Local boys’ basketball teams counting on strong leaders

By: Sean Moylan
   Herman Johnson is a deep and thoughtful man who has always loved coaching the Northern Burlington County Regional High School boys’ varsity basketball team. And only his family knows how hard he works on making the Greyhounds the best young men and basketball players they can be.
   Recently he has noticed that the general climate surrounding coaching youth sports has changed. He draws no conclusions on the overall matter, but he does talk and write about his observations. He calls his thoughts on the past season "an awakening."
   "Things have really changed over my 14 years in coaching," Johnson noted. "When I first started it was simply about coaching the kids. Now it’s about so much more. You have to deal with more things. I think the parents today are making things a lot tougher on the kids. They’re real passionate today. You can see it all the way down to Rec and travel ball and as early as the first grade.
   "I was at a Rec Game in Trenton several weeks ago and the league director had to walk over to the stands and address the parents two minutes before the half. Then the coaches came out at half time and asked the parents to calm down. That’s when it really hit me. It made me look inward. It made me wonder about the future of (youth sports) and the people who coach it," noted Johnson.
   The Greyhounds’ season was a bittersweet one. They started off slow, at least record-wise, but they began to reach their potential late in the season. And yet Johnson had a higher regard for this group, as human beings, than any he has ever coached.
   "Overall, it was a satisfying year for me. I wish we could have won more games, but we played well most of the season. We started coming together around the middle of the season and really played well down the stretch. Guys really started to understand and play their roles, basketball was fun again, we started to win games," said Johnson.
   "Collectively, I thought all the kids in our program made tremendous progress. Our Middle School program lost in the championship game and there are some very good players at that level. Our freshman program, under the direction of Matt Lagru, was very competitive and won games. And our J.V. program did the same under the direction of Ray Zurelli. We had two freshman that we brought up to J.V. and they started every game."
   On the varsity level, the emergence of Anthony Malvaso (14.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) was special.
   "He’s such a competitor," Johnson noted. "He logged heavy minutes and never stopped fighting. It would be nice to have him another season but he’ll be playing college ball for someone next season."
   Ryan Gauze (12.0 ppg) solidified himself as a potent offensive weapon this year, especially from the three point arch. He improved his ball handling and all-around game and should have a good college career.
   Zak Sotomayor (7.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) made as good of progress as anyone. He transformed himself into a tremendous athlete by simply working hard and believing in himself. He played the best basketball of his career down the stretch and capped off his career with several highlight dunks and solid games. He too, should have a good college career.
   Marc Lang (3.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg) was a valuable contributor in many ways. Whether starting, coming off the bench or playing several positions, he was a key component for Northern Burlington.
   One of the team leaders, Marc served as a team captain this year along with Sotomayor, Malvaso and Joe Washington Jr.
   Paul Urbish (3.5 ppg, 3.0 apg) was a versatile back court player this season. He played some of his best ball down the stretch, showed leadership and his teammates really responded when he played well.
   "I thought when Paul let the game come to him he was as good as anyone in uniform this year," Johnson said. "He, too, should have a good college career after he leaves Northern.
   "As for next season, I like what we have returning. Joe Washington Jr. will be a junior. He played significant minutes the second half of the season. In fact, he started about six of the last eight games. Derrick Brown (6’4") has a world of ability and should come into his own. He’ll be a senior next year.
   "Transfer Adeshina Adeyemo (6’3") has shown great promise. He is athletic, he can score and he can play defense. He will be a major factor for us next season.
   "Point guard Chrystopher Sims and Dantaye McCoy should give the Greyhounds a good 1-2 punch next year. They both can play and are good ball handlers. Both picked up valuable experience on the varsity this season and should be major contributors to next year’s team. A lot will depend on what they do this summer. All returning players need to get stronger and play better. The program is in good hands with our returning players."
   Johnson will yell out instructions and he’ll get in a player’s face if that player is not giving 100 percent. But he cares about his players and he’s a very good basketball coach.
   "My future remains uncertain. I want to step back a minute and take a deep breath. People that know me know that I have a lot on my plate. You have to have a thick skin to coach in today’s environment. I know I can (coach) however, my style is not for everyone. I will continue (to work with) the young guys (spring and summer leagues) because basketball is a year-round sport," said Johnson. "At some point, I’ll sit down with Chris Haines (NBC’s AD) and Dr. Suruda and see where we’re at. I honestly don’t know, we’ll see what happens. Either way, I’ll stay committed to the kids and this community in some capacity."
   LCA

