Boys’ basketball team starts promising season with win over Triton

NORTH READING — The North Reading High boys’ basketball team tipped off their 2024-25 season with a resounding 83-40 victory over Triton at home on Tuesday night.

“Our focus on defense in the preseason was on full display as we dominated from the tip-off,” said head coach Joe Casey in his 24th season at the helm. “We had good energy from everyone.”

The Hornets opened their season on an 11-0 run to take complete control over the visiting Vikings.

North Reading had four players score in double figures: senior Parker Griffin (19), senior Matt Myette (18), junior Jason Berry (14) and junior Gavin Wesley (12).

 

 

Senior Davide Rosati and junior Massimo Ranieri provided boosts off the bench, especially defensively.

In the end, it was a great start to what should be an exciting campaign for the Hornets who return 9 players from last year’s squad which went 7-13 overall, the first season in five years that they did not make the state tournament.

“Our goal is to return to the playoffs this year,” said Casey, whose teams have qualified for states in 16 of his 23 years. “We took our lumps last year and were in rebuild mode. We hope that it will serve us well this year as we gained valuable experience for a lot of guys.”

The Hornets bring back 7 seniors to lead the way, including captains Myette and Andrew Taylor.

Taylor is a 3-year varsity player.

“He’s our garbage guy,” said Casey. “Does all of the little things, knows his role and does it well. He understands the game and we feed off of his intensity. His effort is ridiculously consistent…always excellent.”

 

 

Myette, a CAL 2nd Team All-Star last year, is a returning starter.

“He’s our best shooter and we’ll count on him to score,” said Casey. “He has the potential to have some big games for us. We will hopefully have better balance offensively but he will still be asked to lead us.”

Berry, also a 2nd Team All-Star last year, was voted as a junior captain this year.

“That speaks to his value to our program,” said Casey. “Good leader, runs our point a lot, good shooter, athlete and competitor. He makes us run and has the potential to put up some big numbers.”

Griffin is a key returning senior.

“He had some big games last year,” said Casey. “We are looking for him to take the next step on both ends of the floor.”

Wesley will also be counted on a lot.

“Tremendous athlete and an intense competitor,” said Casey. “In addition to being able to get to the hoop and score, he brings a level of toughness that feed off of. His motor is always running and at 6’1” he gives us some length.”

Rosati saw limited minutes as a junior but has played well in the preseason and is excellent defensively according to the coach.

“Extremely coachable and knows what his role is,” said Casey.

Senior Connor Gattuso is a forward who, “understands the game,” according to Casey. “He will be expected to help us off the bench.”

Jason Curran and CJ Villarroel are two more seniors who can contribute off the bench.

Some key newcomers for the Hornets include juniors Conrad Gerber and Ranieri, along with sophomore Cole Bakr.

“Our newcomers give us some length that will allow us to do some different things both

offensively and defensively,” commented the coach. “Last year, we didn’t have a guy over 6’0 so we were at a size disadvantage quite a bit. These kids give us more depth than we had last year.

“We also have some good younger kids that may have an impact with the varsity before the end of the year like sophomores Jack Gattuso and Luke Myette and juniors Anthony Tamarro and Nick Torra who have all played well in early season scrimmages.”

Casey is also excited about the incoming freshman class, which he says is the strongest they’ve had in a while.

“The future is bright. We had 53 kids try out overall, by far our best numbers in probably six or seven years.”

North Reading has emphasized defense this season, something that should carry them far.

“Our effort on the defensive end has been better but we’ve still got a long way to go,” said Casey.

Altogether, the Hornets believe they are in store for a strong season.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” said Casey. “The kids worked hard in the offseason and we’ve got a lot of experience back which hopefully will give us good leadership.We’ve improved our depth and can play different lineups depending on the situation.

“Our margin for error is still very thin. The CAL is again very balanced and competitive. We are still chasing Newburyport in the large and Lynnfield will also be very strong. In the small, Georgetown, Hamilton-Wenham and Manchester-Essex are all expected to field strong teams.

“We are excited. We’ve had a good preseason. This is a good group who is eager to prove themselves in the league and qualify for the postseason.”

North Reading (1-0) will travel to Manchester-Essex (1-0) on Friday night at 7 p.m.