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02/15/2017 11:00 PMThe North Haven boys’ basketball team recently qualified for the postseason and junior Jared Sancho is one of the biggest reasons. Jared leads the Indians in field goal percentage at 55 percent and is their second-leading scorer by averaging 11.8 points per game. North Haven has eight victories this year and clinched its playoff bid by defeating Sheehan 55-53 on Feb. 11.
“We started off slow, but as the season continued, we started picking up the pace more, and buying in more, and we’re better than our record shows,” says Jared. “For the rest of the season, I need to score more and be a leader on the team.”
Jared has been playing varsity since his freshman season. As a sophomore last winter, he helped North Haven qualify for the Southern Connecticut Conference Tournament and the Class L State Tournament for the first time in years. The Indians lost in the first round of both tournaments and Jared is looking for them to go further this season.
“We’ve improved since then and we’re still improving now. It’s good to see the progression,” Jared says. “This year, we definitely want to win both of those first games and see how far we get.”
At 6-foot-1, Jared is a power forward, a position he’s always played as the biggest player on his teams. Jared started playing rec basketball when he was in 5th grade and also tried out for a travel squad that year. Although Jared didn’t make the travel team in 5th grade, he tried out again the following year and made the B team. When he was in middle school, Jared was cut from his 7th-grade team, but then earned a spot on the 8th-grade squad. When he arrived at North Haven High School, Jared’s time as a varsity bench player in his freshman season helped him adjust to the next level of competition.
“It was a crazy transition because I hadn’t played at such a high level,” says Jared. “High school was a lot faster than middle school. I found myself scared sometimes during freshman year, but I got used to it.”
During his sophomore season, Jared was first player off the Indians’ bench as their sixth man. Jared missed out on the first few games this year with a sprained ankle, but was in the starting lineup by North Haven’s fifth contest, and says that “felt really good.”
Justin Falcon worked with Jared as the Indians’ freshman coach two years ago. Falcon became North Haven’s varsity head coach last year and says he enjoys seeing the “energy and leadership” that Jared brings to the program.
“Jared is a player that the younger kids look up to and respect. Off the court, he is a high honors student that utilizes his great work ethic to stay on top of his studies and basketball skills. On the court, he is arguably our best athlete and other teams know that,” says Falcon. “Jared always finds a way to create good offensive shots and is a huge factor on defense, where he leads the team [with 1.6 blocks per game] and is a warrior on the glass.”
Jared feels thankful for Coach Falcon’s support that’s helped both he and his teammates improve. Jared is also thankful for the support he gets from his parents, who have influenced his potential career path. With his mother a physical therapist and his father a nurse, Jared plans on going into the medical field.
“I’ve been around it since I was born and it’s something that interests me,” he says.
Jared, who plays AAU ball in the offseason, hopes to continue his strong play as a senior next year, while adding to his leadership role, with a goal of being named a captain.
“It feels good to be a leader on the team. I see myself as a leader now and see the potential of the team with the young guys,” Jared says. “I’m excited for next year and I’d like to be captain to be able to lead the team. Being a leader is about caring, and I really care for the team as a whole. I want to lead them as far as we can go.”
For now, though, Jared’s biggest goal is to help North Haven make some waves in the playoffs, and you can bet that he’s going to continue working hard throughout the final weeks of his junior campaign.
“The chemistry is there since we’ve been playing with each other since freshman year. Our coaches always say we need to buy in and give it our all,” says Jared. “The first two games we won felt good, but we got off track. Now we’re back on track, and we really believe in ourselves.”