A Preview of the Westminster Boys’ Varsity Basketball Team

By ​Rhys Marschke ‘24

As we pivoted from Fall to Winter sports on campus, the anticipation for some of our most popular teams on campus has been mounting. Despite frequently being in the Hockey team’s shadow, the Boys' Varsity Basketball Team holds high expectations for themselves ahead of this season and believes the program is in the middle of a resurgence.
           
The team has ten new players and only three returners so stability and team chemistry will be a question mark early in the season. The starting five is headlined by star Sixth Form Point Guard and future Division I player, Jason James ‘23, and post-graduate big man, Dorian Paki ‘23. Skilled guards Marcello Dimerski ‘23, Kanye Foster ‘25, and the high-potential big man Jayden Reid ‘25 round out the starting five. This is a reliable group with an impressive mix of scoring, playmaking, and tenacious defense. The production and leadership of the upperclassmen will be very important on this team.

Two games into the season, we have seen a mere seven-man rotation—two players off the bench—in hopes that the team’s starting five would lift them to wins. Johnny Hadden ‘24 and Jake Carbone ‘24 headlined the group off the bench, followed by young, developmental players, including Wills Lown ‘24, Alex Wood ‘25, and others. The team needs these underformers to contribute more to the team as the season develops, to take the pressure off of the older players.

Many players on the team pinpoint Wednesday 12/7 as the true start of the season. In each of the first two games of the season, against Kingswood Oxford and Loomis Chaffee respectively, Westminster was dribbled off the court. Both losses were at the hands of two extremely talented teams and were games that Westminster wasn’t expected to win. With Trinity-Pawling and Deerfield on the horizon – two teams that will be good tests for the Martlets – the team is expected to achieve victory. By the end of this week, fans should have a better idea of how this season will go for our Varsity Basketball players.