LYNN — Last year may have been the KIPP Academy boys basketball team’s first season competing the MIAA, but you wouldn’t have noticed it watching the Panthers on the court.
Coach Dave White and the Panthers hit the ground running, advancing to the Division 4 North final before falling to Pope John. KIPP finished the season at 17-6.
“Ofcourse, we’ve had some success in the last couple of years since I’ve been there,” White said. “We’ve built a winning culture.”
And the Panthers are hoping it’s just been the beginning of a lot more coming this season.
“We’ve had a fairly inexperienced young group the last few years and we’ve still been able to succeed,” White said. “Now we have some older guys who have that playoff experience and that’s key for us.”
This year’s Panthers team returns two of last season’s top three scorers in guards Winfred Sanchez and Andrew Puati. Ricky Maestre also returns to play a key role and forward Dave Filias will be the big force for the Panthers in the middle.
White believes discipline will be a big strength for this year’s Panthers team.
“There’s no doubt we lost a lot of talent from last year, but we also lost a few headaches too,” White said. “This group we have now is going to be a lot tighter and disciplined. As long as we can stay together we should be successful.”
For KIPP, everything starts on the defensive end.
“We have to be ready to defend,” White said. “It’s not even just defending either, we have to want to defend. It’s a mentality for this team, we have to grind it out and work hard to stop teams all game.
“I’m a defensive-minded coach so it starts there. On the other side we just to take care of the basketball and shoot the ball well offensively.”
Every team in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Small will be looking to knock off KIPP this season. The Panthers aren’t planning on looking past anyone this season but they also have some games against CAC Large teams circled on the calendar as well.
“I think we’re going to be the team to beat in our league as far as the Small half,” White said. “We also play a few teams in the big including Greater Lowell and Lowell Catholic. I expect to compete every game and we’re really expecting to win the division this year.”
And the Panthers have bigger goals on their minds as well, hoping to make another run in the Division 4 North and beyond.
“Our expectation is to get right back to our championship mentality,” White said. “We want to get into the tournament and chase another state championship. That’s always going to be the goal for this team.”
KIPP tips off the season next Friday (5:30) on the road against conference foe Presentation of Mary Academy. White will be looking for his team to start the season with the right energy from the very beginning.
“As far as starting the season some things I’ll be looking for right away are a lot of mental toughness and hard work right from the jump,” said White.
