Finley-Blue Boys’ Basketball Celebrates Accomplishments

Ups and downs are part of every team’s season and that was the case for the J. Taylor Finley Middle School “blue” boys’ basketball team coached by Tim Madden. The squad featured a mix of veteran players and newcomers.

Finley was led by eighth grade guards Will Donaghy (averaged 10 points per game), Shates Miller (7 ppg) and Jack Steinberg (6 ppg). “Will Donaghy was the leader of this team,” Madden said. “He is a very good ball handler and shooter. Shates Miller is a very good player who created many turnovers and converted them into points. Jack Steinberg also played very well on both offense and defense.”

The squad also included seventh graders Cameron Batts, Charlie Cirlincione, Kingsley Evans, Timothy Hardge, Marco Antonio Salas and Brett Wilson; and eighth graders Graham Gooch, Brenden McNulty, Adan Ntambwe, Jordan Oromaner, Jesse Perez, Patrick Tortora, Michael Tucker and Ryan Waters.

“I am most proud of our collective effort and improvement from the first day of practice until our last game,” Madden said. “Everyone worked hard toward our goal of improving every day. We have a good group of seventh graders who will work hard in the off season and come back ready to go!”

Every team has highlights and so did Finley-blue. “Our best team accomplishment was our win against Hauppauge,” Madden said. “Everyone contributed to the victory. We shared the ball, played with great effort and executed on offense as well as in transition. It was great to finish the season with two consecutive wins.”