This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
12/19/2019 11:00 PMThe Morgan boys’ basketball team is coming off an exciting season that featured a 13-win improvement from the previous year, along with berths in the Shoreline Conference and Division V State tournaments. In Frank Rossi’s second year as head coach, the Huskies plan to build on last season’s momentum. Morgan finished with a record of 17-8 while advancing to the Shoreline semis and state quarters in the 2018-’19 campaign. With a new mix of players, this year’s edition of the Huskies hopes to equal or improve upon those results.
Coach Rossi knows that Morgan will miss the seniors who played major roles in last year’s success. However, Rossi still believes there is opportunity for the Huskies to grow into a contender again.
“It think we can be a very good team come February. We have the ability and talent to compete,” said Rossi. “We want to be in the top half of the Shoreline and get back to where we were last year. We want to go deep into the Division V Tournament.”
Morgan has two senior captains this year in Jon Fiorello and Nic Colebank. Both will play important roles on the floor for the Coach Rossi’s squad with Fiorello a starting guard and Colebank a forward coming off the bench.
“Jon and Nic are tremendous student leaders. They are great examples for what we want our athletes at Morgan to be,” Rossi said. “They are good students in and out of the classroom. They set the bar for how we want our student-athletes to act. They are the model.”
The Huskies have another important pair in junior guard Zach Johnson and fellow junior big man Robbie Zirlis. Both players logged significant time for Morgan last season, and Coach Rossi hopes the two make a leap this year.
“Zach Johnson started in every game for us, and he averaged seven points per game last year. He led the team in three-point field goals made. He’s an important piece coming back,” Rossi said. “Robbie Zirlis averaged seven points and seven rebounds per game. The two of them are returning with the most experience of the juniors. A lot of the focus is going to be on them this year—Robbie being on the inside and Zack being a perimeter threat.”
Another important junior who had some meaningful burn off the bench was guard Jason Cohen. He’s another shooter that can provide some dependable offense.
“Jason Cohen led the team in three-point field goal percentage at 40 percent, and he was second on the team in three-pointers made with 27,” Rossi said. “He’s one of the more consistent three-point shooters, and he’s moving into the starting role as a junior with good experience as a sophomore.”
The Huskies will depend on some solid play from younger players, and Coach Rossi will lean on sophomore center Connor Duffy for minutes as the man in the middle.
“At 6 foot-5 inches, Connor started playing as a freshman off the bench toward the end of last season,” said Rossi. “His game has come a long way, and he’s still developing. He has some great size for our league.”
The Huskies’ first man up off the bench will be sophomore Alex Fratemico on most nights. Coach Rossi considers him a sixth starter rather than a bench guy.
“Alex Fratemico is in a similar situation to Connor. He got some minutes late last season, and we’re looking for him to take another step this year,” Rossi said. “He’s a long, athletic perimeter player. He’s 6 foot-4, and he’s going to stretch some teams on the perimeter given his size.”
Other players that Coach Rossi suspects are primed to make an impact are junior forward Gavin Krott, physical junior guard Cam Carlson, and sophomore guard Drew Nye.
Coach Rossi knows there isn’t much continuity in terms of starters from last year, and he expects there may be some growing pains early in the year. On the other hand, his team is not lacking in talent, it’s just a matter of getting experience.
“I keep saying we’ll see because, looking at the roster, we have three juniors and two sophomores playing a lot of our minutes. We’re still relatively young,” Rossi said. “Robbie, Zach, and Jason were really role players last year, and now, they are being asked to emerge as core players. Our seniors rose to the occasion last year. We have a lot of player returning but not necessarily a lot of experience.”
Rossi believes that in the end, the Huskies have a solid mix of players that can wreak havoc with the proper matchups.
“I think our size is a definite strength, but we have flexibility with our roster. We can go big, small, or in between,” said Rossi. “I’d like to say a month from now, our depth is our big strength. We have good size and balance. We’re not so size dominant that we have to do everything inside. We have good shooters, and good perimeter players, too.”
Rossi knows that a season has different phases and what matters most is that his team is at the top of its game come tourney time.
“We’ve been stressing this is a process. Every day, game, and practice, we’re trying to get better, and the focus is on the big picture and where we are in March,” Rossi said. “We want to play our best basketball going into the postseason. This part of the season, it’s good to figure out your identity and whether our strengths really are our strengths.”
• The Morgan boys’ basketball team’s roster includes senior captains Nic Colebank and Jon Fiorillo; juniors Joshua Bardinelli, Cam Carlson, Jason Cohen, Zach Johnson, Gavin Krott, Mason Smith, and Robbie Zirlis; and sophomores Dominic Cacopardo, Dante DiGianni, Connor Duffy, Michael Fragola, Alex Fratemico, Brady Fritz, Cameron Johnson, Timothy McComiskey, and Andrew Nye.
• Frank Rossi is in his second season as head coach of the Huskies. Morgan’s coaching staff includes assistant coaches Jordan Bean and Ryan Florentine.
• This year, the Huskies are playing home games against Platt, Haddam-Killingworth, Coginchaug, Hale-Ray, North Branford, Valley Regional, Cromwell, Old Saybrook, and Old Lyme. Morgan also has road games versus East Hampton, Cromwell, Amistad, Westbrook, Haddam-Killingworth, Coginchaug, North Branford, and Valley Regional.