The 2014-15 Ladies and Men’s Seawolves basketball seasons officially got under way October 25 as both teams traveled to conference rival, CMCC’sKirk Hall to participate in the Can-Am tournament. The Lady Seawolves tipped off against Cegep Champlain St. Lawrence (CCSL) in the opening game, and the Men Wolves followed suit in the second game when they took the court against Saint Thomas University.

The Lady Wolves open the season with a number of fresh faces that over time should blend well with the upbeat lookout that Coach Julia Howe is approaching the season with.
The Beacon reached out to Coach Howe asking her what does she see as the team’s biggest strength. “Our biggest strength this season should be our size and ability to create mismatches against other teams. We have depth at the position and we have 5’8″ guards…not a lot of teams in our conference can matchup with that type of height,” Coach Howe stated.
The height of forward Alicia Hoyt proved to be an advantage for the Lady Seawolves in their 66-48 victory over CCSL, has she lead the team in scoring with 11pts and grabbing 8 rebounds. Returning veteran Jaimi Poland also grabbed 8 rebounds and scored 9pts as Jordan Turner, a freshman scored 10pts as fellow freshman Kendra Kagiliery hit the scoring column with 9pts.

On the Men’s side of the court, returning players: Atencio Martin, Alexander Hartford, Josh Gormley, and Justin Robbins find themselves on a SMCC team that is the tallest it’s ever been. Newcomers Thomas Enerva – 6’9“, Carlos Gonzalez – 6’7”, and 6’6” Jack Tolan add height to a team that has been highly competitive over the last few years which they have lacked in.
Matt Richards, Head Coach of the Men’s Seawolves squad stated, “Right now our biggest strength is our work ethic and rebounding.  I see those being staple marks of our team,” when asked what he thought were the largest positives for the team.

In the season opener against St. Thomas University the Sewolves grabbed 48 rebounds out rebounding the Tommies by 10 in the 66-58 victory. Returning veteran and team captain Atencio Martin netted 15pts while grabbing 7 rebounds both team high. Seawolves center, Thomas Enerva put in a note worthy performance draining 9pts and snagging 5 rebounds as fellow front liner, small forward Tyheem Simon added 10pts coming off the bench. Veteran Josh Tuplin, who returns to the squad after a few semesters off, found the bottom of the net for 8pts, 3 of which were a 3point shot with 1:34 left that put the Seawolves ahead by 6.

At the end of the day, the Seawolves basketball teams would walk away with 2 victories. Sunday’s games would prove to be a clearer litmus test for the squads as the women fell to the University of New Brunswick-St John’s (UNBSJ) 61-55 and the men found themselves in a battle with UNBSJ prevailing in a 63-59 victory.
When asked, what do you think the women’s squad needs to work on, Julia Howe responded, “We need to work on becoming better communicators on the court and being able to play a high intensity, up tempo pace for 40 minutes. We certainly have the talent we just need to get some of the intangibles.”

In the first half The Lady Seawolves somehow managed to hold a 2pt lead, 28-26 at halftime despite turnovers and sloppy play. When the 2nd half opened a reenergized UNB-SJ team outscored SMCC by 21pts gaining a 58-39 lead with 5:01 remaining. With time running out SMCC found its offensive flow, which was sparked by a daunting full court press, and went on a 9-0 run. The run was sparked by an Alicia Hoyt layup and three made free throws by Jordan Turner.
The Lady Seawolves closed out the opening weekend of the new season 1-1, but most importantly with a clear understanding of what needs attention. “I expect my girls to be working hard every day so that we can go to the conference championship this season. I will look to my 2 third year veterans and captains, Jaimi Poland and Alicia Hoyt, to lead this young team and set good examples for how my newcomers should be acting on and off the court,” said Julia Howe.
The Lady Seawolves traveled to Bunker Hill Community College this past Saturday securing a 76-48 win. Freshman center Amira Jones recorded her first double-double, (20pts 16rebounds), as shooting guard Samantha Green netted 14pts and center Jennifer Genthner, returning after a pre-season injury, drained 11pts and corralled 8 rebounds.
After 3 games The Lady Seawolves find themselves at 2-1 and facing Berkley College (NY) in their home opener on Saturday November 8th at 1pm.

For the men, while surviving the Can-Am Tournament and escaping with a spotless record, the second game of the tournament proved to be a battle against UNB-SJ (63-59) that would only be outdone by the double overtime victory against Navy Prep on November 1st.

Again it was the work on the boards offensively (27 total) that helped the Seawolves walk away with a victory against UNB-SJ. Carlos Gonzalez grabbed 6 offensive boards that led to 14second chance points for the Seawolves.
When asked how Coach Richards is preparing his squad in the early stages of the season he responded by saying that, “… I need our guys to understand the importance of details. Once we have a good understanding of the importance to small details then later on in the season we can make greater strides with our team improvements. Little things like checking out, closing out on shooters, etc. will be very important to master early on. Those little things will allow us to win games as we develop our team offensively.”

The Men Seawolves home opener proved to be quite an exciting game regardless of the opening minutes. After 7minutes of play both teams managed to score 18pts with SMCC crawling out to a 6pt lead. Over the course of the next 51/2 minutes the men Seawolves would build a 16pt lead behind Grayson Waterman’s two 3pt shots.
The final 7 minutes of the first half saw Navy Prep chip away at the SMCC lead and going into the locker room trailing by 12pts (63-24). The second half saw Navy Prep work away at the SMCC lead and finally tie the game at the 11:42 mark, 46 apiece.

The remainder of the 2nd half stayed close with neither team able to build, or sustain a lead. The largest lead came with 3minutes remaining when SMCC scratched out a 5pt lead. Again Navy Prep fought back outscoring SMCC 9-4 sending the game into the first overtime.

Again, neither team could gain any type of momentum, or lead as the score stayed close. With 2 minutes remaining Navy Prep gained the upper hand with a 2pt lead, 73-71. Missed free throws, layups, blocked shots and turnovers plagued the final 2 minutes until Atencio Martin drove the baseline pulling up for a short jumper and subsequently sending the game into its 2nd overtime.

The Men Seawolves would prevail finally after 50 minutes of play mainly because of getting to the foul line and draining 5 out of 7 opportunities and timely made shoots by Kevin Fabian, Thyeem Simon, and Atencio Martin.
The men return to the Hub gym for their next 2 games against Maine Maritime Academy, November 5th, Berkeley-NYC November 8th, then travel to Bridgton Academy on the 12th and return home to face conference foe Vermont Tech on the 15th.