The end of the football season is very close. This means that basketball season is almost here. The WHHS boys will be looking to replicate what they did last season, but also to  improve. Last season they had an impressive 22-5 record with an outstanding 10-0 record in conference play. That was good enough to earn them first in the conference. They did however, lose two starters from last season in Dorian Hodge and Joseph Kenny their leading scorer and rebounder respectively . They do have two studs in Joey Belli and Justin Hodge. They have been on the team the last two years and will help fill the void left by the two standout seniors.

They have some key up and coming pieces in Jason Modak and Justin Wills. Jason Modak is a beast on the boards and Justin Wills is a lights out three point shooter and is also the brother of former WHHS basketball player Scott Wills. They will also count on the help of Joe Cerone, who will providethe team with his energy and Patrick Gilmore, who can shoot the basketball as a stretch four. Tryouts for the 2016-17 season will be held November 21st and November 22nd.

The Patriots standards are held high as they only want players who are as great off the court as they are on the court. This season, the Patriots will look to advance to the championship as they lost to Ramapo in the semi-finals in last year’s tournament. The Patriots will also look to sweep Wayne Valley this year as they tied the season series last year. Overall, the expectations for the Patriots are to win the championship this year and have a successful season.

I caught up with Michael Joyce, who is an avid basketball fan and asked what his thoughts on what the Patriots season should be like. He said, “I feel like we have a complete roster and we can make it to the championship game this year, and we should go undefeated in conference play.”

Their first game of the season is against a West Milford team that went 0-10 in conference play last year, which will be on December 16th.