   Because Wilson Arroyo is constantly looking for good basketball players with a strong Christian background, the Life Center Academy boys’ varsity basketball team often includes several seniors. And often those seniors only get in one season at the Florence-based school.
   But this year was far different. Michal Lesicky, a 6 foot 8 inch forward, and Peter "Pepe" Simek, a 6 foot 8 inch center/power forward, were the only 12th graders on the team. Moreover, Simek, Lesicky and Peter Dorazil, a junior 6 foot 7 inch forward, who all hail from Slovakia, were the only Life Center Academy players born outside of the USA. Usually about half the team will come from overseas, but recently LCA has made a concerted effort to find players in the tri-state area as well as in foreign countries. The result is the Warriors had a very young but very good team this season.
   Moreover, LCA head coach Billy Rhoades believes that Lesicky, who missed some games with injuries this season, and Simek are ready to play basketball at the next level. Or at the very least, they can play as post grads at prep schools.
   Dylan Talley, a sophomore guard from Camden, started off the year as one of LCA’s top scorers. But as the year progressed he developed all aspects of his game to become a more valuable player than ever.
   Freshman Chris Thompson, LCA’s only hometown player, excelled at the point guard position.
   "Chris Thompson had a great year. He was one of the best players on our team," said Rhoades.
   Sam Obetoh, a junior guard from Harlem, New York, turned into one of LCA’s primary scorers during the season. Meanwhile Dorazil also exhibited tremendous improvement.
   "Dorazil played great basketball the last two weeks of the season," Rhoades noted.
   R.J. Samuels, a junior guard from Trenton, was the Warriors’ sparkplug.
   "I wish I had five of him (Samuels) on my team. He plays with heart and he does the little things," said Rhoades. "He our first kid off the bench and our kids love him."
   Willingboro’s Khalil Murphy, a sophomore guard, also had a stellar season. Others who saw playing time for LCA this past season were Dominique Youmans, a sophomore guard from Willingboro, Jonathan Perry, a junior guard from Westampton, Anthony Clayburn, a junior guard from Burlington County, and Joe Sweat, a junior guard from Trenton.
   Rhoades was assisted by John Ramsey, Stephen Perry, Chip Mitchell and Anthony Clayburn. And, as always, Arroyo was the Director of Basketball Operations. The team chaplain was Earl Dewson and Austin Spadaro and Chloe Bercaw were the team managers.
   While LCA finished the season 24-15, Rhoades thought there were only a handful of games his team lost that it should have won (the Trenton and Burlington City games top that list). It played one of the toughest schedules in all of New Jersey and still finished 9 games over .500 after a slow start.
   Later this spring, LCA will open its new gym. Therefore, next season it will be able to host huge events. In these days of fly-by-night prep schools that are there one day and gone the next, LCA has built itself a strong foundation and it should excel for years to come.
   FLORENCE

   "It was tough and fun at the same time," said Cesar Pereda, who was asked to step in and take over for a living legend Art Bobik as the Florence Towship Memorial High School boys’ varsity basketball coach this season.
   After a rough first few games, Pereda, taking the advice of a his former coaching partner at Burlington Township, Jay Flannagan, started to having fun and doing things his way as a coach. Using Bobik’s timeless basic basketball philosophies combined with some extraordinary ideas of his own, Pereda’s began forging his own, original, successful style and the Flashes began winning and winning.
   While some nagging injuries and a beefed up scheduled slowed them down at the end of the regular season, Florence creamed Bound Brook in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group I playoffs before losing a second round heartbreaker to Academy Charter and finish the year at 13-10.
   All along the man in the middle for Florence was Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins, a 6 foot 5 inch senior, scored 13 points and grabbed nearly 9 boards a game. He also played sensational defense and earned a spot as a Freedom Division First Team All-Star. Jenkins will play in a senior All-Star game on March 20th at Burlington City.
   Brandin Youngblood, a shooting guard-small forward, also was chosen as a Freedom First-Teamer. A pure scorer with other skills to complement his game, Youngblood led the Flashes in scoring with 14 points a game.
   Florence’s Second Team All-Stars are juniors Quentin Loftin and Stevie "The Wonder" Giambrone. Both are guards who averaged roughly 9 points a game.
   Loftin, a point guard, is an extremely talented passer with quick hands, which have produced several steals on defense.
   Giambrone is simply a great outside shooter with an uncanny ability to hit big shots. He was Florence’s top 3-point bomber as the Flashes recorded 97 threes as a team.
   Florence wins because of great defense. And senior power forward Marcus Curry really helped on defense while scoring over 4 points a game. Senior guard Chris Foehr, who played much of the season with a brace, guard-forward Ernest Curry and junior guard Chris Salaga also did well.
   Next year, Pereda, who is assisted by Steve Borata, will have everyone back except for Jenkins and Foehr. Jenkins will be the biggest loss because everyone depends on him as a go-to guy who can score even while being double-teamed. But this past year Florence lost superstar Abree "Mr. Defense" Jones from last year’s lineup and it did just fine. So they’ll find a way next season.
   Pereda knows that nothing less than winning is expected at Florence and he has accepted that fact and challenge and is in it for the long haul. No disciple of Art Bobik would have it any other way.