The South Jersey Rock

By Ross Wilson

The first thing you'll notice upon entering Williamstown High School's dramatic gymnasium is it's handsome arena-like setting. It has an overhead scoreboard, a stunning "Bleacher Creature" grandstand behind the south backboard and plenty of space for packing in fans. Packing in fans is something the Williamstown Braves boys' basketball team can expect to do more of if they continue to play superb basketball.

After a rousing 51-46 victory over Washington Township, the Braves sit at a perfect 15-0. If the season ended today, Williamstown would have home court advantage for as long as they remained alive up until the South Jersey Group 3 final.

The Braves have been led by 6'3" junior guard Collin Sheehan and 6'5" center Jeff Agosto. Sheehan has led the offensive attack by averaging 17.4 points per game, while Agosto (a Shane Battier clone) has been the teams' defensive stalwart and presence in the paint.

"Collin (Sheehan) does a little bit of everything. He's a big guard who can rebound well and take it strong to the whole. He just has the whole package," said Braves coach Bill Hunt. "Jeff (Agosto) is our motor. He's our energy. He has defensive intensity, he dives on the floor, he block shots, he's been taking charges… he's one of the best defensive players that we've ever had and he's a 6'5" kid that's a great athlete and covers a lot of ground and just brings that intensity to the whole team," said coach Hunt.

Senior 6'2" forward Mike Seidenberg and Matt Tomasello provide the little extras that every team needs to be successful, while senior 6'1 guard Kyron Galberth runs the point with style and confidence.

"Kyron's done a great job all year and I think he's one of the best point guards around. He can break people down, he can go inside or outside, he's a great defender, he's real quick and a good ball handler… he's been our glue pretty much… just making sure we're getting the ball into the hoop."

"If you look at our whole season, we haven't had one guy that's dominated. Everybody's contributed and on most nights we have at least three guys in double figures," said coach Hunt after the Washington Township victory. "It could be a different guy on a different night who comes up big for us, so you don't have to just stop one guy and then beat us. The kids are playing together well as a team, and obviously we're just trying to hang in there. We've been healthy all season… so those are some of the main factors."

Despite the success of the first half of the season, coach Hunt is quick to point out that the road to the South Jersey Group 3 crown will be tough to travel.
"Camden, Middle Twp., Pemberton, Willingboro, Lakewood… you can go on and on and on. I know that in the Tri-County conference we're one of the top teams, but I know that when we step out of our conference, it's going to very very tough. Those are all great teams. To get out of Group 3, we're going to have to take care of the basketball and just try to play our game and don't let other teams dictate the tempo to get us to play the game that we don't want to play."

A 15-0 tempo is a good way to prepare. So far, so good. BACK

		By Ross Wilson The first thing you'll notice upon entering Williamstown High School's dramatic gymnasium is it's handsome arena-like setting. It has an overhead scoreboard, a stunning "Bleacher Creature" grandstand behind the south backboard and plenty of space for packing in fans. Packing in fans is something the Williamstown Braves boys' basketball team can expect to do more of if they continue to play superb basketball. After a rousing 51-46 victory over Washington Township, the Braves sit at a perfect 15-0. If the season ended today, Williamstown would have home court advantage for as long as they remained alive up until the South Jersey Group 3 final. The Braves have been led by 6'3" junior guard Collin Sheehan and 6'5" center Jeff Agosto. Sheehan has led the offensive attack by averaging 17.4 points per game, while Agosto (a Shane Battier clone) has been the teams' defensive stalwart and presence in the paint. "Collin (Sheehan) does a little bit of everything. He's a big guard who can rebound well and take it strong to the whole. He just has the whole package," said Braves coach Bill Hunt. "Jeff (Agosto) is our motor. He's our energy. He has defensive intensity, he dives on the floor, he block shots, he's been taking charges… he's one of the best defensive players that we've ever had and he's a 6'5" kid that's a great athlete and covers a lot of ground and just brings that intensity to the whole team," said coach Hunt. Senior 6'2" forward Mike Seidenberg and Matt Tomasello provide the little extras that every team needs to be successful, while senior 6'1 guard Kyron Galberth runs the point with style and confidence. "Kyron's done a great job all year and I think he's one of the best point guards around. He can break people down, he can go inside or outside, he's a great defender, he's real quick and a good ball handler… he's been our glue pretty much… just making sure we're getting the ball into the hoop." "If you look at our whole season, we haven't had one guy that's dominated. Everybody's contributed and on most nights we have at least three guys in double figures," said coach Hunt after the Washington Township victory. "It could be a different guy on a different night who comes up big for us, so you don't have to just stop one guy and then beat us. The kids are playing together well as a team, and obviously we're just trying to hang in there. We've been healthy all season… so those are some of the main factors." Despite the success of the first half of the season, coach Hunt is quick to point out that the road to the South Jersey Group 3 crown will be tough to travel. "Camden, Middle Twp., Pemberton, Willingboro, Lakewood… you can go on and on and on. I know that in the Tri-County conference we're one of the top teams, but I know that when we step out of our conference, it's going to very very tough. Those are all great teams. To get out of Group 3, we're going to have to take care of the basketball and just try to play our game and don't let other teams dictate the tempo to get us to play the game that we don't want to play." A 15-0 tempo is a good way to prepare. So far, so good. BACK