Basketball preseason shows promise

Coaches Jay Card, left, and Mike Mundy, center, keep players moving with fast-paced drills.

The thunderous clamor of many basketballs slamming against the floor was almost overpowering as the noise reverberated off the gym walls. The newest members of this season’s high school basketball team were doing dribbling drills to kick off their first practice on Thursday, November 19. They were loud, but couldn’t drown out the directives being shouted from returning varsity Coach Mike Mundy and junior varsity Coach Jay Card. 


The dribbling drills were part of Mundy’s approach to what the players will work on this year: “Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals,” he said. “Ball handling, passing, catching, layups, shooting. Step one.”


The varsity team saw a sizeable increase in players this season, jumping from last year’s 10 to the present 15. “It’s the most complete we’ve been,” said Mundy, adding, “we have more options this year than we’ve ever had before.” The large numbers allow for a more fast-paced game involving quick transitions and fast breaks, since there’s more opportunity for players to sub-out.


Helping out with the squad is volunteer Jim Colligan, who has over 30 years of coaching experience in Nassau County. Jay Card, last year’s junior high coach who is now coaching the 10-man junior varsity squad, is another asset to both teams, who practice together.


Although Mundy is excited about the team’s expanded roster, it comes with its own challenges. “There’s a lot of younger talent, but we’ve got to break some bad habits. Before you can run, you walk. We’re just really going back to basic basketball.” It’s not just the younger talent that needs to review the basics — three of the seniors this year are entirely new to Shelter Island basketball.


Coach Mundy said that although a few players graduated last year, “Our two highest scorers stayed with us, so that’s huge. Mike Mundy averaged 17 points a game and Dustin Mulcahy averaged 16.” Hopefully these two can help remedy the team’s biggest problem: scoring. Last year’s squad won just three games. “We even got a lot of good penetration [last year], we just can’t finish,” the coach said.


But this year’s team is ready to rack up the wins: “It’s a pretty dedicated group … They’re physical, they play hard, [and they’re] looking for a lot better things this year, knock on wood.”


Mike Mundy, one of the senior varsity captains, is this year’s starting point guard. “He pretty much runs the offense,” said Coach Mundy. Dustin Mulcahy, another senior captain, is the team’s number one rebounder, and is a “great player with his back to the basket.” Andrew BeltCappelino is the team’s third captain, a junior. “He’s our best perimeter shooter, so if they start boxing us out, we’re going to kick it back out and hopefully make things happen.”


Mundy was reluctant to give any projections on how many games they’d win. “The first year I coached I said six or eight games, easy, and we won three. So I don’t give out numbers anymore,” he said, smiling. But he seems confident. “It could be a good season for us,” adding, “they’re one of the best teams I’ve coached.”


The varsity team’s first match is a non-league game at Mattituck, at 5 p.m. on Friday, December 4. Be sure to catch their first home game, another non-league match, against East Rockaway on Saturday, December 5, at 12 noon for junior varsity and 1:45 p.m. for varsity.