High hopes for St. Joseph boys after injury-marred season

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, December 2, 2018 | 11:48 PM

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The 2017-18 season could go down as one of the most forgettable seasons in St. Joseph boys basketball history.

What could go wrong did go wrong. After a hot start, injuries caught up to the Spartans, leaving longtime coach Kelly Robinson to look down his bench into the eyes of some very inexperienced players.

“One of the positive things that came out of last season was that all of those kids that were thrust into varsity basketball, that weren’t ready yet, played varsity basketball and they got better,” said Robinson, who is in his 20th season at St. Joseph. “That strengthened us for this year.”

This season, St. Joseph has the confidence and swagger of a team that hopes to contend in Class A.

“Honestly, I think we can make a convincing playoff run, if not make it to the championship (game),” sophomore guard Andrew Sullivan said. “I feel like now we have all of the pieces, and we just need to figure out how to get them all together and get used to playing with each other.”

Sullivan was one of those players thrust into a starting role last season as a freshman. Sullivan said it took him a few games to not only get comfortable running the offense, but also running the floor for 32 minutes. Once Sullivan got his basketball legs, he finished the season leading St. Joseph with 19 points per game.

“(Grant) Bendis and (Andrew) Sullivan put the team on their backs the whole season,” Robinson said.

Bendis, a senior guard, returns to the starting lineup having averaged 15 points last season.

Senior guards Matt Arvay and Daniel Fábregas are back from injuries that kept arguably the team’s two most important players off the court. Arvay missed last season with an ACL injury, and Fábregas had a nagging hand injury that needed time to heal.

“(Fábregas) is the emotional leader of our team, and when he went out, we lost that flame,” Robinson said. “(Fábregas) is going to go 100 percent for four quarters. There’s no on-and-off switch.”

The fifth spot on the floor will be filled by Evan Kuczynski or Gabe McKernan. Robinson said both seniors bring something different, and it will come down to matchups. The 6-foot-4 Kuczynski has one thing going in his favor, and that’s the four inches he grew over the summer.

Much like Sullivan last year, Robinson has another promising freshman in guard CJ Singleton, who Robinson said is the complete package on offense and defense and will be the first player off of the bench. Singleton was a standout cross country runner, finishing fourth in the WPIAL and 20th in the state in his first season of Class A competition.

“He’s coming in like Sullivan came in as a freshman,” Robinson said. “He’s a player. He’s a very good shooter. He has a nice shot, and the nice thing about him is that he’s well-rounded. He’s not just a one-trick pony. But you really don’t know until that uniform is put on.”

Three-point specialist Dominic Fellowes will also get time off the bench.

With all the depth and scoring power, if a bench player wants to earn minutes, playing tough defense will be the way to do it.

“I think for us to be successful, we have to play team defense,” Robinson said. “I know that if we’re struggling out there (on offense), I got kids on the bench that can got out there and light it up.”

The Spartans will host Propel Braddock Hills on Friday in the St. Joseph tip-off tournament.

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: St. Joseph