Runnin’ Rebels’ Rough Season Continues

Junior Abraham Lee drove to the basket, swerving around his defender and rising up to shoot, but absorbed a hard foul by a player from East Harlem Pride High School. Lee had two opportunities at the foul line to cut into EHP’s lead, but missed both. This was typical of the Runnin’ Rebels, Stuyvesant’s boys’ basketball team, in their game against EHP, in which they found opportunities on offense but failed to keep up with the talented EHP team, losing 72-44.

To prepare for the game, coach Paul Goldsman developed a game plan based upon the teams’ previous meeting on December 7. “Going into the game, we knew that EHP was athletic and had three players that could consistently shoot the three. This time around, we switched to a 1-3-1 zone, where our wings would drop on the weak side and our ‘Warrior’ (the guy on the bottom) would rotate to contest the corner shot,” Goldsman said.

This strategy proved to be effective in some aspects. Senior Nicholas Kim said, “[The 1-3-1 defense] successfully kept EHP from easily scoring.” However, EHP continued to make difficult three-point shots and stormed out to a 19-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Runnin’ Rebels shifted to a man-to-man defense, which worked much better, though Stuyvesant trailed by double digits throughout the rest of the game.

On the offensive end of the floor, Stuyvesant’s scoring struggles continued, as they failed to score more than 50 points for the ninth straight game. “We need to be a better shooting team as opponents will continue to pack in their defense if they realize our shooting is off,” Goldsman said. Still, he saw smaller improvements to the Runnin’ Rebels’ offense. He praised sophomore Christopher Kim for helping out senior Michael Gillow on the glass. “I think collectively we have done a lot better on the boards,” Goldsman said.

“I have also seen improvements in our man-man offense,” Goldsman said, “[Seniors] Nicola Manfredi, Nicholas Kim, and Michael Gillow effectively moved the ball around the perimeter and set off the ball screens which led to open lanes.” This improved offense led the Runnin’ Rebels to score 44 points, their highest total since their December 19 matchup with Norman Thomas High School. Still, Coach Goldsman sees room for improvement. “If we could decrease the amount of turnovers as well as hit our free throws, we can be a very formidable team,” he said.

Both Nicholas Kim and Goldsman praised the Runnin’ Rebels for their strong effort. “Although we were down multiple digits throughout the game, our players didn't quit and played diligently to the end,” Goldsman said.

“Coming out after the half, we played very aggressively and lowered their lead measurably,” Kim said. The Runnin’ Rebels were outscored by 24 points in the first half, but were outscored by only four in the second half.

In the fourth quarter, Coach Goldsman put in some of the “rookies” on the team who do not usually play. “I was able to see a lot of potential in our younger players...I think now is a great time to learn and get a better feel for the game so that they can be the best they can for next year,” Kim said.

The Runnin’ Rebels fell to a 1-9 record following the game against EHP. They lost another game to the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex on January 18th, 69-32, putting them at 1-10. They are currently second to last in the Manhattan-A1 league, leading only Norman Thomas High School, which has a 1-11 record. Last season, the Stuyvesant boys basketball team went 8-8 and finished sixth out of nine teams in the A1 league. However, that team had a total of seven seniors who graduated last year, including forward Tobias Lange, guard Michael Feinberg, and guard Jacky Peng. The loss of that graduating class has contributed to the Runnin’ Rebels losing record this season.

Even though the Stuyvesant team will miss out on the playoffs this season, the team still has a reason to play. “The goal for the remainder of the season is for the team to continue to improve, which will inevitably result in wins. As we can to practice hard and learn from our mistakes, I can see this becoming a reality,” Goldsman said.