By Dylan Butler
For Van Buren boys’ basketball coach Perry Dortch, the luxury is over. Gone are the easy days of running a team with Josh Puello at the point. With Puello at Sage Community College and Darryl France, another leader on a VeeBees team that went 20-5 and lost to DeWitt Clinton in the playoffs, at CCNY, Dortch’s job just got a lot tougher.
“We’re living with a lot of mistakes. Hopefully we’ll be able to get better as the season goes on,” Dortch said. “But we look a bit rag-tag in the beginning.”
In addition to having to adjust to life without Puello, Dortch has to get used to a new division, as the VeeBees were moved to Queens III-A because of its geographic closeness to the division’s other teams, August Martin, Springfield Gardens, Campus Magnet, John Adams, Beach Channel and Far Rockaway.
Dortch said he is impressed with sophomore William Egwu, a muscular 6-foot-5 forward in the “Ryan Williams mold, who can jump to the moon, but just needs a little tender loving care from coach Dortch,” Dortch said.
Also back are Jerome Burnett, Ian Hastings and Melvin Jackson. If senior DeShawn Newtown remains academically eligible, he should help a young VeeBees backcourt.
Campus Magnet head coach Chuck Granby usually sees two different Bulldogs teams during the season. The first team is the inexperienced group without an identity and the second is a more chiseled version ready to make a playoff run. The turning point this season, as in seasons prior, should be Magnet’s annual Christmas road trip. This season the Bulldogs will bus down with Jamaica to play in a tournament in Virginia.
“The kids seem to get better after the Christmas trip,” Granby said. “Right now I have about eight kids who will play. Out of those eight, we will eventually get the starting team.”
Devon Ray, Elvis Balone and George Reid were among the seven players who graduated from last year’s 19-5 team that lost to Cardozo in the playoffs.
One player who will surely be in the starting rotation is senior forward/center Andrew Gordon, a 6-foot-5 wide-body whose play will be integral to the Bulldogs’ success this season.
Other standouts for Magnet, favorite to win the Queens III-A title, are Haron Hargrave, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, 6-foot-2 senior Mark Arrington, 6-foot-4 sophomore Thomas Johnson and 6-foot-6 Kevin Casey, who Granby hopes will become academically eligible in January.
For Springfield Gardens coach Mike Aiken, the key to his team’s success is academic.
“If we keep the kids eligible, we should be good,” he said. “It’s a major worry.”
The other key for a young Golden Eagles squad that went 7-15 last year is the ability of 6-foot-5 senior Adrian Uter and 6-foot-2 senior shooting guard Jason Wiles — the only two full-time returning starters — to provide leadership.
Other key returnees for Springfield Gardens are 6-foot-3 senior power forward Milton Melvin, who started near the end of last year, and senior point guard Leonard Walker, a part-time starter last season. Sophomore Pernell Hutchinson, who will back up Wiles at the point, is up from the junior varsity team, as is 6-foot-1 junior Deion Harry.
Coached by James Kearney, August Martin, should be much improved from last year’s 4-12 squad while John Adams, 18-9 last year in the ‘B’ division, Beach Channel, 8-8 last season, and Far Rockaway, 7-15 last year, round out the division.
In addition to missing the majority of a team that went 19-5 and lost to Lincoln in the playoffs last year, Hillcrest is without Ken Gershon, who called it a career last year after 30 years at the helm.
Taking over the reigns will be Craig Fagan, the track and field coach at the school for 13 years. Fagan has no returning seniors on the team this year, but the Hawks, who are in Queens II-A, have been competitive in its opening four non-league games of the year, compiling a 1-3 mark.
“We’re an undersized team and we’re going to try and make up for it by being quick and smart,” Fagan said. “We should be a good shooting team.”
Nicholas Jones, a versatile 6-foot-1 sophomore, has been the team’s top scorer early off the bench. Amrinder Singh, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, and Sheldon Lacroix, a 6-foot-2 senior center who has scored 12 points per game early this season, are the team’s other two standouts.
Jamaica head coach DeWitt Thompson has been fortunate to have a long line of quality point guard play for him, including former Seton Hall standout Levell Sanders, Javar Cheatham, Cheyne Gadson, Dave Brown and Orlando Biggers.
For a second straight year though, the Beavers are without a quality floor general and now, without 6-foot-7 junior Darryl Eilam, who is academically ineligible, also misses a go-to player.
William Brown, a 6-foot-3 senior, is the captain this year and Thompson calls 6-foot-4 Tendai Makarichi his “sleeper from Zimbabwe.” But Jamaica, which finished 13-9 last year, misses that killer instinct this season.
“They’re all great kids, but in games they either become nervous or forgetful of assignments,” Thompson said. “There is talent there. It’s just a matter of if they ever get their act together collectively.”
Edison also has a new face on its bench as Floyd Bank, who had only three losing seasons in 45 years of coaching, left to take an assistant coaching job at Division II New York Tech.
Guy Venezia is the new coach and the Inventors, who were 6-11 last season, are a senior-laden squad led by 5-foot-10 guard Chris Aguirre, 6-foot-3 forward Emile Talbot, 6-foot-3 center Kory Holland and 6-foot-1 guard Myron Wilson. Troy Bass, a 5-foot-10 guard, rounds out the starting five.
“We’re an athletic team with some speed,” Venezia said. “If we defend well, we’ll compete for a playoff spot.”
The favorite in Queens II-A should once again be Cardozo, which are coming off a 20-7 record last year.
Ron Naclerio once again assembled what should be the most talented team in Queens this year, but with the exception of 6-foot-4 senior Danny Philips, the Judges will be very young this year.
The potential, Naclerio said, is there, but the Judges, who were 20-7 last year, may still be year away from competing for the PSAL championship.
John Forbes (5-foot-10) and Duane Johnson (5-foot-8) each gained valuable experience last year as freshman guards playing behind all-city point guard Daryl Hill.
Cameron Tyler, a 5-foot-11 guard who transferred from Catholic powerhouse Rice midway through last year, should be one of the top juniors in the city.
“He goes to the basket like [former Seton Hall standout Shaheen] Holloway,” Naclerio said. “His jump shot is impressive, but his consistent basketball IQ has to get better.”
Skyler Khaleel is a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward who reminds Naclerio a bit of former Cardozo standout Ryan Williams, and Vic Morris, a 5-foot-10 freshman guard, could be the best of them all.
“He will be able to score more easily as a ninth grader than Daryl and Rafer,” Naclerio said, referring to Hill and playground legend and current Milwaukee Bucks backup point guard Rafer Alston. “He’s in that category. As a junior, Vic should be averaging 30 points per game. He’s that good.”
Coached by Joe Capuana and featuring the dangerous 1-2 punch of Lance Hazel and C.J. Okogeri, Bayside should be much improved after the Commodores were 9-11 last season and missed the playoffs by one game.
Back from a knee injury the 6-foot Hazel, who had 16 points, six assists, six rebounds and six steals in an early season win over Bryant, is one of the best kept secrets in Queens, according to Capuana.
“He’s kind of underrated and I think he’s been overlooked which has been a big motivating factor,” said Capuana of Hazel, who also has an 88 grade point average. “He’s definitely a division I basketball player.”
Francis Lewis, 12-11 last year, John Bowne, 15-10 in the ‘B’ division and Townsend Harris, 20-5 in the ‘B’ division, round out the division.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
