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02/26/2020 11:00 PMBryce Charney has had a basketball in his hands since he was six years old. Now in his senior season with the North Haven boys’ basketball team, Bryce is getting an opportunity to show what he’s learned throughout his long journey on the court.
Bryce is in his second season as a starter for the Indians. He was named a captain heading into his senior year and serves as North Haven’s primary ball handler. As a captain, Bryce knows that his teammates respect him and want him to lead the team. Bryce says that playing varsity as a junior has helped him become a more vocal leader this winter.
“Last year, just being out there, being able to actually help my teammates on the court, I felt I was able to contribute more that way,” Bryce says. “I always liked to make suggestions. I have a good basketball mind.”
Bryce is being relied upon as one of the Indians’ main offensive weapons this year. One of the biggest moments of his season came when North Haven took on Shelton at Fred Kelly Gymnasium on Jan. 21. In a back-and-forth contest, Bryce hit a one-handed runner with 27 seconds left to send the game into overtime. Although the Indians wound up taking a 72-66 defeat, Bryce had a breakout performance that saw him score 27 points on the night.
Head Coach Justin Falcon was impressed with how Bryce tried to will North Haven to the victory.
“He couldn’t miss,” says Falcon. “One of Bryce’s best qualities is how hard he works. The guys know how much effort he puts in to get his game better every day.”
Bryce began playing recreational basketball in Hamden before joining the North Haven league. From there, he worked his way up through the middle school ranks to the varsity level with the Indians.
Bryce comes from a “basketball family” and says that his father has been crucial to his success. When Bryce was a kid, his dad painted a free-throw line and a 3-point line in the driveway, so Bryce could work on his shooting. Bryce believes that practicing on that tailor-made court played a big part in getting him to where he is now.
“My dad has helped me the most in my career. We have been doing shooting drills in my driveway longer than I can remember,” says Bryce. “He keeps me on my toes. Without him, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Bryce has also worked with trainer Will Reaves for the past two years. Reaves is a North Haven basketball alum, and Bryce feels that his knowledge of both the program and high school hoops in general has proved a tremendous asset.
“He’s been through it all. All the hardships we face, he talks me through it,” Bryce says of Reaves. “Even if it’s not working out, we’ll text after games, and he’ll give me feedback. Knowing that he has been in the exact same spot as me, it helps me trust him.”
Bryce considers himself a shoot-first player on the floor. However, he was disappointed with his shooting percentage as a junior. As a result, Bryce started to go to the gym after every practice to make sure that his skills were sharp.
“If you work just as hard as everybody else, you’re not going to see a separation between you and the other players, skill-wise,” says Bryce. “I knew I had to outwork everybody.”
Coach Falcon is seeing Bryce’s hard work pay off. Falcon has also seen Bryce progress from someone who saw sporadic minutes as a sophomore into an excellent leader for this year’s edition of the Indians.
“Bryce is a kid that any team would love to have,” Falcon says. “His hard work, his skill set, the examples he sets for the other kids on the team—he’s an all-around a positive addition to our team every day.”
North Haven recently clinched a spot in postseason, and Bryce wants to help the Indians go as far as they can in his final year with the team. Bryce would like to continue playing basketball after graduation and has looked at schools such as Endicott, Merrimack, and Western New England. Even when he leaves North Haven, Bryce will always remember all the relationships that he made while playing the sport he loves in his hometown.
“It was a great experience,” says Bryce. “I met so many new people, my friendships have grown, I’ve established great relationships with my coaches. There’s not many negatives I could say about my experience at North Haven.”