PEABODY — After winning its first tournament game in nearly two decades, the Peabody boys basketball team is looking to crank it up a notch.
Head coach and former St. Mary’s High standout Thad Broughton, now in his 13th season at the helm, said that while the team has always enjoyed success in the regular season, it came up empty when it came to the postseason.
“It has been 19 years since we last won a tournament game. No matter what happened in the regular season, we always lost in the first round, so it was nice to get that first win last year,” Broughton said. “This year, I expect we will be no worse than a repeat of last year or exceeding that win. We have a really nice group of kids who play the right way and always show good sportsmanship like last year’s team, so it’s going to be fun. I know they will play hard and guarantee that it’s going to be a blast this year like it was last year.”
Broughton is looking to senior tri-captains Anthony Forte, Raphael Laurent and John Lucas to lead the way.
“All three captains bring varsity experience with them, but really only Anthony and Raphael had significant minutes,” Broughton said. “We have a lot of newcomers who will be leaning on them for leadership, especially early in the season. Any time you have players with varsity experience, it’s a huge bonus because it can take a while for the young players to get used to the speed and physicality at the varsity level.”
Broughton said the team’s Northeastern Conference All-Stars Forte, an Endicott College basketball commit, and Laurent will share point guard duties. Forte averaged 21 points per game last year, while Laurent averaged a solid 12.
Other returning players Broughton is counting on – who came in off the bench last year – are senior forward Cam Connolly and senior guard Yanni Pappas, who both have one year of varsity under their belts. Junior forward Aneudy Medrano is also back for a second season.
Promising newcomers include junior guard Jariel Tolentino, who Broughton said will be “real solid for us.” Junior forward Jimmy Festa is also expected to contribute.
“They will both help us. Jimmy is just a talented kid and really good athlete and hard worker, who we will count on for rebounding and be a big presence down low,” Broughton said.
While the team lost starters Shea Lynch and Danny Barrett, as well as key bench players Nick O’Hara and Nate Braz, Broughton said the Tanners’ style will be similar to last year – minus the size.
“Without the height and size we had last year, we will definitely be up-tempo and rely on getting up and down the court on the fast break,” Broughton said. “We certainly are a skilled team, but we just don’t have a lot of height. Danny and Shea were our only down-low big guys last year, so we did have to learn to win with small ball and I expect that will be the case again this year.”
Broughton expects that Beverly, Salem, Marblehead and Masconomet are the cream of the NEC crop.
“The league is pretty well spread out, talent-wise, but those teams will all be tough,” he said. “They are all on our side of the division, so we play them twice, which will be a challenge. The teams in the other division may also be good, but we just don’t know, yet, how good.”
Peabody will know right off the bat what it needs to do to be successful as it kicks off the season against the conference iron with the opening game against Masco on Dec. 12, followed by Beverly on Dec. 15.
“We have a couple of tough games right out of the gate, so we should learn a lot from that,” Broughton said. “But our kids are already looking forward to it as both those teams are always good and are well-coached. We have only one scrimmage (against Haverhill), so we can focus more on maximizing our time practicing as a team. Those two games will be a great chance to assess where we are and what we need to work on.”
The Tanners posted a regular season record of 15-5 last year. The No. 44 seed in the MIAA Boys Division 1 tournament, Peabody defeated No. 44 Medford, 67-66, in a preliminary round thriller, only to be eliminated by No. 13 Xaverian in the Round of 32, 59-44.
