American Heritage 83, Westlake Prep 77

We played a very good Westlake Prep team last night and were able tot pull out a 83 - 77 win in front of a boisterous crowd. The game went back and forth, with both teams holding decent advantages, and with both teams making comebacks. I am happy for and proud of my team and our fans, coaches, parents, and supporters.
Kenny Boynton continues to play the role of Superman as he scored 44 points last night. A tough minded Eloy Vargas played through extreme pain on a gimpy ankle, Raymond Taylor showed why he is the best point guard in the state, Jake Wheeler (a sophomore) hit 2 clutch free throws, and our supporting cast was absolutely great as we were able to beat a team that will win a lot of games this year.
Congrats to our JV team as they improved their record to 2-0 as they beat a good Westlake team last night.
We now turn our attention to our first district opponent, Pine Crest. We play them at home at 7:00pm on Saturday night. Come out early (Doors open at 5:00pm) and support the Patriots (please wear white) as we take on last years Regional Champions.
Thanks to all of the people that make this thing happen, and a special birthday wish to Kelly Krauss.

American Heritage 86, Riverdale (TN) 61 ; Kenny Boynton Scores 50

Our record improved to 3-0 tonight as we played a good game on the road against Riverdale High School, here in TN. We won the game 86 - 61 - and get this - Kenny Boynton scored 50 points tonight in the victory. Our team could sense that Kenny was in for a big night during the afternoon shoot around, and one of my assistant coaches warned me that Boynton was in for a HUGE night. I liked how our kids looked for him and fed him the ball. Tonight Kenny Boynton made 8 shots from 3 point range, and missed only 1 shot from 2 point range. A great game for Kenny - well done young man.

We had a great time today before the game. We slept in a little later than usual, and then had a good lunch at Chili's. Our players were so well behaved and continued their team bonding back at the hotel after lunch. Jake Wheeler, Brett Buzzard and Coach Alpert flew in this morning and met up with us for lunch. It was good to have those guys here with us.

We watched game film for an hour before we went to the gym for our pregame shootaround. I really feel that our film sessions were beneficial to us as we were able show both the good and the bad to our team.

Before our girls game tonight the tournament held their 3 point contest. Our participant was senior Erik Digranes, and, get this - he won the contest! I was proud of him and happy for him.

Overall it was a great day for the Patriots, and I can't wait to spend another day with the team.

Hello Nashville! - American Heritage 67 Blackman 55

Tonight was a big night for the Heritage Hoops team. I type this from my hotel room in Murfreesboro, TN, where we are staying for the weekend as we compete in the Thanksgiving Classic tournament up here. We boarded the plane at 6:45am this morning along with the girls team. I love travelling and spending time with the Lady Patriot Players and Coaches, as I feel we have good synergy and chemistry with their program. I really respect Coach Sibio and Coach Kossenko, and Coach J gets it done, too.

We played (and beat) a good team tonight (Blackman High) - but that wasn't the story of the night. The story of the night is how we played without our senior Eloy Vargas. Not only were we missing Eloy, but we were also without our 4 football players, as American Heritage's football team competed in the regional finals tonight. So our 5 biggest players were not on the court as we played a team that won 22 games last season. I really was looking forward to the game, and our players did not disappoint. Kenny Boynton finished with 34 points as he looked terrific and we improved our record on the season to 2 - 0 tonight.

We had a lengthy film review session this afternoon at the hotel. When we do film sessions we always point out both positives and negatives, and we always show specific things that we think we do well as a team, and specific things that we think we can improve on as a team. I think we did a good job of applying some of the things we showed on film in the game - and that makes me very happy.

I was happy for our guys tonight that got extended playing time for the first time all year. Jordan Katz was able to hit a big 3 pointer at the end of the 3rd quarter, and Nick Lyon, Jamal Ferguson, Erik Digranes all contributed to the big win. Well done to those guys.

On another note, I would like to congratulate the Heritage football team on a terrific season. Although their season ended tonight at Archbishop Carrol, they had a TERRIFIC season that they can be proud of. I am proud to be a Patriot football fan.

American Heritage 82, Doral Academy 67

Our first game is in the books! We were able to play with a good deal of energy and enthusiasm as we defeated Doral Academy 82 - 67 yesterday at American Heritage. The atmosphere in the gym was awesome - we played at 12:30, and called it "The Student Body Game". We sold out the gym very quickly, and I would imagine that 80% of the gym was filled with current and former students. That made the gym loud - and helped us get off to a great start. I loved how we played on offense yesterday - we got good shots, and didn't turn the ball over. We scored 82 points, which is a number good enough for us to win on most nights. The 82 points, by the way, in a 32 minute game are a lot of points. Our kids have really worked hard at practice since our preseason games, and I could tell that they were ready to try and apply what was done at practice to the games.
One downside to the game was the injury to Eloy Vargas. In the beginning of the 4th quarter, Eloy came down and injured his ankle. While the injury is not considered "season ending", he is facing some recovery time before he gets back on the court.
After the game I went over to watch the Pine Crest vs Cardinal Gibbons game. Both teams had terrific seasons a year ago, and I thought it would be a good game to watch. The game was close, with Gibbons pulling out the victory by a 52-48 score. We play Pine Crest next Saturday night in our district opener, and I am looking forward to that game.
Thanks to all who attended the game, and Happy Thanksgiving. Eat a ton.

