SAUGUS — The Saugus community’s entire basketball family was hit with a tragic loss when Sachems boys basketball coach Mark Bertrand died in a tragic accident early last month. During his time as coach, Bertrand helped plenty of Sachems become the players they are today on the court. Now interim co-head coaches Joe Bertrand and William Cahill will hope to continue that legacy as best they can during this shortened season.
“Overall, we’re just hoping to have a positive season and make it the best experience we can for the kids,” Joe Bertrand, one of Mark’s three sons, said.
Both Bertrand and Cahill are familiar faces to the program, each serving as assistant coaches in the past. That familiarity should help the Sachems get through an already tough season that was only able to start just last week after tryouts were delayed until Jan. 8.
So far, the Sachems have approached the season with a good attitude and are ready to get back to work.
“We’ve only had four practices so far but it’s been going good,” Bertrand said. “We’re working hard and like I said, we’re staying positive about it. We’re doing the best we can right now.
“The team has been great,” Bertrand said. “They all come in every day motivated and ready to play ball. They’re all happy to be out there and they’re doing a good job listening to me and (Cahill).”
Plenty of familiar faces are returning to the Sachems on the court, which should make for a well-rounded, experienced roster this season.
That starts with senior guard Myles Manalaysay, a Northeastern Conference South All-Star last season, and senior forwards Mason Nickolas and Kyle McLaughlin. Also contributing will be experienced guards Donovan Clark, Ryan Mabee and Ben Tapia-Gately, who joined the varsity squad later in the season last year.
Saugus will need all of them to step up after graduating captains Christian Correia and Michael Bertrand from last year’s team.
“We haven’t even decided on captains yet,” Bertrand said. “We’ve had a lot to think about in a short time with everything. We have a lot of capable guys but we aren’t planning on making that decision right now.”
With just a handful of practices under their belts so far, the Sachems’ opener is right around the corner. Saugus opens the season Tuesday at Danvers (4).
Overall, Bertrand and Cahill are both hoping for another solid season and to break in Saugus new facilities on the right note.
“Just like any other year, we want to have success again,” Bertrand said. “We want to be at .500 or better and I really think we have the capability of doing that this season.
“Another goal of ours is that we want to win all of our home games,” Bertrand said. “We have a brand new gym in Saugus and we want to take advantage of it. We just want to come ready and prepare for the atmosphere with limited fans and take advantage of the opportunities we have.”
