After a successful first season as head coach of the Oneonta boys basketball team that saw his squad go 12-9 and reach the sectional semifinals, Brad Zeh and company have their sights set on bigger and better things
“The kids worked hard last spring and played a lot this summer,” he said. “It’s nice having four returning starters back from a pretty successful season last year.”
That returning core, all of them juniors, is a big reason why the Yellowjackets will be one of the teams to watch as the 2024-25 season gets underway in earnest this week.
Oneonta’s 2023-24 campaign ended with a 64-59 loss to Lansing in the Class B playoffs. With so much returning talent and experience, Zeh believes this year’s group will be ready to take the next step.
“They weren’t afraid of the moment,” he said of his players. “We went toe-to-toe with a lot of good teams last year and just came up a few possessions short in a couple of games. This year the talk has been getting over the hump and winning more of those close games that we were in at the end and just couldn’t finish off with wins.”
Leading the way will be a pair of returning Daily Star All-Stars in Brady Carr and Britten Zeh. Carr was a Sixth Team All-State selection as a sophomore and is one of the top returning scorers in the area after averaging 20.7 points per game.
Zeh also earned All-State recognition after averaging 12.1 points and figures to once again serve as the engine of the OHS offense.
Grayson Brockington and Maddox Imperato are the other returning starters with Anthony Falco, Bruce Mistler and Matthew Rubin expected to play key roles as well.
Many of these players were key cogs on Oneonta’s sectional title-winning baseball team last spring, something coach Zeh sees as a benefit both on and off the court.
“I don’t think any of them are afraid of who we’re playing or where we’re playing,” he said. “Those guys having success in the baseball season, they know how to win. The best thing I love about them is that they play more than one sport. I think in this day and age and for schools our size it’s important to play more sports and learn how to win and learn how to be role players in different sports that may not be their main sport.
“It doesn’t really matter who scores the baskets as long as it says ‘Oneonta’ across the front of their jersey.”
The Yellowjackets will open their season on Friday as they host the Anthony Drago Tournament. Their first opponent figures to be one of the top contenders in Class C this season.
Delhi will be looking to get over the hump in Class C after coming up just short in last year’s sectional final against eventual-state champion Moravia.
The Bulldogs had to wait a while to get their entire team together for practices, but it was the type of problem everyone would love to have: six members of the varsity team and five more on JV were a part of the Delhi football team that won a Section IV title this fall.
“We had a lot of guys playing football,” coach Warren Kelly said. “They had a great season. We were very happy for them and we were supporting them 100%.”
The season-opening matchup against Oneonta will provide an immediate test, but not one this group hasn’t seen before.
The Bulldogs return most of their key contributors from last year’s squad that went 18-5, won the Midstate Athletic Conference title for the second year in a row and held a double-digit lead in the sectional final against the eventual state champions.
While that 49-42 loss to Moravia was a disappointing conclusion, Kelly said it may have had some benefits in the long run.
“I looked at that as a positive thing for our program, that we aren’t that far from being one of the best teams in the state,” he said. “Our guys worked really hard in the offseason, they always do. They might’ve worked even harder this offseason.”
Leading the way will be senior Ivan Richardson, who was named MVP of the MAC and earned honorable mention All-State recognition after averaging 12.1 points per game.
He’ll be joined in the starting lineup by fellow seniors Seamus deMauro and Rocco Schnabel, who, at 6’8” and 6’4”, respectively, will form one of the most imposing frontcourts in the area.
Junior Lucas Nealis, meanwhile, returns to run the show at the point guard position.
Delhi’s size figures to be a handful for most teams: all five of the Bulldogs’ projected starters are at least 6’0”.
“These guys really put themselves in the toughest positions, and I mean this as a compliment, in the offseason to challenge themselves to grow,” Kelly said.
As has been the case for the past three years, the road to the Class D title will go through South Kortright. But this will be a different-looking Rams team than in years past.
Gone is star guard Connor Quarino, a three-time Daily Star Player of the Year and First Team All-State selection who finished his SK career sixth on the all-time Section IV boys scoring leaderboard with 1,889 points.
Additionally, the Rams also lost Darren Dengler, an All-State honorable mention, and Jacob Staroba to graduation. But for coach Aaron Kaufman, it’s a next man up philosophy for the three-time defending Section IV champs.
“Our mindset has remained pretty much the same. Varsity teams lose key players every year,” Kaufman said via email. “We try to build an offense and defense that will fit the players of the next season. There is no doubt that Connor will be a huge loss, but as a team we remain confident that we will carry on. We will definitely be a different type of team this year and I believe that we will be very team-oriented this season with regards to scoring vs. depending heavily on one player.
“As coaches we stress “roles” and that every player has a role. If the players buy into their roles then we are capable of playing some pretty good ball.”
The Rams got off to a good start with a convincing 63-33 win over Charlotte Valley on Wednesday to open the season.
Kaufman pointed to Jack Byrne, Logan Reinshagen and JB Trimbell as players who will be asked to step up into greater leadership roles this season. All three have championship pedigrees not only in basketball, but from the Rams’ sectional title-winning soccer teams of recent seasons including 2024.
Underclassmen Boston Quarino and Garrett Dropp also figure to play key roles for the Rams in 2024-25.
Despite the roster turnover, Kaufman said that the success of the past three seasons has played a major role in the mindset of this year’s team.
“They feed off that success and want to have the opportunity to hopefully become a part of that as well,” he said. “That success can also play a devil’s advocate as well, as it adds some level of additional pressure on the younger players to be as successful as their peers before them.”
Elsewhere in the area, Edmeston, the team that South Kortright defeated in last year’s sectional final, figures to be a threat once again led by Gavin McEnroe, an All-State honorable mention last season.
Schenevus boasts two of the top returning scorers in the area in Jackson Reed (18.7 points per game and All-State honorable mention honors) and Allen Osborne (14.4 ppg).
Other top scorers from last year to keep an eye on include Sidney’s Connor van der Sommen, Unatego/Franklin’s Xander Johnson, Margaretville’s Connor Wayman and Worcester’s Matthew Sanders.