December has finally arrived, and we all know what that means: Rec Ball has officially begun. Arguably Westborough’s favorite high school basketball program recently held its annual player draft. The general consensus is that the league is weaker after graduating a dominant senior class, but there’s still plenty of talent, including a handful of converted school ball players from last year.

1.) Team Schiffman – Team Schiffman looks really strong. This team has so many athletic kids on it, but the big question is whether or not that athleticism is accompanied by enough basketball skill to win it all. Ryan Nichols and Will Schiffman will lead this team with a lot of depth around them. In our eyes, the only thing standing between this team and title contention could be the pressure that Assistant Coach Nichols places on them from talking so much smack.

2.) Team Barry – Team Barry killed teams with their full court zone press last year. This season, we’ll find out if they have the speed and athleticism to do it again. Jackson Barry is going to dominate offensively as the number one option coming off a season where he scored a lot with two other significant scoring threats around him. The Sullivans, Mac Bradley, and Tyler Nagi (the fan favorite) all are above average players surrounding him. We expect big things from this team.

3.) Team Kelley – Team Kelley has arguably the best player in Rec Ball this year in Zach Walker. There are few, if any, people capable of guarding Walker at all three levels. We expect lots of two-man game between Walker and Pat Kelley this season. Team Kelley will need some scoring help from Joey Kurtz, Troy Kanji, and others or else teams will throw double teams at Walker.

4.) Team Guilbeau – Team Guilbeau is almost a mirror image of last season’s Team McGinn with a solid squad of Juniors leading the way. Everyone who has ever played with Arya at BSC is eagerly waiting to see his rec ball debut; legend has it he’s never missed an open three. Helping Arya are the Kaplan’s, Guilbeau and Kerr. This is a deep squad and will definitely be a tough team to beat.

5.) Team Bersani – Team Bersani has two of the best juniors in the league. Brendan McCafferty and Pete Bersani wisely chose to take their talents to Rec Ball, and they’ve been rewarded with a top 5 preseason ranking. This team has some solid players to complement these two, with Danny McMillen, Hugh Burke, and others being capable scoring threats. This team is one of the early contenders, and we can see them moving up in the rankings as the season is underway.

6.) Team Khoury – Team Khoury definitely looks improved from last year. This team is physical and big. The Choate brothers will be major factors for this team along with Asael. Ed should also play a big role in the fast break and on defense for this team, and Tacco’s size will help in the rebounding game. Watch out if Jon gets hot from three. This is overall a solid team on paper that will dominate the boards and be good on defense.

7.) Team Meyer – Zach Levine is possibly the fastest player in the league. He’s a pass-first point who’ll be looking to push the break for Team Meyer. Anirban Dasgupta is also a solid scorer who provides length, and Alex Mack will help out on the defensive end by continuing to be the most annoying defender in the league. Team Meyer will need Zeeshan and other players to hit open threes to balance out the lack of outside shooting that their top scorers provide.

8.) Team Philbrook – I think we can all agree that this Team Philbrook is much more formidable than last year’s. Led by the McCarthy brothers, with Boyer and the Philbrook trio to assist, this could be a tough team to beat. Team Philbrook is well rounded and has a handful of players who could average double-digit scoring.

9.) Team McGinn – Team McGinn looks solid to start the year. The team mostly consists of younger players looking to make a name for themselves. Athleticism is a big feature of this team, and it’d be ideal to see the younger guys really step up throughout the season. Coach McGinn is this team’s biggest weakness. Hopefully he remembers how many timeouts he has left this year.

10.) Team Capello – Ryan French is an electric scorer and is probably good enough to carry any team to victory on his best nights. He has enough solid players around him, including the Kumar brothers, Navi, and Luke Capello, that Team Capello will be solid. However, one of these players must step into the number two scoring role consistently for this team to be a serious threat.

11.) Team Grossman – Team Grossman already has an apparently disgruntled player (Anoop Patta), which you truly hate to see before the season has even begun. It’s nice to see Mr. Grossman back coaching Rec Ball after previously being banned. Kevin McCarthy, Jack Cardin, and self-proclaimed top-15 player in the league Eric “Swish or it’s Ugly” Gould have pressure on them to carry the scoring load if Team Grossman hopes to be successful this season.

12.) Team Macelhaney – Eli Richman will have to carry for this team offensively to win a lot of games, and we know he’s capable of that. Kid is an absolute unit. Aidan Meehan, Owen Gately, Sid Khakhar, and Peter Laughlin will also have to help out in the scoring column. Ian Murray looks like he’s been working on his post game at BSC (don’t be surprised when he pulls out the Dream Shake on you down low). This team doesn’t look like a contender to start the year, but the beauty of Rec Ball is that you never know until you play.

13.) Team Townsend – Team Townsend definitely has the best chemistry in the league. This team doesn’t really have anybody that’s proven they can take over a game or lead the offense themselves. James Fitzgibbons is a good all-around player, and Jeremy James is a great player, but as a #1 option this team might struggle to score as teams will look to key in on them defensively. They will need their seniors Bram, AJ, and Zac to step up. Advice for Team Townsend, as per usual: try to silence the haters.

14.) Team Last – Team Last is going to depend on the three point shooting of Josh Sternberg and Will Burger, as well as the athleticism of Kevin Flahive to be in the top of the standings. A team that relies heavily on threes tends to be inconsistent. We expect Team Last to be really scary when they’re making their threes and struggle when they aren’t.

15.) Team Hogan – Team Hogan clearly has one thing going for them–height. Ryan Primeau and Jaeger will have to be forces in the paint and increase their scoring averages from last year for this team to win a lot of games. They will also need Tim Barry and Owen to help out in the outside shooting game.

16.) Team Croft – Matt Crowley will have to score 15 points per game for this team to be near the top of the standings. Keith and Arthur are capable scorers that will have to be consistent. Look for the Goulet brothers to be a factor. Team Croft starts the year low in the ranking, and their top scorers are going to have to prove themselves to gain respect in the league and move up in the rankings.