Kingswood-Oxford has always been a school that has fielded great sports teams. Most recently, the undefeated 2006 Boys “A” Basketball team was a powerhouse, dominating all of their opponents, including the school’s archrival, Renbrook, and giving us the first undefeated middle school team in a long time. Under the leadership of Kenton Adeyemi and Max Hoberman, the Boy’s “A” Basketball Team was the private school team to beat in the Greater Hartford area. When Kenton, Max, and several other key eighth grade contributors graduated to the ninth grade, many students interested in middle school basketball thought that all hope for another successful season was lost.
This year, as the players walked onto the court for tryouts, John Jackopsic was the only sign of a dominant player and was the only returning starter from last year. Alex Roth, a first-year seventh grader on the Boys “A” Basketball Team recently shared his prediction about the season as it began, “I knew that John was good, but I knew we would not be even close to as good as we were last year.” Of the seven total returning players, three had been sixth graders. In order for the team to have a good season, other players would have to “step up” the level of their game.
During tryouts, Mr. Woodward, the “A” Team Basketball coach, picked several important players to join the team. One of them was first-year eighth grader Dan Turner. Throughout the season, he helped the team get second opportunities to score by grabbing many rebounds. Using his size to his advantage, Dan became a great rebounder. He was also a very unselfish player, oftentimes giving up an open shot to a guard cutting through the lane. One of the players Dan usually passed to was returning guard, Tom Romano. He contributed greatly to this year’s success by making shots early in the game to help the team establish a lead. Tom experienced a slow start, but midway through the season, he began to feel comfortable and helped the team put points on the board. Dan and Tom, along with many other key role players, such as Gabe Lorenzo, Donny Whittle, Ty Adams, Adam Sykura, Matt Leach, Scott Levine, John Peavy, and Brandon Best, were among the special ingredients that made the Boys “A” Basketball team’s fantastic recipe of players work.
The team’s first game of the season was against MacDuffie School. The game was a hard fought battle all the way through, but in the end, thanks to “J.J.” Jackopsic, we were able to get the victory. With three seconds left, John attempted a lay-up and was fouled. He made both of his free throws and helped the team win 43–42. Recently, John shared his thoughts about the game, “I think the biggest thing that helped us win the MacDuffie game was the team effort. I didn’t have a great game until the end, but the team played great as a whole, it being our first game together. The thing I remember most was Ty shooting so well early on, and that really kept us in the game. After making the game winner, I’m not really sure what I felt because it was one of those moments of excitement. I was trying to stay focused, knowing there was still time left in the game. It was probably the most important shot I’ve ever made in my life because we were losing at the time, and if I miss, we lose. I’ve made other game winners, but none, from behind or as important, to get us a good start to the season.”
Throughout the season, the 06-07 Boys “A” Basketball team proved itself to be a good team despite the absence of last year’s stars. New stars were born, and role players stepped up. “With a record of eight wins and two losses so far, Kingswood has shown that the desire to win can take the place of ability as long as you play with heart,” Alex Roth commented accurately.
~ Brandon Best