Over the last three seasons, the Groton boys basketball team has come incredibly close to qualifying for the Section IV tournament only to fall one or two wins shy of making the big dance. With just a few games remaining, the Red Hawks yearn to make it over the hump this time around.
Groton holds a 7-6 record with five games to play, as of February 2. That means they need to win just one more game in order to make sectionals for the first time since 2022. It would also be the first time for fourth-year head coach Mike Holl, but he’s well-aware that the postseason is far from a done deal.
“We’re not counting our chickens before they hatch,” Holl said. “Every opponent from here on out is going to be a challenging, competitive game.”
As a whole, the Red Hawks have had contrasting performances on both sides of the ball. They’ve excelled on offense, with their average of 60.5 points per game putting them fifth in the IAC. But they have struggled at times on defense, allowing 56.5 points per game, which currently ranks 14th in the conference.
“I knew this year I had an offensive-minded team,” Holl said. “But we also know that defense wins championships. You can’t just go out and try to outscore everybody. That’s a nice problem to have where we got guys that can score the basketball, but at the end of the day, it comes down to how we are going to play on defense.”
This is a relatively new-look Red Hawks squad with only four returners. The majority of their eight newcomers starred on the junior varsity team last year that won the IAC Small School Championship. It can be a challenge jumping up a level in competition, but they’ve more than shown their mettle.
“They got some experience in some higher-pressure situations,” Holl said. “I think moving from that JV level to the varsity level, there’s a big speed difference there, but a lot of these kids play basketball outside of high school, so they have seen that already even in ninth and 10th grade playing in other programs. That kind of helps that transition. They’re fearless. They’re not afraid to take the open shot. They’re not afraid to get downhill, get to the rim. Our future here looks very, very good.”
Kameron McClain is one of those newcomers and he has wowed in his debut varsity season. The sophomore is Groton’s leading scorer, averaging 18 points per game. He’s also one of the top assisters on the team, showcasing his versatility at point guard.
“He’s a really, really high basketball IQ kid,” Holl said. “He’s been playing since Moby Dick was a minnow. He’s the floor general. He sees things a lot of other kids don’t see. While he does score the ball a lot, he does create opportunities for his teammates.”
Two other first-year varsity players who have excelled on the defensive end are juniors Abe Bishop and Colin O’Brien. They too have shown great flexibility playing a mixture of a guard and forward.
“They play a good role of coming in and giving us good minutes when they’re needed,” Holl said. “We got guys in final trouble. They do a lot of things that don’t always show up on the stat sheet.”
As for the other JV call-ups, juniors Nick Sill and Andrei Zikeyev have added sparks on offense as reliable shooters, while sophomore Colin Brockway has complemented McClain’s game. Junior Marley Antrum and senior Talan O’Connor are the final two newcomers.
The quartet of returning players includes junior Jerome Turner. He leads the way in rebounds and gives an overall small Red Hawks team some much-needed size down low.
“He comes with a lot of energy,” Holl said. “He’s done a nice job for us this year in stuff that shows up on the stat sheets but also a lot of the intangibles. He’s a very big, physical athlete.”
Junior Colson Slade is also one of their taller players who has been a key defensive contributor. Junior Lane Darling has been big on the boards, as well. Senior Tristin Weeks is the final returner who has thrived on offense.
In terms of the big key to Groton’s ambitions of making sectionals and finishing the regular season strong, defense is the obvious answer. But there are other aspects that go beyond the X’s and O’s that will tell the rest of their story.
“A big part of the game that gets overlooked is: Do the guys have each other’s backs?” Holl said. “Are they going to keep fighting for the rest of the season? Basketball season can get long sometimes, and you spend a lot of time with each other. It’s six days a week and it’s late-night bus trips. Being able to have a group that has a bond and is able to fight through some of this adversity together, in my opinion, will be the difference-maker.”
