Torrington and Wolcott Tech live in fearsome boys basketball leagues. Terryville, Gilbert, Northwestern and a few others are likely to make the Berkshire League fearsome for the rest of the conference.
Torrington contends with such frenemies as defending champion Crosby, finishing ninth in last year’s final state-wide poll and Wilby, the only team to beat the Bulldogs in the regular season.
Wolcott Tech faces the likes of Capital Prep, Classical Magnet and Kaynor Tech, any or all of which might figure in this year’s poll.
Both teams plan to finish in the middle of their leagues.
Torrington, minus graduated 6’10” center Dave Canny, will use a scrambling team approach led by John McCarthy, the Red Raiders’ only returning starter.
Wolcott Tech has good athletes led by senior Luke Pergola, who needs 350 more points to reach 1,000. Pergola must average 17.5 points a game to hit the mark. He averaged 19.8 points last year, along with nine rebounds a game.
Terryville and Gilbert were the only teams in the Berkshire League that could stay with undefeated Northwestern, playing at warp speed last year.
Terryville lost by seven and 10 points in the regular season. Gilbert lost by 13 twice.
The Highlanders had the best three-guard alignment in the Northwest Corner in John Stevens, Connor Guiheen and Arthur Lefevre. They graduated along All-BL center/forward Mike Jeffko.
Terryville’s Tyler Trillo, who hit the career 1,000-point mark as a junior; Jacob Johnson, another All-BL selection along with Trillo; and Shea Tracy, who joins them in hitting from anywhere on the floor, were second best.
Now they’re first.
If the Kangaroos had a weakness last year, it was under the basket, despite graduated Arthur Trent’s great work.
This year, 6-4 senior Zack Graham has developed and leads “a bunch of guys off the bench,” says Coach Mark Fowler.
“Rebounding is not a one-person responsibility; it’s a team responsibility,” Fowler said. “It’s only a weakness if we allow it to be.”
Gilbert graduated All-Stater Robert Skinner, maybe the best guard of all. Skinner was a crucial factor for the Yellowjackets for four years.
Forward Yoharkey Sarmiento, now a senior, was another key factor. Now he leads the Yellowjackets in a team tradition which often sets the up-tempo pace for the league.
“Sarmiento proved to be a force last year and has improved,” said Gilbert coach Mark Douglass.
Not many teams could survive the graduation of four key players, but Northwestern, one of the biggest schools in the league, not only survives, but quite possibly thrives.
John Lippincott and Teddy Bremer were major forces off the bench and sometime-starters last year.
They’ll lead a group of newcomers who were rampantly successful JVs a year ago. The thread between an undefeated championship team and the next one could become a rope.
Still, Terryville stands out.
“I’ll have to admit, there’s great expectation for our team this year, but there’s quality in the league,” said Terryville’s Coach Fowler. “I think, overall, it’s improved. We have to make sure we’re ready to roll.”
Ready or not, the boys season rolls out tonight.
Area Boys Basketball Players to Watch
Desmond Langs, Torrington
John McCarthy, Torrington
Yoharkey Sarmiento, Gilbert
Chris Pillis, Nonnewaug
John Lippincott, Northwestern
Teddy Bremer, Northwestern
Tyler Trillo, Terryville
Jacob Johnson, Terryville
Shea Tracy, Terryville
Luke Pergola, Wolcott Tech
