AMITIE LED PTS, RBS, ASSTS, BLKS; KETSCHKE STEALS

One “giant leap” was made by the Cranford High School boys basketball team this season. After a disappointing 5-19 season last year, the Cougar boys buckled down, found their rhythm, advanced to the Union County Tournament (UCT) semifinals and won two games in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Tournament to finish with a 21-7 banner season.

As to the last time the Cougar boys may have attained 20+ wins, according to Cougar Head Coach Sean Trotter, “Online you can only find 2004 and on, and there were none since 2004. Not sure it ever has been done, so at least 20 years.”

The Cougars opened their season with a 60-44 victory over the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders but fell a few steps backwards with losses to the Oratory Prep Rams (70-58) and Summit Hilltoppers (57-51). The Cougars calmed the South Plainfield Tigers, 68-57 then at the Cougar Classic in Chatham, Cranford beat the New Providence Pioneers (77-61) and Chatham (59-51) before bowing 6855 to the Watchung Hills Warriors.

With the exception of a 53-38 loss to the SPF Raiders, the next nine games went the Cougars’way, beginning with a 66-58 icing of the Hillside Comets, followed by a 50-48 edging over Rahway.After falling to the Raiders, the Cougars won six straight – AL Johnson (64-38), get even wins over Oratory (66-51) and Summit (65-55), Millburn Millers (72-64), Governor Livingston Highlanders (68-44), Hillside (59-58).

A 73-56 stumble to Pingry was followed by a seven-game winning streak. The Cougars crushed the Roselle Rams (75-32) then stopped Rahway (79-70), Roselle again (5922) and the Union Farmers (69-62). At the UCT, the Cougars ousted New Providence (69-55), SPF Raiders (5648) and Plainfield (62-54) before losing a 68-62 squeaker to the Union Catholic Vikings in the semifinals.

The North 2, Group 3 Tournament had the Cougars routing Ferris (7249) in the first round. An astounding 66-64, overtime come-from-behind victory over the Chatham Cougars catapulted Cranford to the semifinals against Millburn. With the Cougars leading 30-25 at the half, senior standout NickAmitie was injured and unable to return. His absence took its toll and despite trailing by 10 points with three minutes remaining, the rest of the Cougars reached down deeply and nearly pulled off a victory only to fall short, 53-49.

Coach Trotter noted, “(We) made the UCT semis for the first time in 50 years and won two state games for the first time since 2003. So yes, an amazing year for these kids and like I have said all year, they earned all of the success. After last season, these kids were embarrassed and got to work. They had a great off-season and summer and came back as different players this year, and with a different mindset.”

Despite sitting out several games this season with injuries, Amitie led the Cougars in nearly every category. He was second in steals with 27 but topped the ladder with 594 points, 239 rebounds, 76 assists and 25 blocked shots. Amitie recorded 10 double-doubles (DD) this season and finished his career with 1,184 points.

“Nick had an amazing year both statistically but even more as a leader and a teammate. He got all of these guys better every day at practice and led them the whole way. Looking at his stats you can see the games he got hurt in or was playing limited minutes because of injury.Any game he scored less than 16, he got hurt or played 10 minutes or less because of a recent injury,” Coach Trotter pointed out.

Senior Chris Santarelli was second on the team in scoring with 255 points, while adding 95 rebounds, 36 assists, 12 steals and six blocks. A threat from 3-point range, junior Josh Ketschke bucketed 206 points and led the team with 39 steals, while adding 88 rebounds, 41 assists and 11 blocks. Senior ChaseTeel was second in rebounds with 229 and finished with 205 points, 44 assists, 16 steals and five blocks.

Another 3-point threat, junior Jack McGuire finished with 165 points, 92 rebounds, 65 assists (2nd on team), 25 steals and a block. Sophomore Enzo Madrini finished with 103 points, 35 rebounds, 22 assists, 11 steals and a block. Sophomore Dylan Aveno finished with 99 points, 56 assists, 56 rebounds, 17 steals and two blocks.

Coach Trotter added, “The other players really stepped up as well. Jack (McGuire) and Josh (Ketschke) shot the ball really well and defended so well throughout the year, Chase (Teel) rebounded and was a defensive leader. Our guards like Dylan (Aveno) and Jack (McGuire) handled pressure so well throughout.”

Several others received adequate court time. Junior Darren Bush finished with 32 points, 23 rebounds, 35 assists and 17 steals. Senior Ryan Klimko finished with 29 points, 22 rebounds, 18 assists and three steals. Senior Sean Riley had 22 points, 20 rebounds, four assists and five steals. Senior Billy Caminos had 20 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Junior Yousef Elashry finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three steals. Senior Dennis McCaffery had eight points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Amitie recorded his first DD (22 points, 13 rebounds) in the opener against the SPF Raiders. Others were: Chatham (34 pts, 16 rb), Summit (16 pt, 12 rb), Millburn – 1st game – (33 pt, 19 rb), Governor Livingston (24 pt, 17 rb), Rahway (33 pt, 23 rb), New Providence (13 pt, 13 rb), Plainfield (32 pt, 14 rb), Ferris (46 pts – season high, 14 rb), Chatham (28 pt, 12 rb).

Amitie also had 39 points against South Plainfield and 38 against New Providence, while Teel pulled 11 rebounds. Teel had a DD (10 points, 12 rebounds) against AL Johnson, a DD (12 points, 10 rebounds) against Plainfield and a DD (10 points, 14 rebounds) against Ferris. McGuire netted 20 points in the comeback win over Chatham and after Amitie went down with 14 points in the first half, he led the Cougars with 17 points in the semifinal game against Millburn. Santarelli scored 22 points against Rahway, 20 points in the first game against Millburn, 19 points against Summit and 16 points in the first game against Chatham.

“It was a group effort and these guys really were successful because of their willingness to play as a team and understand everyone had a role. Whether it was to lead our team in scoring or to be the best defensive player in practice to prepare the others for games, everyone bought into a role. This group was an honor to coach and will be dearly missed,” Coach Trotter concluded.