Regular Season & Nashville, TN, Here we come!

Today, Monday November 19th, 2007 marks the beginning of our regular season. We, like every other team, start 0-0. We, like every other team, have 2 and a half months to go through the season and get better daily and prepare for the playoffs. Our first game is Wednesday November 21st at 12:15pm (our school dismisses on this day at 12:00 noon, so we call it a student and businessman special). We will be better than we were in our pre-season, and we will not be as good as we will be in the post season.
We ended up losing our 2nd pre-season game of the year to Cypress Bay (the biggest school in the United States). We didn't play well offensively (shooting 37% in 2 games), and we didn't play well defensively (gave up an average of 67 points in those 2 games). When those 2 things happen at the same, time, it will be difficult for any team to achieve victory. That loss will give us all sorts of motivation as we proceed, and, believe it or not, it will be one of the best things that could happen to us.
Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Following Thanksgiving our team will travel to Nashville, TN for a tournament. I cannot wait to watch our team chemistry get better on the road, and I look forward to playing 2 great teams out there. I will be posting pictures up on www.GoodBasketball.com daily during the trip.

1st Home Game Thoughts

Last night we hosted our first game of the year. I loved the atmosphere, loved the energy of the crowd, loved the turnout and support, and loved the attitude of our players. It was a good day in many ways, and while I don't think we played our best game, it certainly was a typical first game with typical first game things happening. I thought our opponents, Douglas, did a nice job last night. Coach Foster had his guys prepared for the game and it showed.
I really loved the way our players conducted themselves on and off the court. We ask a lot from them as players, as students, and as young men - and they measured up in every way to that last night. Look - these guys are young men too - 1st game jitters and a little nerves may have showed up a little. Earlier in the day American Heritage was the host school for the Sun Sentinel as they took pictures for their High School basketball preview, which comes out in the paper on Sunday. While I cannot tell you who their "Fab 5" are, I can tell you that the Patriots will be represented.
I give a big THANK YOU to the Heritage students who came out last night to support their peers - it was noticeable and evident. To my peers - the faculty and staff here at Heritage - thank you so much for the support - it means a lot. To my coaching staff - as always - thanks for helping me so much in all that you do.
We play Cypress Bay tonight. It should be a good game, with Cypress Bay looking to avenge the regular season loss that Heritage handed them last year. Coach Looky is one of the best in the area, and he will have his guys ready for us. Let's have more fun tonight.

2007 GoodBasketball.com Tip-Off Classic

Wednesday November 14th is fast approaching! The GoodBasketball.com Tip-Off Classic features what should be 4 good teams playing on back to back nights at American Heritage School. Joining the host school of American Heritage are 3 teams from the 6A classification in the state of Florida. The Miami Norland Vikings return again this year to the tournament and will once again feature dominating defense and strong, physical play. Coach Williams always has his guys ready to go, and the 2006 state champions are looking to come out strong on Wednesday at 5:30pm. On that day Norland will face Coach Jason Looky's Cypress Bay Lightning. Cypress Bay is another playoff team that should be in the hunt come February, and are talented and loaded from top to bottom. Cypress Bay (the nation's 2nd largest school) will turn around and play American Heritage on Thursday @ 7pm. Rounding out the 4 team field is Stoneman Douglas High School from Parkland. The Eagles are led by Coach Foster and will be well prepared for the challenge of facing Heritage on Wednesday @ 7pm and then playing Miami Norland on Thursday @ 5:30pm. All in all you have a great setup for 2 nights of good basketball.

PATRIOT MADNESS!

Oh What a Night! Friday November 2nd, 2007 turned out to be a great night to be a Patriot. Things were started by our soccer team at 4pm, as they were victorious, and that momentum led to a HUGE victory for the football team as they claimed their district title with a victory over Chaminade. All this led up to the basketball event of the night, as Heritage Hoops presented the first ever PATRIOT MADNESS event! We patterned this event after a couple of NCAA Division 1 schools who have held similar events, and we don't think any other high school in this area has ever pulled off such an event. Soooooo, going into the late night start (we started at 10:23pm) we were unsure as to how the night would ultimately go. Now I did think that we would have a great crowd, and I became more and more convinced of this fact as it became apparent that our football team was going to win. We had sold tickets all week in school, and of course we had more tickets available at the door.

I had told our kids and our parents all week long that Patriot Madness was planned for them and their enjoyment. My single goal was for them to have fun while playing ball in front of their peers and family. Well - I can tell you that we accomplished that goal. Our players - from Kenny Boynton to Eloy Vargas to Everton Chin to Raymond Taylor to Bill Slade to Jordan Katz to Nick Lyon to Brett Buzzard to Jamal Ferguson to Brandon Hando to Jake Wheeler to Jared Wheeler to Erik Digranes - ALL HAD A GOOD TIME. We spoke before the event about the importance of having everybody involved and putting on an exhibition type event for our fans. Well - they did. Congratulations go out to Bill Slade and Jordan Katz for winning the 3 point contest, and I extend my congrats to Eloy Vargas for winning the slam dunk contest. Eloy narrowly beat out Kenny Boynton and Everton Chin in the finals.

My sincere thanks go out to Coach Alpert for putting this event on and hosting the event, as well as to the rest of the coaching staff and the other teachers and staff at Heritage for assisting me in pulling off the event.

I was proud to be a Patriot on that night.