By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

The past two seasons the Millbury boys basketball team have compiled a 34-9 regular season record while earning a top five seeding in the Division 4 State Tournament. Each season they made it into the Final 4 where unfortunately the team fell to Wareham, the eventual state champions.

 In 2023 Millbury never had a shot and eventually went down to defeat by 28 points; last year it was a much different story. While the Woolies still lost to Wareham they did it with much more grace taking the champs to overtime, where they would only lose by 2 points.  

“It was a tough loss, but it was a great experience for the kids and hopefully they learned from it,” Millbury coach James Donnelly said. “A lot of those high-level players in Division 4 will be gone this season and it should be back to normal, that is, except for Bourne.”

Millbury lost seven seniors, four of them starters, to graduation, including one of the best athletes in the league in Kenny Donnelly. Despite the large number of vacancies left by the seniors Donnelly’s goals are still the same as they were a year ago.

“We’re coming in with the same goals; we believe that we can compete for a state championship,” he said. “We’ll still be in contention – it’s our mission and we’ve put together a schedule that should allow us to make a run once again.”

While the Woolies did say goodbye to seven seniors, they will have seven athletes, all but two want to play basketball on the collegiate level, returning.

Last year’s sixth starter, wing Mathias Waire will be one to contend with this winter and should be one of the key components to Millbury’s success. According to the coach, Waire is very difficult to guard on the high school level. He is not only strong but possesses a perimeter-oriented game and can really shoot the ball. 

If the outside shot is not there, he has the ability to drive to the hoop and finish. The third-year player will be the Woolies go-to guy this season and can basically do anything that is asked of him on the court.

“Mathias is 6’2”, strong and skilled,” Donnelly said. “We are going to rely on him a lot for offense; he’s a bona fide scorer and tough to match up against.”

Other athletes that Donnelly will be looking to help the team to get beyond the Final 4 will be juniors Aiden Phillipo and Jimmer Donnelly in addition to Nolan Clark.

Phillipo is a shooting guard that has improved his game where last year he found himself a swing player due to the team’s depth. The junior shoots the ball at a high clip and is an excellent defender on the ball and Donnelly is looking for him to have a breakout season.

Jimmer Donnelly is a true point guard who can also find the bottom of the net and is an excellent defender. The coach calls him a clutch shooter that is not bothered by the opposition’s defense; he seems to thrive in high pressure games.

 Clark is strong and fast, and yet another athlete that can shoot, but it’s his defense that standouts the most. 

 “He can defend all types of players; he’ll play the bigs or take on the lead guard,” the Millbury coach said. “He is a nice player to have on your team and much like Aiden, I’m hoping that he has a breakout year.”

Last season Clark and Phillipo were squeezed out due to the fact that the Woolies not only had a lot of talent in front of them but were playing winning basketball.

Sophomore Jayden Delaleu and freshman Ryan Nikiforow may be young but will bring a lot to the court this winter. Delaleau is a kid with a future, according to the coach. The sophomore has exceptional talent and Donnelly is excited about being able to coach him for the next three years. 

“Any team would love to have an individual with his talent on their roster,” Donnelly said. “He is super skilled and full of potential. We know what he’s going to be this year, there is nothing that he can’t do and has already proven his worth last year as a freshman.”

Nikiforow, is another talented athlete who should be making an impact for the Woolies this year as a freshman. He has a basketball skill set and is a very smart player. At 6’ 3” he can shoot and sees the floor well and can step right in and play as a first-year player.

One other player Donnelly is looking to have a good season this winter is Abdul Bangura, a football player who is exceptionally strong and a superb athlete who possesses a nice skill set on the court. He will do whatever is needed of him to help the team win and be successful. On the boards he will be a handful to opposing teams.

The coach is very optimistic about the team’s season. He knows that they all want to get into the State Tournament and make a run through it.

“All of these kids play hard and, although young, are highly coachable,” he said. “They’re all willing to make sacrifices in order to get to the State Championship. In addition to their talent, they have an awesome coaching staff and a supportive  community behind them.”

Donnelly just wants his players to step onto the court and play a high-level game while getting better each day. If the team can follow the coach’s philosophy then they should be able to reach their ultimate goals.

“We have no breaks in our schedule, it’s ruthless, but that’s the way we want it,” the coach said. “It will allow us to prepare and hopefully, we will be able to give those teams tough-fought games night in and night out. We believe that we can play with anybody