The Bedford High School Buccaneers won five of six boys’ basketball games in December. That’s really good, but Head Coach Anthony Halls hopes the fast start is a sign of things to come.
“I’m a coach — I’m greedy,” he laughed, as he discussed preparing his team for a daunting stretch of three away games to open 2022: Westford Academy on Tuesday, Cambridge Rindge and Latin on Jan. 12, and Arlington High on the 15th.
“It’s a long season,” he acknowledged. But the Bucs will be successful, he said, “as long as they believe in each other, trust in each other.”
And play defense.
Defense will be the key to the rest of the season, Halls said. “Our guards can really put pressure on the ball. That’s one of the biggest factors. Whenever you can pressure, it speeds the game up and you have players handling the ball who are not used to making decisions.”
“We are road warriors now,” the coach said—the team doesn’t return to the BHS gym until Jan. 21. But he noted, “Defense travels.” That’s especially important in the Dual County League, he added.
Tuesday evening, Westford will be a tough opponent, Halls said. “They don’t make many mistakes, and they play sound defense,” he said. “We have to be able to match their toughness and physicality.”
During the holiday break, the Bucs made two trips to Auburn, defeating Blackstone Vocational in the semifinals and two days later defeating the host team, 52-35, in the finals of the annual Bob Muir Tournament.
The championship game began slowly, as Bedford was challenged by Auburn’s two-three zone. The shooters were tentative, and the Bedford lead after the first eight minutes was only 9-5, and had increased to 19-10 at the half.
“In the second half we came alive with timely rebounding and great ball pressure,” Halls said. “We were able to talk at halftime about how to move through the zone and hit guys on the move.”
Matthew Forman led the Bedford scorers with 19 points, followed by Jacori McNeil with 11.
The team dedicated the championship to Ryan Kilian, who coached most of the current players for the past two years. Kilian died unexpectedly over the summer at age 42. The Bucs posed for photos displaying Kilian’s team jacket and their trophy.
“These guys were happy—they won a championship,” said Halls, who was Kilian’s teammate and friend for more than 20 years and his assistant coach at BHS.
Halls acknowledged that the Bucs are deep and experienced – most of them are seniors. That means “guys can step up at any time,” and that seems to be the pattern over the first six games. The coach added that he encourages the younger players to take advantage of opportunities and not simply defer to their experienced teammates.
He said his rotations balance “trying to keep everybody fresh” with ensuring that Buccaneers feel their hard work in practice is being rewarded.
The coach explained that his basketball philosophy is applicable to all aspects of a player’s future, including higher education and professional performance.
“I preach energy and effort and attitude—three things that everybody can control themselves,” he asserted. “If we can control those things, we will give ourselves a chance to win every game. And those are attributes that can take you into the real world. For me, that is the most important part.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
Loading ...
