who at 6-5 gives the Big Blue a presence in the paint.?He?s had a strong preseason for us,” Born said.Born is also looking for senior guard Ben Faulkner, who came up from junior varsity late in the season last year, to play a role. Faulkner is a three-sport athlete who Born said has also stood out in the preseason.?He?s very aggressive at both ends of the court,” Born said.Born is still evaluating players for several positions. Among his options are senior John King at either guard spot. The junior class is light with Chris Myette a candidate at forward. Born said Myette provides a strong presence on the boards and on defense.The sophomore class includes Joey Ragusa, a guard who saw some varsity time last year. Other possibilities include Brandon Byrne, a player Born said has a good presence on the boards and is good defensively and manages to come up with loose balls. Byrne will be sidelined for a while, however, due to a broken hand he suffered the other day. Sophomore Joey Mardirosian, who spent most of the season on junior varsity last year, also could see time at guard.Born has a couple of freshmen, Dajour Dunkley and Andre Reeves, who he?s hoping will be contributing down the road.?They?re very athletic,” Born said. “They can handle the ball, they?re good on defense. We have to see how things play out.”Born said there are a lot of things they need to work on at this point.?We try to stress rebounding and communication,” he said. “That?s still an issue with us. We?ll have to get much better with that. We?re trying to play pressure defense, an up-tempo game, but we have a lot of work ahead of us.”Born?s assistant will be his son, Matthew, who was a three-year starter and four-year varsity player at Watertown. He went on to play four years at Endicott College in Beverly and was part of two Commonwealth Coast championships.Born?s junior varsity coach will be Tyler Grillo, a 1,000-point scorer at St. Mary?s who went on to play at Keene State in New Hampshire. Frank Kowalski, who is a principal in the Swampscott schools and the head softball coach, will coach the freshmen.Swampscott will play in the Elmo Benedetto Jamboree at English tonight. The Big Blue face Greater Lowell at 5:25 p.m. They open the season Tuesday at Marblehead.?I?m excited to be part of the Northeastern Conference,” Born said. “It?s a great conference with a lot of tradition.”