SARATOGA SPRINGS — Midway through its season, the Spa Catholic Saints basketball team is finding creative ways to overcome a serious disadvantage: height.
“We’ve played everybody in the league now and we are the smallest team height-wise, and it’s not really close,” said Coach Shea Bromirski. “We basically start five guards.”
The Saints’ strategy has been to speed up the pace of its games, and force opponents to play faster than they’d like. “To do that, you have to take care of the basketball,” Bromirski said. “If you play fast and turn it over all the time, that’s a recipe for disaster.”
The squad is also focused on grabbing more rebounds despite missed shots sometimes sailing over their heads. “We have to just swarm to the ball,” Bromirski said. “That’s a challenge for us but we’re getting better.”
On offense, the Saints use speed to their advantage by getting open looks from beyond the arc. The team has had multiple games with more than 10 three-pointers. All those threes have resulted in the Saints averaging nearly 62 points per game. “We’re a fun watch,” Bromirski said. “This has been one of my favorite seasons I’ve ever had.”
Less fun was guard Hunter Fales’ recent injury. The junior averaging 8 points per game broke his wrist at the end of December and will be out of action for 5 to 6 weeks.
Last year, the Saints finished 12-8 in the regular season and were the third seed in the Class C sectionals. Midway through this season, their record stood at 7-4.
