MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — Cade Furse isn’t walking through that door. Neither is bruising big man Eddie Chareas.
The talented duo that led the Manchester Essex boys basketball team to an incredible season last year and a trip to the Division 4 Elite Eight has graduated, paving the way for a new cast of players to seize the reigns.
And if Tuesday’s season opener against Hamilton-Wenham was any indication of what’s to come, this new-look group is more than capable of carrying the load.
Led by a stellar outing from returning sharpshooter Johnny Chareas, a poised game at the point from sophomore guard Graham Lewis, and defensive contributions from everyone who stepped on the court, the Hornets broke open a once competitive game and turned it into a runaway, 59-37 victory to begin the year.
“We talked about how it’s a game of controlling the jitters and the first game environment stuff. It’s normal to (have early lapses and mistakes),” admitted Hornets’ head coach Tim St. Laurent. “But historically we always say anyone can score on us in the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter, let’s see if they’re if making shots down the stretch against our ferocious defense. And we were able to really close it down, playing great basketball (in the second half).”
Both teams got off to an admittedly sloppy start, which as St. Laurent alluded to, is somewhat to be expected in Game 1.
There were nearly 30 combined missed shots in the opening quarter alone, and Hamilton-Wenham walked to the bench after those opening eight minutes with a slight 10-9 lead.
It remained nip and tuck for much of quarter No. 2, but then, Manchester began to find its groove.
Thanks to a committed effort on the defensive end — communication, well executed switches and engagement when in their zone defense — the Hornets strung together a mini run to seize a 29-20 lead going into halftime. Chareas — who thrived as a spot up shooter last winter — showed off his complete arsenal, dropping 15 of his game-high 20 points in the first half alone to lead the charge.
“Johnny is just a gifted basketball player and he’s worked his tail off,” said St. Laurent. “He’s done a good job working on his game and he’s a fantastic leader for us.”
Chareas, a junior captain, also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds and really did a little bit of everything for his team. And when he wasn’t scoring, someone else was chipping in.
Sophomore big man Alex Ste. Marie (11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals) got going a bit after the break, knocking down a corner 3-ball and showing off some nice footwork down low. Jake Zschau (13 points, 4 rebounds) cashed a pair of big three balls and Lewis (7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal) got into the paint well and finished at the rim. Collectively, it resulted in the Hornets responding to a quick 7-0 burst from H-W to open the third with a 12-0 run of their own to take control of the game for good.
All said, Manchester finished the game on a 30-10 run, using its stout defense to generate offense consistently for the final two frames.
“It all starts with defense,” said Laurent, who also highlighted the play of Milo Zeltzer, Zach Hurd, Jacob Zachareas and Joe Glass. “This team is just really, really skilled offensively and once we start making some tweaks, it’s gonna be fun.”
On the other side, Hamilton-Wenham struggled mightily to find the bottom of the basket, which was certainly a credit to Manchester’s lockdown defense but also a bit of bad luck. The Generals had a number of shots spill in and out, they missed a plethora of free throws in the second half, and despite some good looks, they weren’t quite able to string together enough shots to remain within striking distance in crunch time.
Caden Schrock led the Generals with 11 points and eight boards while AB Labell, who’s typically a knockdown shooter, managed just seven points to go with seven boards. Alex Menegoni (8 points) drilled a pair of triples in the opening half but couldn’t get much going after that, finishing with eight points in the setback.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.