MARBLEHEAD — The boys basketball team’s magical – pun intended – run to the Elite Eight during the 22-23 season has the Marblehead community fired up for the start of a new season.
But just like other high schools, the start of a new season means the loss of graduated players and plenty of new faces taking the court.
Same goes for the Magicians.
They were led by the stellar play of Tyrone Countrymon a winter ago, who scored 15 points per game and dished out seven assists.
The graduating class also included Isaiah Makor and Miles O’Neill, both of whom averaged double-digit rebounds per game. Head coach Mike Giardi says the loss of production will be “really challenging for us.”
“Those guys really had an influence and an impact on our team,” Giardi said. “So, you start to worry where you’re going to find the guys to pick up the slack.”
But for Giardi, graduating a big senior class isn’t always a bad thing, as it allows for other members to step up and make a name for themselves on the court.
“We have some kids that are really hungry because we had so many seniors last year,” Giardi said. “We are carrying a big varsity squad because we’re going to give guys an opportunity to show themselves.”
The bar is set high for the Magicians after what Giardi and company accomplished a season ago. The three-sport coach (baseball, football assistant) believes his team’s versatility will pose a severe challenge to any opposition.
“I think we have a lot of players that can do a lot of different things, playing inside and outside, which is huge for us,” he said. “We have a lot of depth, which we haven’t necessarily used before.”
The new-look Magicians will be led by returning starter Nick Lemmond, as well as Scott Campbell, who Giardi hopes will keep developing after contributing “significant minutes” during last year’s state tournament run.
Marblehead will open its season at home against Beverly on Tuesday, to which Giardi is expecting fierce competition.
“[Beverly] presents a ton of challenges. They play super hard, really aggressive basketball,” he said. “You have to play a full 32 minutes of basketball and be ready to go. It’s going to be challenging – no matter who we face – but especially opening up against one of the top teams in the league.”
And staying locked in for all four quarters is exactly what his team will be working on ahead of Tuesday’s game.
“We have to make sure that we’re going to play hard for 32 minutes, communicate for 32 minutes, and really challenge our opponents for 32 minutes, and that’s going to be the big thing for us,” he said.
When asked about long-term goals, Giardi is looking to make the state tournament, but also, to take things one game at a time.
“We want to get to the state tournament, and then you start working towards different goals once you get there,” Giardi said. “Our focus is really the Beverly game… you want to make sure you give them every opportunity to be successful, and that’s going to be the challenge for us over the next few days of practice.”
