LYNN — The 2016-2017 season was a tale of two halves for the Tech boys basketball team. Under the direction of first year coach Stevie Patrick, the Tigers stumbled out of the gate. It took Tech longer than it had hoped to find its rhythm but once it did, the Tigers rumbled.
Tech recovered from its sour start to finish at 7-13, win the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Small Division and clinch a spot in the Division 3 North state tournament. The Tigers fell to Newburyport in the first round, but all in all Patrick looks back on last year with pride.
“We had a rough start but once we started to get going, we were a tough team to beat,” Patrick, a former Tech hoops player himself, said. “If we did get beat, it wasn’t by a lot. The second half of the season showed a lot of improvement but the first half was tough. I don’t think we’ll start off like that this season. The players got great experience winning the CAC and making the state tournament. They know how to win.”
Patrick’s optimistic that Tech can pick up where it left off last winter. The Tigers return a talented core of players that have Patrick’s full confidence.
It starts with a group of three juniors that includes forward Robert Wallace, a CAC All-Star last season, wing Treavun Baldwin and center Qasim Abellard. The Tigers also return senior shooting guard Belmin Berilo and add newcomer Amari Gaston, a junior point guard.
“The junior core is pretty tough,” Patrick said. “I’m very confident with those guys leading because of the experience they gained from last year. Last year was a huge learning experience for our team.”
The Tigers won’t carry a lot of size on their roster this winter but they’ll look to make up for that with their speed. Patrick also expects his team will be stout on the defensive end of the game.
“We’re very fast again,” Patrick said. “We’re probably faster than we were last year. Our defense is in its second year of its press. We’re hoping we can force opponents to make turnovers and capitalize on that. We don’t have a lot size so we’ll have to rely on our speed. That’s our biggest strength.”
On the other hand, Tech will look to improve on ball control this season. The Tigers shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions with turnovers and Patrick recalls that as one of the factors that cost his team a handful of games.
“We lost a lot of games because we hurt ourselves turning the ball over,” Patrick said. “The emphasis this season is ball control. If we can do that, I think we have a very good chance of repeating as CAC champs.”
In addition to cutting down on turnovers, the Tigers will look to avoid the early season slump that haunted them last year.
“We didn’t have a lot of experience and it was my first year as a head coach,” Patrick said. “We didn’t have much varsity experience and that kind of caused that slow start. We have experience this year and players know they can’t start the season that way.”
Tech opened its slate of preseason practices on Monday evening. Although the Tigers have plenty to work on, Patrick’s optimistic with the level of talent his roster carries.
“We have a long way to go but I’m pretty confident that we’re going to get it together,” Patrick said. “The team looks very promising.”
Patrick and the Tigers open their new season on Dec. 12 when they visit Greater Lawrence.
