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02/05/2020 11:00 PMJosh Brigido is hitting his stride in his senior season with the North Branford boys’ basketball team. Josh earned a starting spot in the T-Birds’ starting lineup this winter and continues to work on improving his game every day.
Josh played one year of rec hoops when he was a youngster and then took a break for a few years. Josh decided to give the sport another try as a freshman at North Branford, but didn’t see much playing time. After Josh didn’t play in his sophomore year, Malik White, a student assistant counselor at the high school, encouraged him to get back on the floor for his junior campaign.
“As a junior, my coach saw my potential and encouraged me,” says Josh. “I was pretty nervous, because I’d never really played organized basketball. I started JV and sat varsity and went out a bit toward the end of the season to get used to it.”
Head Coach Cliff Yerkes is happy to have Josh on his squad. Yerkes notes that Josh not only is leading North Branford in 3-point shooting, including four treys in a win against Haddam-Killingworth, but is also a hard worker and a “team-first guy.”
“Josh is a terrific team player,” Yerkes says. “Although he has started every game, there have been games where he has not been in for extended time. When this happens, he is completely supportive of the players on the floor. His first priority is the team and his teammates. During JV games, you will often hear Josh cheering and applauding positive plays by the JV players.”
Josh has gained confidence on the court, while strengthening the bond among his teammates, as the campaign has progressed. Following his junior year, Josh continued to work on his skills during the offseason, often getting together with his teammates for pickup games.
Even though Josh isn’t a captain, he still tries to lead North Branford by example. Josh has seen his offseason effort pay dividends and feels happy that the T-Birds are having a solid year in which they’ve already won more games than last season. Josh scored a career-high 14 points in the team’s recent victory versus H-K.
“I try to act like a captain, because the younger kids are always watching us, and you always have to be a leader to them,” Josh says. “Our season is going way better than last year. Everyone is doing their part and working together and picking up our teammates. If someone misses a shot, we pick them up. We’re always there for each other, and if someone is down, we have their back no matter what.”
Josh was born in Florida and moved to North Branford when he was four. As a sophomore, his uncle Frank Mengert and grandmother Patti Hanley encouraged him to give cross country a try. Josh made North Branford’s varsity squad.
Sports isn’t the only area in which Josh has been influenced by his family. Josh, who was raised by Hanley since he was little, saw his grades start to slip a bit over the years. Josh struggled with his classes last year, but now he’s having much more academic success as a junior. Josh also feels grateful to see his grandma in the stands at his basketball games.
“She was disappointed in me, and I never want to see her disappointed, so I told her I’d change that for her. Now, I probably have the best grades I’ve had in my whole life. The improvement from last year to this year was insane, and I never thought I could have as good of grades as I do now,” says Josh. “My grandma has always been there when I need her. I love having someone who’s always there that can listen.”
As Josh continues to make gains on both the court and in the classroom, he has started to think about college. Josh is considering going into the railroad program at Gateway Community College, where he also plans to try out for the basketball team.
“It’s the perfect time for me to go into college because, with the mindset I had last year, it probably wouldn’t have turned out too good,” Josh says. “I’m sad, because I’m going to miss this teams and I wish I played more years, but I’m also happy to be moving on and see if I can continue to improve. I’ve grown a passion for it since last year.”