Winter is here, and with winter comes the basketball season at JCHS.  The varsity boys’ basketball team, coached by Mike Mancino, looks to get off to a successful start this season.  The past couple of years the boys have lost in the first round of the state tournament and they look to improve upon that this season.

Senior captain, Jimmy Sweeney said, “What I[‘m] look[ing] forward to most this season is playing with a great group of seniors, it is going to make the season very enjoyable as well as successful.”  He also said, “The team is looking pretty solid early on, we’ve been working hard and once all of the football players are back to basketball shape, we have a chance of accomplishing all of our goals this season.” This season consists of many key matchups; some of them include Verona, West Essex, and Cedar Grove whom Caldwell will play in the Christmas tournament at Caldwell College as well as Caldwell’s newly developed rival Newark Academy. Coach Mancino commented, “The team and especially our seniors [are] excited for this season. We open with Barringer and our home opener is next week against Nutley. We are looking forward to a great year.”

Also, all of the conference games are important because not much separates all of the teams’ talent levels, so all of the games will be exciting to watch.  “Throughout the year the schedule is going to consist of many hard fought games, but there will not be a single game we feel we can’t win,” senior captain Sweeney stated.

This year the team looks to be in good shape. The team will be led by its seniors who include captain Jimmy Sweeney, Marco Cutri, Billy Pierce, Sean Nastelon, Richie Todd, Aaron Rhaney, Zach Endersby, and Bowden Winter.  The seniors, as well as the whole team, have high expectations for this season.  This season looks to be very promising for the Caldwell Chiefs.