New Coach, Same Above-the-Rim Goals

Head Coach: Kyle Black  

2009 Record: 13 – 1 (17 – 4 overall); League Champions  

2010 League: League VI  

Toughest Competition: Amityville, John Glenn                

The varsity boys basketball coach Kyle Black has some unfinished business to attend to. No, not the first-year coach’s drive down the (memory) lane from his playing days as a Phantom. Rather, it’s trying to win one more game than last year’s team, and win a Suffolk County title.            

“I’m very excited to come back here,” said Black, who graduated from Bayport in 2000. “In 2009, it was a big team. The kids I have this year, some of them were contributors. Now is their opportunity to take over the team.”            

Last year’s team finished atop League VI, ultimately losing to Harborfields 69-55 in the Class A finals. Gone from that group are the team’s three top scorers; Miles Prendergast (15.7 ppg), Reid Drzal (12.0 ppg) and Brandon Mincher (9.8 ppg). That team played more of an inside game, with Drzal, Prendergast and junior Gary Farley providing lots of size up front.            

Four players graduated, leaving Black an experienced group that includes 10 returnees, including two starters, Farley and Ross Drzal.  

Bayport Offensively            

“We want to play an up-tempo style,” Black said. That will start with senior point guard Adam Berlin, who came off the bench last year in a shooting guard role. He likes the style of play Black is trying to get his teammates to play.            

“I like to push it up court. We never want to settle it down,” Berlin said. He’ll be joined in the backcourt by Drzal, who echoes his backcourt mate’s excitement about a full-court game. “I love the style. With a lack of size, the running offense works well,” Drzal said.            

Inside, the 6-foot-4 Farley will be joined by football teammate Shane Young, a 6-foot-1 forward. Farley moves to center this year.

“I need to get used to playing more down low,” he said. “Last year, we played a lot more half-court offense. This year, it’s definitely push and press.”  

Bayport Defensively            

An athletic team can overcome a lack of size with pressure defense, which is what Black hopes to get out of his players. “We want to take our opponents out of their comfort level,” he said. “We’ll press full court, play man-to-man, and throw in some zone to mix it up.”            

Seniors Sam Laskowitz and Jake Tese, both 6-foot-4, will add size coming off the bench.              

“We have a new coach, and a new team, but the starting five, we’ve been playing together since the fifth grade,” Farley said. “There’s a good attitude here. Everyone goes as hard as they can.”            

“We’re a run and gun team,” Drzal said. “We can definitely make a run for the [County title] and a league title.”

"It's a very hungry group," Black said.

Hungry for another shot at a county title.