– Those who have been following my work since the early days will remember a time when I used to produce a ton of content on this site.  One of the most popular things are used to do was Random Smatterings.  With the passing of my friend Larry "hoopster" Regan, I’ve gotten a little nostalgic about those early days and knowing how much he enjoyed this particular piece, I’ve decided to bring it back.

 

– Not a great start to the season for me, as I’ve been assessed both a technical and flagrant foul upon releasing the Season Preview.  While I try my best, my best wasn’t good enough this time.  Shane Cercone‘s name did not appear in my preview and that was my egregious error.  The Canisius Crusader junior, who already holds a Division 1 offer, belonged in the Players to Watch section and I most certainly dropped the ball on that one.

– On the topic of things I missed, another was brought to my attention in a great tweet from the Hutch Tech basketball account.  It was a clever way to bring to my attention how good TJ Jacobs is, and how much better his game has gotten.  Looking forward to a big senior season out of that young man.

– Nichols is off to an impressive 4-0 start and they're even better than I expected them to be.  Most impressive for me has been how they’ve been doing it… a balanced attack that is sharing the ball.  Three different players (Jalen Duff, Parker Rey, and Jakye Rainey) have registered 30 point games for the team already, and Markus Stahlka shot 13/14 in the Lockport Rotary Tournament.

 

– Another squad off to a good start is St. Mary’s.  They've started the season 4-0 also and is another team with multiple contributors.  The Lancers have benefited from the arrival of Massimo Moretti, the big man from Italy who's game has translated quite well here in WNY.

 

– I want to make sure everyone grasps the magnitude of what I watched on Delaware Ave Saturday afternoon.  A 36 point / 18 rebound double-double performance in a win over the defending Class A Federation champs from Albany Academy by Declan Ryan to start his senior season off.  There's a lot of basketball to be played in the coming months, but that is one heck of a résumé builder in game one!

 

– Tonawanda’s Trevin Boling has had some monster early-season point totals…Two games with 39 points and a season-high 42 points.

– One of the questions I would get in the off-season/early preseason was "will St. Joe’s be any good this year"?  And when I would answer yes, the follow-up question would be "who do they have back besides Justin Glover & Solomon Jackson".  The answer to that question is plenty of depth.  My comment to that question is that they would be good regardless, because of those two.  If you haven’t had a chance to, check out some of their early-season highlights and get to some games.

 

– I finally saw McKinley play for the first time since before the pandemic.  The Macks, who are the defending Yale Cup champs following an undefeated season against city opponents in 2021, have themselves a serious squad this year that includes size inside, experience, and some flashy young guard play.

 

– Another duo fans will want to take the opportunity to watch the season is the pair at Tapestry.  Romeo Bell has taken his game to another level up at both ends of the floor and some of the passes he’s making now are just ridiculous.  Lamar Matthews runs the floor, attacks the basket effectively, has a smooth stroke from downtown, and looks taller than the 6-3 he's listed at.

 

– Timon‘s Kevin Thompson picked up a Division 2 offer from D'Youville.  I had the pleasure of watching him for a half on Monday night, before hurrying home to watch the Bills lose.  I think he’s going to be a heck of a college player and cannot wait to see more of his senior high school season. 

– After averaging over 30 points in the Greg Martin Memorial Tournament, Trey Kleitz was one assist shy of a triple-double in a win over Pioneer.  He registered 28 points, 9 assists, and a whopping 13 steals!

 

Playing with just five guys in the first three games to open the season, Cardinal O’Hara has earned a comeback win over Lackawanna and battled in two games against elite WNY programs (Niagara Falls and Olean).  They've defended very well in the two games I saw for being handicapped aggressively, while getting great senior leadership out of Keiyan Clarke & Chris Wright.

 

– Riverside is now 3-0 on the season, including a big win over South Park from Yale Cup I on Thursday.

 

– Even though there were some technical difficulties with the PA system at Canisius on Saturday, three quarters of Bryce Hopkins on the mic is better than four quarters anywhere else. 

 

-centercourt