By Nick Konotopskyj
Sports Editor
Back in 2012, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams went on magical runs to reach the NCAA tournament. The women won the Atlantic 10 regular season title while the men’s team, led by the great Andrew Nicholson, plowed through St. Joseph’s, UMass, and finally Xavier to win the conference championship and make it to the tournament for the first time in over 12 years.
The three years to follow were successful, but not good enough for either team to play late into March. There is still a lot of basketball to be played in this season, but things are reminiscent of four years ago.
The women ended up making it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen in 2012, and this year’s team seems to be on that exact same path. They have a record of 17-2 (6-0 in A-10) with 16 straight victories.
A year removed from a disappointing season that saw the Bonnies get bounced in their first game in the A-10 tournament, this team seems to have all of the motivation in the world. In the pre-season, the Bonnies were picked to finish ninth out of 14 teams.
The Bonnies have a balanced attack led by senior forward Katie Healy who averages 14.7 points per game. Healy is one of the best to ever wear the brown and white, as she will go down in the top five in scoring, rebounds and free throws all-time at Bonaventure. The team is a quarter of the way through the conference schedule and they sit atop the Atlantic 10.
All good teams have a star who can carry them, but Healy has a ton of help from her teammates. The guard play has been strong with Nyla Rueter and guard Mariah Ruff providing the team with quality scoring in the backcourt. Along with Healy down low are forwards Gabby Richmond and Miranda Drummond. This team has a great chance at an at-large bid or even going on to win the conference championship.
As for the men, they have started 2016 off with a bang, getting off to a 12-5 start while winning four of thier first six conference games. The Bonnies were picked to finish eighth in the preseason, and they are led by their “big three” which consists of guards Marcus Posley, Jaylen Adams, and forward Dion Wright.
Two of their four conference wins came against the Rhode Island Rams and Davidson Wildcats who were two of the top four teams in the A-10 coming into the year.
The trio combines to average 51.4 points per game. Freshman Nelson Kaputo has fit into the back-up point guard role extremely well, showing why he was the top rated point guard in Canada.
Coach Mark Schmidt has been great over the years at molding his players over the course of four years. He did that with Dion Wright, and now it is starting to work for junior forward Denzel Gregg.
Gregg had a minimal role in his first two seasons in Olean, but now the Syracuse native is starting to show how big his upside truly is. He averages just over 10 points a game, and in conference play, his scoring has elevated to over 15 per contest.
We know who will take the shot at the end of the game (Posley), who will run the offense (Adams), and who will get tough buckets down low (Wright), but Gregg is the key to the Bonnies making a run to get into the NCAA tournament.
With Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, and Saint Joseph’s next on the schedule, the men’s team will have to bring their “A game” in order to pick up key conference wins.
There is still roughly half of a season to go for both of these veteran savvy teams, but one thing is for certain. If they both finish the season the way they started, expect to hear the name “St. Bonaventure” called on Selection Sunday.
konotonr12@bonaventure.edu
