DANVERS — There’s a new brand of basketball this season on Spring Street.
In past seasons, the St. John’s Prep Eagles have carried height, size and physicality on their roster. This season, the Eagles will have to play a bit differently.
“This year we’re a young team again,” coach John Dullea said. “We’ll do a little more up-tempo this year. We’re not as big as some of the St. John’s Prep teams of the past.”
St. John’s finished at 10-10 last season and qualified for the Division 1 North tournament as the No. 15 seed. The Eagles fell to No. 2 Lowell, 66-60, in the opening round.
“We were young,” Dullea said. “This year we’re not as big as we were last year. We were competitive in a lot of games but some of those games that came down to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, we didn’t make the plays we needed to make. We gave Lowell a good game, we lost by six in their place.”
Senior point guard Aidan Callahan returns to guide St. John’s offense.
“Aidan’s very good with the ball in his hands,” Dullea said. “He’s probably too unselfish at times. We look for him to score a little bit more. I guess that’s a good problem to have. He’s a great on-the-ball defender. He’s been with the varsity team since his freshman season so he has a lot of experience. He’s someone we’ll look to as a leader on the team this year.”
Callahan will co-captain the Eagles with senior guard/forward Sean McDonald. Callahan and McDonald carry different leadership styles but, when together, bring the perfect blend to guide St. John’s in the right direction.
“Aidan’s the lead by example guy and Sean’s the vocal leader of the team,” Dullea said. “They’re both very valuable to us.”
Senior guard/forward Matt Duchemin, a 2-sport athlete who won the Division 1 state championship in football last week, also returns.
“Matt’s all over the floor,” Dullea said. “He plays the same way he plays football. He creates things on defense and offense. He’s a tremendous athlete and brings a lot of athleticism to our team.”
In the paint, the Eagles turn to senior center Mason Davis. A 2-sport athlete, Davis helped anchor the football team’s offensive line.
“Mason’s a guy who takes up a lot of space,” Dullea said. “He’s a big, strong kid.”
Dullea has come away impressed with what he’s seen from freshman guard Rollie Castineyra.
“He’s a terrific shooter,” Dullea said. “He’s had a great couple weeks of tryouts. We have junior Luke Poirier’s who’s also looked very well in the first week of tryouts. He’s also a guard. We’re going to be guard-heavy this year. Our two main bigs are Mason and freshman Mike O’Brien, who’s 6’6 and long.”
With the preseason wrapped up, the Eagles are ready to get things started. They open the season Monday night (6:30) with a non-conference game at Austin Prep.
“The team’s looking forward to it,” Dullea said. We have three games this week so we’ll jump right into it. They’re excited.
“I’m very happy with this team. We got behind the 8-ball a bit missing the first two days because of the snow. We’re very pleased. It’s a coachable group. Practices have been great. We have some experience and some inexperience, but it’s a blend that we’ll have to work with. We’re excited with this group.”
