DANVERS — Year in and year out the St. John’s Prep basketball team makes it a priority to compete for a Division 1 state championship at the end of its season. That’s the mentality the Eagles carry with them as the upcoming hoops season looms. But winning a championship is much easier said than done.
Last season, the Eagles finished at 15-5 and earned the No. 5 seed in the Division 1 North bracket. St. John’s ousted Revere in the first round but fell to Lowell in the quarterfinals.
“Our goal is to compete for a Division 1 North title,” Eagles coach John Dullea, in his fifth season, said. “We fell short of that goal last season but we lost a lot of players from the season before. We played a really close game but we lost to Lowell. It was a positive season but we ultimately fell short of our goal.”
The good news is that St. John’s returns a handful of players from last season’s core, and they return to the team with another year of experience.
It starts with seniors Tommy O’Neil, Lynnfield’s Matt Relihan and Nate Hobbs. O’Neil, a forward/center, will captain the Eagles alongside Relihan, a forward. Hobbs, a guard/forward, was St. John’s leading scorer last winter. Also returning is sophomore point guard Jarnel Snow-Guzman, who orchestrated the team’s offense last season as a freshman.
“Those guys got a lot of experience last year,” Dullea said. “Three of them are seniors and Jarnel’s a sophomore but he started for us last year. We have high expectations for ourselves this year. We have a good group of returners this season.”
Experience will be one of the Eagles’ strengths. Most of the team’s returners have played on the court with one another for multiple seasons, meaning they know what Dullea’s expectations are as seasoned veterans.
“I like our experience and our leadership,” Dullea said. “The nucleus of our team has been together for a while now. The guys are familiar with the competition in the conference and our schedule. There shouldn’t be any surprises there. I like our experience and leadership.”
With Snow-Guzman serving as the Eagles’ floor general last winter as a freshman, the point guard was forced to play key minutes at an important role. This time around, Dullea’s hopeful his team will carry more depth at guard.
“Jarnel started as a freshman at the point guard position and was forced to play a ton of minutes because we were thin at that spot,” Dullea said. “We have a couple more guys at that position that’ll push him so I think we’ll have more depth at the guard position. We’re a little bit smaller size-wise but we have more guards so we’ll look to play a little bit of a different style.”
Dullea foresees a tough slate of games when the Eagles soar into their Catholic Conference schedule. Winning the conference, Dullea noted, is one of the goals the Eagles have set for themselves for the upcoming season.
“Every year we go in trying to compete for a conference title and this year’s no different,” Dullea said. “One of our goals is to win the Catholic Conference and that’s never easy. It’s always a battle in our league regardless of what records are. It won’t be easy but it’s definitely one of our goals.”
St. John’s opened its preseason with tryouts earlier this week and Dullea has gained a positive early impression from his squad.
“We demand a lot from the kids,” Dullea said. “We work them hard. It’s never easy going through the first few days with cuts. We’re looking to clean some things up now. The kids are working hard and that’s all we can ask for at this point.”
The Eagles begin the season on Dec. 12 when they host Needham on their new home court.
