The Franklin County Technical School boys’ basketball team walked into the gymnasium at the school with a new banner flying overhead this season — Tri-County League champions.
For only the second time in the 40-year history of the program, and for the first time in 30 seasons, the Eagles won a league title last season when they went 17-4 in the regular season and won the Tri-County League with a 15-1 record.
That has put a bull’s eye on the back of the uniforms of the Eagles, who come into the season looking to repeat as league champs. While the team lost three seniors, including two starters, and has just nine players this season — including only four above the sophomore class — the Eagles come in with expectations adding another banner to the gym.
“We are looking forward to the challenge,” Franklin Tech coach Matt Llewelyn said of repeating. “We are going to get everyone’s best shot, but we always do, and trying to repeat is a good problem to have.”
What gives the Eagles a great shot to repeat is the return of senior guard Colin Gould, who was the second-leading scorer in the area last season, averaging 20 points per game. Gould may see that number increase with the graduation of Zach Korpiewski, a 6-foot-6 center who averaged 15.4 points per game, although Llewelyn said he believes his player is ready to take on an even bigger offensive workload. Llewelyn said Gould may be the best player in the TCL this season.
“You can just tell from last year that he hasn’t grown much taller, but his body has matured,” Llewelyn said. “He went to the weight room in the offseason, worked on his strength and quickness, and he now jumps two or three inches higher. He’s going to be a workhorse for us.”
Another returnee who will lead the team is junior point guard Joel Farrick, who is a great ballhandler and along with Gould, gives the team two players capable of breaking any sort of press attempted by the opposition. Farrick averaged around 4 points per game last season.
“We have no way to make up for that height or that experience, but the good thing is we return our leading scorer and our point guard,” Llewelyn said. “We won’t have a problem handling the ball, we just have to find a way to make up for that 6-foot-6 body that pulled down so many rebounds last year. We are going to have to figure out how to match up with any team with size.”
The newcomer in the three-man backcourt is sophomore Jared Bergmann, who comes up from junior varsity to step into one of the shooting guards. Another newcomer is forward Garret Cole, a freshman from the Mahar Regional School district who played junior varsity last season and at 6-foot-2, is one of the tallest players on the team. Senior Corey Johnson will take over at center this season. He returns after averaging 5 points per game off the bench last season.
The bench is just four players deep and is mostly made up of young guards. Sophomore Tyler Hastings is one of those players and he has the ability to score the ball, just as his older brother Brad Hastings did for Pioneer last season. Junior Seth Aldrich is the one player off the bench who could play some forward. Bailey Young is a freshman guard, and Cole Littlewood is a sophomore guard and both are newcomers this season. Even though Llewelyn does not have a huge roster to work with, he said he is confident in the players he has.
“Last year, we went six-deep regularly and then over the course of the season we played seven kids,” he said. “The guys are in shape and read to roll.”
As for the rest of the Tri-County League, Llewelyn said it’s early to tell who will challenge his team for the league crown. Hampden Charter School finished second last season and should be right back in the mix. The team lost leading scorer Jason Feliciano but returns both Sam Monette and Justin Rodriguez, who averaged 12.3 and 9.3 points per game respectively.
McCann Technical School finished fourth in the TCL and is always tough, so look for them to be in the mix. Pioneer Valley Christian Academy finished third in the TCL but was senior-laden and may have trouble remaining near the top of the league. Westfield Technical Academy was the fifth team out of the TCL to qualify for the postseason, finishing last season with a 11-9 record, but the Tigers graduated three of their top scorers, including Matt Wood. The team does return Tim Shevchenko who averaged 10 points per game.
Of the four teams to miss the tournament, Gateway Regional High School is always tough and figures to be competitive, while Pathfinder Vocational High School, Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School and St. Mary’s Parish School finished in the final three spots and will look to rise up.