When the Kearny boys basketball team won its first division title in nine years and qualified for the state tournament for the first time in eight last season, head coach Marc McCaffrey hoped to make such accomplishments the standard moving forward.
And while the Kardinals might not have enjoyed the consistency they had hoped for so far this winter, as the calendar turns to February, both of those goals are well within reach.
Kearny begins the month with a 9-9 overall record and currently sits in 14th place in power points for North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4. The Kardinals have a 6-2 record in the HCIAL National Division standings, knowing that with wins over McNair and Ferris this week they will, at worst, finish with a share of the division title.
“They’re well aware of it,” said McCaffrey, now in his third season as head coach. “We spoke about it early in the season, trying to make that a bit of a standard now for the program. The boys are well aware (of what’s at stake this week), they work hard every day at practice and are looking forward to those opportunities.”
The graduation of last year’s top four scorers left a huge opportunity for several younger, less experienced players to take prominent roles. Arguably no one has taken greater advantage of that senior wing Allen Rivera.
A reserve a season ago, Rivera has emerged as the Kardinals’ top scorer, averaging 13.7 points per game. The 6-foot-0 Rivera has been especially productive offensively in recent weeks, averaging 17.0 points over his past six games.
“He’s embraced it very well. He’s just a very, very good scorer,” McCaffrey said. “He lets the game come to him. He doesn’t force things and he does everything within the flow of the team concept.
“He shoots the three very well, but he can get to the rim and when he gets into the lane, he has a lot of moves that he can score off of.”
Joining Rivera in the backcourt is another reserve from last year that has been a breakout performer this winter in junior Colin McKenna. The 5-foot-10 McKenna has taken over as the starting point guard and is averaging 6.9 points per game with 28 3-pointers after playing off the ball last season.
“Last year, he was much more of a role player,” McCaffrey said. “He certainly has come a long way from the beginning of the season.”
Senior guard Carlos Vazquez is averaging 4.7 points and more than five rebounds per game. But the 5-foot-10 Vazquez’s greatest impact is felt on the defensive end where he’s usually matched up with the opposing team’s top ballhandler.
“He’s just a defensive specialist and he is definitely our highest energy guy,” said McCaffrey. “He makes a ton of plays on the defensive end.”
Caleb Baptista, the lone returning starter from a season ago, is back at power forward. The 6-foot-3 senior three-sport standout, is averaging 7.9 points and five rebounds per game and can play all over the court.
“He can play inside and out,” McCaffrey said. “He is extremely athletic and he’s very versatile because of that.”
Six-foot-four senior Shaheed Lahlou starts at center. Lahlou’s interior presence and sturdiness inside allows Baptista to exploit mismatches away from the basket.
Off the bench, junior forward Joshua Barreto has been a source of instant offense, averaging 6.7 points per game, as has sophomore guard Kolton Gryckiewicz and senior guard Michael Jarquin.
Seniors Pedro Duarte, Henry Manjano and Dominic Velazquez, as well as juniors Daniel DeCastro and James Walker, plus sophomores Zevastian Lainez and Anthony Fernandez provide additional depth.
After home games with McNair on Tuesday and Ferris on Thursday, Kearny takes the short trip across town on Friday for its annual rivalry matchup with Harrison to close out of the regular season before the start of the Hudson County Tournament.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)