Sharp Shooters Lift Finley Boys’ Basketball

The J. Taylor Finley Middle School boys’ basketball “white” team featured some sharp shooters. The athletic squad played its collective hearts out over the course of a 10 game schedule.

Coached by Finley physical education teacher Jordan Ioviero, the team was captained by James Ruthkowski, Shamell Spratley and Ricardo Berry. Jimmy Byrnes was a volunteer assistant coach and Diego Padilla was the team manager. (Finley’s two boys’ basketball teams were designated “white” and “blue” by Section XI since those are the district’s colors.)

“James was our leader,” Ioviero said. “He averaged 7.2 points a game and was always asked to take on the toughest defensive assignment. He was the vocal leader of our team and we could always count on him. Having James play for me was like having a coach on the court. Unfortunately, James was injured for the final two games. We went on to lose both games by only a few points, but even off the court he played a vital role in helping our players and coaching them up on the sidelines.”

When he was on the court, Ruthkowski set up the offense, controlled the game and allowed Finley to play very efficiently. “James can play both the guard and forward position and I expect him to be a big contributor as he moves up to the high school,” Ioviero said.

Spratley led Finley in scoring, dropping an average of 15.3 points with a season high of 25 in one game. “Shamell came a very long way this year,” Ioviero said. It is even more impressive that he was able to average 15.3 and scored 25 in one game in only a few quarters without any of his three point shots counting for three points. His ball handling, shooting and court vision makes him very hard to guard. I am very proud of how much Shamell accomplished this year and expect big things from him in the following years to come.”

Berry brought his steely toughness to the court. “Being a team captain for football as well, he was tough under the boards, set great screens and averaged 7.4 points a game,” Ioviero said. “It was a pleasure coaching him in both football and basketball and I look forward to him continuing both sports at the high school level.”

Eighth grader Colby Curran proved to be a great addition to Finley’s basketball team after earlier stepping in last fall and shining on the football field. Having never played either sport, he had a lot to learn in a short amount of time,” Ioviero said. “Colby would eventually be named a captain on the football team and he brought that toughness to the basketball court. Colby played the center position for us.He bought into his role of playing great defense in the paint, setting screens, scoring on pick and roles and block shots and most importantly, getting rebounds.

Curran averaged 4.1 points per game, “but set almost every high ball screen, which created scoring opportunities for everyone else,” Ioviero said. “Colby has so much potential at the next level, and with some more experience he can be a key role player in the future.”

Ioviero considers his group of eighth grade players to be “special” and said they devoted countless hours in the off-season to the sport.

“Some of our other key players were Reed Cummiskey, Robbie Campbell, Jack Corcoran, Zach Matthews, Gannon Johnson and Justin Cahn,” Ioviero said. “Reed was the glue to our B team and played significant minutes in the fifth periods. Reed’s basketball IQ was one of the highest on the team. He understands where the play is designed to go, how to set up the offense, where to be and when to make the extra pass. He averaged 5.6 points a game and I expect him to continue helping the program in the future.”

Campbell rebounded from an injury sustained in the fall soccer season to come back and average 4.8 points over the last seven games.

“Jack Corcoran played a lot of minutes for us as well, averaging two points a game, but where he excelled was on defense,” Ioviero said. “In our last game of the year he took on one of the toughest defensive assignments and held one of the best players on Commack scoreless and almost helped us defeat an undefeated team. Zach Matthews played the center for us and averaged 1.5 points a game. Justin Cahn averaged one point game, and Gannon Johnson averaged two. Joseph Rivers was unfortunately injured before our first game, but he would have been another contributor from the eighth grade class.”

Finley “white’s” seventh grade group included Charles Rosselli, Alex Castro-Simpson, Brian Fuentes, Gian Karlos Bracero, Micah Cummings, Michael Grover, Jordan Nuefville and Dario Stincone.

“Charles Rosselli averaged one point a game, and played on both the A and B lines,” Ioviero said. “He was a very good role player for us and made some key shots in important games. Alex Castro-Simpson averaged two points a game, and would eventually start in several games. He played great defense, and was one of our best rebounders on the team. All of our seventh graders learned from this eighth grade group and I know all of this experience will pay off for them as they continue on their basketball journey. I am looking forward to seeing how they all do next year.”

Ioviero was pleased with the effort put forth by his team. “Our players battled each night,” he said. “I am confident that this group benefited from this season and when all of these players combine on the junior varsity level they can be very successful if they keep working hard together.”