Merrick Olkowski finished with 19 points for St. Mary, which improved to 3-0 on the season with a 71-36 win over Saddle River Day on Monday night in Rutherford.
RUTHERFORD – In the fast-evolving word of high school sports, the St. Mary boys basketball team might be standing right in the sweet spot. The NJIC has changed its divisional structure from one based on geography to one according to recent success of a particular program, which means that the Gaels' regular season schedule is no longer populated by games in which the biggest obstacle is limiting the final deficit to a palatable sum.
Now in a division with Paterson Charter, Dwight-Englewood, Glen Rock, Saddle River Day and Rutherford, St. Mary gets a quality 10-game league schedule to go along with its aggressive state-wide, out of conference ambitions.
"When you look at our schedule we don't duck anybody. We are going to play five teams that are going to be Top 15 in the state. We play [Christian Brothers Academy], right after the holiday we are playing Gill St. Bernard, we are playing Seton Hall Prep. We have some big time independent games," said St. Mary head coach Brian Gaccione. "And the NJIC, by putting all the best teams in that top division, it really gives us a good 10-game league schedule. That helps me in a lot of ways, power points and all of that, but also attracting some quality eighth graders. I think sometimes it hurt us playing inferior opponents, but now that the NJIC has it figured out it is a great change."
The one free transfer rule means that the small Catholic school in Rutherford can be a penalty free landing spot for players who may not have considered the Gaels in their original high school selection process.
Players like seniors Merrick Olkowski and Matt Kennedy switched to St. Mary before last season and helped the Gaels qualify for the Bergen County Jamboree and then win the Bergen Invitational Tournament.
Rampant transfers have changed the face of high school (and college) athletics and it has even now permeated into the public school sector. Some (many) see tranfers as the boogeyman, but for the current generation of players this is the system that they have grown up in. It is the norm and while team chemistry must be built on the fly and in a hurry, it can be done.
Chase Spencer led Saddle River Day with 12 points.
"Honestly, it is natural. We all came from somewhere else. We all came in and introduced ourselves and it was never uncomfortable," said Kennedy, who spent his first two high school seasons at Lodi. "We've all made the connection and become friends on and off the court."
Olkowski spent two years at Montclair High School before moving over to St. Mary and he looks at it this way: "Honestly I think transferring is just opening new doors for yourself and giving yourself and new or better opportunity," said Olkowski, a long wing who does much of damage on the offensive end in tight quarters on the baseline. "I just felt like I was not in the best situation and I came here to trust in Coach Gacc[ione]'s plan and his process and it has exceeded my expectations. When I came in I was a soft kid, mentally I wasn't there and he has brought me to a higher level."
St. Mary was on a different level against Saddle River Day on Monday night in a wire-to-wire 71-36 win in Rutherford. The Gaels are now 3-0 this season ahead of its first real test on the road at CBA on Tuesday evening.
St. Mary, which showed its depth by running eight players in the opening period alone, scored the first six points of the game, 11 of its first 13 and led 17-6 by the end of the first quarter. The Gaels have length and their 2-2-1 trap in the tight confines of their home gymnasium made it tough on Saddle River Day, which was sped up past its preference.
St. Mary led by as many as 18 in the second quarter, but the Rebels hung in there with five straight points to end the second quarter. Dylan Diaz's pull-up jumper and Arjan Sachar's 3-pointer got SRD to within 32-19 at the half, but a 6-1 run to open the third quarter pushed the Gaels too far in front.
Matt Kennedy scored a game-high 20 points and added 9 boards for St. Mary, which will play at CBA on Tuesday.
Kennedy (20 points, 9 rebounds) led all scorers and Olkowski was not far behind with 19. Carter Robinson (10 points) made it three in double figures for the Gaels, who had 11 different players score at least one point. Chase Spencer led SRD with 12 points and Gavin Kaiser (7 points) and Emmanuel (points) were the only other Rebels with more than one field goal.
It's been a good start, but there are miles to go for St. Mary, which has high expectations for the season. There have been some eye-opening results in the first week of the season with Teaneck beating Don Bosco Prep and Demarest knocking off St. Joseph Regional, so maybe, just maybe, there is room for someone else to make a deep county tournament run this season.
"In terms of our team, this is the kind of year that you want to have a real good Jambo seed. We have senior leadership and you hope you get the right matchup," said Gaccione. "We are hoping that our independent schedule is going to get us right so that if you get to that Round of 16 or 8 you have played these quality opponents and you are going to be able to fight."
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT PLEASE CLICK HERE. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.
