Looking to improve upon last year’s 5-14 record, Shepherd Hill appointed 24-year-old Mike Byrnes as the Rams' new basketball coach last spring, and his go-go style has the Hill headed to the Clark and Central Mass. tournaments.
The Rams are 11-5 headed into tonight’s home game against Nashoba, and Byrnes likes what he sees of his squad to this point.
“It’s been a real nice turnaround, the kids have all bought in, and the seniors have been very good leaders,” Byrnes said. “We had some early success, and it just kind of rolled from there.”
Drawing from his experience as a player at Northbridge High, where he graduated in 2012, as well as his role as an assistant coach at WPI under Chris Bartlett for several years, Byrnes has his squad on the move.
“We’re playing a very up-tempo, past-paced style,” he said. “We press a lot, we play a lot of zone, and offensively, we’re pushing the ball, trying to advance it.”
“Our goal is to try to get more field goal opportunities than our opponent, so we want to force more turnovers, outrebound them and want more and more possessions,” he added. “We feel that gives us a better opportunity to win.”
The Rams are led by a high-scoring quartet averaging in double figures, seniors Jason O’Reagan (15.4 ppg), Kenny Flynn (14.4 ppg) and Daniel Cavic (11.7 ppg), and junior Cody Adams (17 ppg).
“Those four have been doing a good job scoring, and they love playing this way,” Byrnes noted. “Getting up and down is our style, and it really fits us. It’s given us an identity, and we hope to keep playing this way.”
Juniors Chris Nellis and David Bilis, and senior Aiden Bishop have alternated as fifth starter.
“It all depends on the matchup and who’s playing well for us,” the coach said. “Even the guys who are not getting a lot of playing time this year, we’re hoping for big things out of them for next year.”
Seniors Colin Bussiere and Ben Eberhart, and juniors Eric Lehmann, Ravi Patel and Jack Rynne also see their share of playing time.
“We want this up-tempo style, and we want it to be our identity for a long time,” Byrnes said. “If you hear Shepherd Hill basketball, I want people to think it’s up-tempo. We press, and it’s gonna be a track meet. The game is changing, and it’s getting faster and faster.”
Although he is young, Byrnes has a wealth of basketball experience and credits WPI coach Bartlett for helping to develop a lot of that knowledge.
“When I was in college (Nichols), I coached an AAU team, and then I met with Chris at WPI and did 2-3 years under him,” Byrnes said. “I learned so much about on-the-court stuff, recruiting, administration, and he really let me do anything. I was doing scouting reports, talking to parents. It’s been huge for me.”
Byrnes also is the owner of the Webster-based facility 1 Stop Basketball and director of Swarm AAU Basketball, which is the largest club basketball program in New England. He started out with six teams, then grew to 20 and this spring will have over 120 teams in four states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island.
With all these basketballs rolling around in his head, he still has his focus on the Rams.
“It’s been a great start, and we’ve had a lot of success with it,” he said. “Now we just have to keep winning and get ourselves the best seed we possibly can.”
Add Skinner to banner
For Leominster senior Rylee Skinner, the countdown to the 1,000-point mark had been on for much of the season, but she didn’t exactly expect to reach the milestone this way.
With time running down on the shot clock, Skinner put up a long-distance 3-pointer that clanged off the back iron, caromed high in the air and then swished through the hoop.
“Suddenly I looked at the shot clock really quick and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re running out of time,’” she said. “Grace (Adams) threw me an awesome pass, and I just took a dribble back to get away from the defender and shot it.”
Skinner became the fifth Leominster girls’ player and sixth Blue Devil basketball player all time to reach that four-digit total. Lauren Hatfield (1988), Kerry Conway (2001), Lindsay DelleChiaie (2004) and Quinn O’Connor (2014) also did it for the girls, while Ryan Turbide (2011) is the lone boys’ player to reach that mark at Leominster.
“It was unreal. I couldn’t believe that this would be the shot for my 1,000th points,” she said. “I just threw my hands up in the air, and my teammates all came over to congratulate me.”
Fellow senior Megan Hutchinson, who has also been on the varsity team since freshman year, was the first to embrace her.
In addition, Hatfield — who was Leominster’s first 1,000-point scorer — was also on hand to see the moment. She had served as a coach of some of Skinner’s youth teams when she first began playing.
Skinner recalled looking up at the names on the 1,000-point banner while growing up.
“It was always a dream of mine growing up, seeing the older girls play, I always wanted to be just like them,” she said. “Now, to be one of the older girls and think the younger girls may be looking up to me is probably the biggest accomplishment I’ve had.”
The Blue Devils are on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs under coach Dave Palazzi and are led by Skinner (20.1 ppg), Adams (7.7 ppg) and Hutchinson (7.0). Senior Gabriella Fredrick, junior JaVona Smith and sophomores Skylar Finnegan and Faith Akoachere have also been among the top performers.
Other contributors include seniors Emma Burkhardt and Amaya Escabales, and sophomores Ivana Akoachere, Haley Mondville and Destina Vivo-Amore.
Returning home
There was a definite pang of déjà vu for Gardner varsity girls’ basketball coach Melissa Proffitt last Friday night as she returned to her high school alma mater for a game at Quabbin Regional.
The 2007 Quabbin grad coached there for two seasons with the junior varsity girls and also coached some middle school travel teams. This past fall, she became an ELA teacher at the Gardner Middle School and was named varsity coach.
Proffitt’s Wildcats were on the short end of a 57-32 loss to the Panthers, but for Proffitt, the experience was surreal.
“It was a little strange. I had never been on the opposing bench,” she said. “But (Quabbin) always feels like home, no matter what bench I’m on. Seeing all of the (Quabbin) girls, my former athletes, do well is great.”
The Wildcats this season have been led by junior Becca Lashua, who has averaged 12.2 points per game, as well as senior Kierra Columbus, juniors Payton Fitzsimmons and Delaney Santos, and sophomore Anna Tassone.
“It’s exciting to see all of the high school girls out there, working hard and playing well,” Proffitt said. “I’m with Gardner now, and those are my girls now, and it’s also good to see them also out there working hard.”
—Contact Mike Richard at mikerichard0725@gmail.com.