The Pilgrim basketball team is gearing up for tip-off and returns a veteran core to lead the way.
The team has been rebuilding in recent seasons and reached the Division II playoffs in 2023 after an 8-10 regular season. All-League seniors Dylan Vale and Carter Clifton return after big years last winter and Jacob Soulliere will also be stepping up as captain.
Vale is set to be one of the division’s top point guards and Clifton is fully healthy this season, as he was recovering from a knee injury while playing last year.
“They’re our captains and that’s a great place to start and we have a lot of good underclassmen playing behind them. We expect to have a very competitive season. I expect Dylan to be the floor general and run the court. He’s a tenacious defender but he’s become stronger since last season. He pushes the ball and controls the tempo. I expect him to make the other people around him better,” said Pilgrim coach Sean Henseler. “(Clifton) has worked very hard physically, he wasn’t himself last year. He’s one of our best 3-point shooters even though he’s one of our biggest players. I expect him to do a lot of scoring for us. We’re going to be playing very tough defense this year and he anticipates well on both ends of the court.”
Other key returners will be seniors Ian Laplume and Jayden Ames, while juniors Jack Cirelli and Michael Bryson are set to be regulars in the rotation. Also returning is sophomore Jack Bannon.
Considering the continuity within the lineup, Henseler and his staff are looking forward to hitting the ground running come opening night.
“We are lightyears ahead of where we’ve been seasons past in terms of kids understanding what we want to do offensively and defensively. This year, for the first time, we’ll be able to install everything and I think it’ll make kids excited to play,” Henseler said.
As always, Division II is likely to be a dogfight for playoff seeding. Pilgrim hopes to make the playoffs and take it from there, but will need to play tough on both ends of the floor and minimize mistakes it wants to make a deep run, according to Henseler.
“There’s confidence but not overconfidence. They know how hard it is. This should be a good year and the kids realize how good it can be, but they know how hard it will be and they’ll need to reach their full potential,” Henseler said. “The kids have bought into what we’re doing. I think as long as they play up tempo, play aggressive, don’t commit silly fouls and turnovers, they’ll be in every game.”