St. Joseph’s hoopsters enjoying winning streak, best season in over a decade
When Damian Kennedy took over the St. Joseph of the Palisades boys’ basketball team three seasons ago, he knew that he wasn’t exactly taking over a hoop dynasty. Still, at age 25, it was an opportunity to become a head coach, something he aspired to become since he was a youngster.
"It’s what I always wanted to do," said Kennedy, who played point guard at Union Hill, then played at Caldwell College. "I think I always had the coach’s mentality."
Kennedy also comes from a coaching background. His mother, Mary Ann, is the head track and field coach at Ferris. His father, John, has also helped his wife in coaching the Bulldogs.
"I think coaching came naturally," Kennedy said.
But at St. Joseph? The Blue Jays hadn’t had a winning season in what seemed like a lifetime.
"People told me that I could never win here, that the school didn’t have any talent," Kennedy said. "I figured that I was young and it was a good opportunity for me. I wanted to build a program."
So after spending time as an assistant coach at Union Hill under current Ramapo College coach Chuck McBreen and former Hiller head coach Dave Settembre, Kennedy ventured off into the challenge known as head coaching. It was definitely not Shangri La, but it was a place to start as a head coach.
"I learned a lot, working with Chuck first and then Dave," Kennedy said. "I still talk to McBreen all the time. One thing I definitely learned was to be patient."
Patience was certainly a virtue for Kennedy when he took over the Blue Jays. During his first season, they posted a dismal 3-17 record. A year later, they were 8-12. That’s called making progress.
"It was hard, losing those first two years," Kennedy said. "But we had to get talent. Talent is what wins basketball games, not coaches. Coaching may help now and then, but it can’t win. And we had to make the kids believe that they could win. We lost five games last year by five points or less. Those are games that we really could have won."
The believing started to occur when some talented players decided to come to St. Joseph. Michel Diboty, a native of France, decided to transfer to St. Joseph from Newtown High School in Queens.
"His uncle just moved to the area and Michel was jogging around and saw the banner outside the school that said, ‘Baseball champions,’ " said Kennedy, referring to the St. Joseph baseball team that won the first-ever HCIAA Seglio title last year. "He thought it said, ‘basketball,’ and said he wanted to come here. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was baseball."
Diboty was also a standout soccer player and instantly became the Blue Jays’ leading scorer last fall.
Reggie Castellanos was a student at North Bergen High School last year, but didn’t play basketball there. When he decided to enroll at St. Joseph, he also wanted to play for the Blue Jays. Kennedy welcomed him with open arms.
Castellanos brought along his best friend, Manny Colon, who also went to North Bergen, but didn’t play. Kennedy didn’t mind. Come one, come all.
With all the newcomers, Kennedy then turned to his leading scorer a year ago, Carlos Quinteros, and asked him to take on a new role, going from shooting guard, where he averaged 15 points per game as a sophomore and 18 per game as a junior.
"He had to take a little bit of a back seat," Kennedy said. "I needed him to take more of a leadership role. But I knew he could do it, because he has a knack for the game and knows where he’s supposed to be. He always had that point guard mentality."
Kennedy took all of the pieces to the Blue Jays’ puzzle, shuffled them around, and figured he had a competitive team for the 2000-2001 campaign.
"When I looked at our schedule, I really thought we had the talent and I told people that we were going to be pretty good," Kennedy said. "I really thought we had the talent."
Those people who spoke with Kennedy about his team’s prospects must have thought that the young coach had lost his mind. Good? St. Joe’s? Be real.
And after the Blue Jays lost their first two games of the season, it looked like old times.
But Kennedy saw some promise in the first two losses to Emerson and Union Hill.
"We surprised some people by playing Emerson close," Kennedy said. "I thought that was a turning point."
It must have been, because the Blue Jays have not lost a single game since that first weekend.
"December 19, to be precise," Kennedy said. "After that first weekend, the kids just expected to win."
Since that first weekend, the Blue Jays have rattled off 12 straight wins, including impressive wins at the North Arlington Christmas Tournament and regular season victories against Union Hill and Weehawken.
Castellanos, a 6-3 forward, is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 16 points per game. Diboty, the French soccer standout, is averaging 14 points and seven assists. Quinteros, the lone holdover, is also averaging 14 points per contest.
Sophomore Manny Crispin is the team’s power forward, although he’s only 5-10. But in recent games, Crispin shut down former Hudson Reporter Athletes of the Week Manny Suriel of Emerson and Alex Quintana of Weehawken.
"Manny does everything we ask of him," Kennedy said. "He’s done a fantastic job."
Sophomore Jon-Erik Zayas has also been a mainstay. The 5-10 Zayas, who is the nephew of pop and Latin recording sensation Marc Anthony, hit a clutch 3-pointer to defeat Weehawken last week.
Junior Fernando Padron has also contributed a lot to the Blue Jays’ cause. The 5-11 guard is a key contributor in practices as well, getting the Blue Jays ready for the next opponent.
No one in their right mind, including Kennedy, could have ever imagined that the Blue Jays would be 12-2, undefeated in the HCIAA Seglio division and already headed to the NJSIAA Parochial B state playoffs for the first time since 1988.
"Did I ever think we’d be 12-2? No way," Kennedy said. "I thought we would be like 8-6 perhaps at this point. But the kids have really worked hard and the new kids made us better. It’s nothing magical. It’s actually very exciting. I don’t think I’m doing anything special. I just happen to be here at the right time. But winning makes it better."
It always has been the cure-all.