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Coming Through

Anthony Durham, one of the players responsible for the rise of PSA basketball to number 4 in the country, blows by a defender. Photo courtesy of Mehmet Eygoren.

 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

Putnam Science Academy varsity basketball is in it eight season of competition.  During that brief period, coach Tom Espinosa has posted a winning record of 134-47, while gradually developing teams to carry the Mustangs banner to a high level.

This season, Espinosa has assembled probably the most talented group of players ever to take the Maple St. court.  The 2013-2014 edition of Putnam Science Academy basketball hasn’t disappointed, posting an impressive 17-2 (as of Jan. 27).

The talented Mustangs were recognized in the preseason post graduate basketball ranking when they cracked the poll for the first time ever, edging into  number 10 in the rankings.  Following a pair of close losses to a pair of perennial prep powers Notre Dame Prep and Wilbraham & Munson the Scientists have reeled off an impressive nine game winning streak in which they’ve catapulted from 13th in the country to the latest ranking as the  number 4 team in the country.

The team trails only #1 Brewster Academy, number 2 Fishburne School and number 3 Hargrave Academy.  Ranked teams in the Top Ten that PSA has beaten include number 5 Northfield-Mt. Hermon and #6 St. Thomas More.  Leading the team to the stratospheric ranking has been point guard Danny Upchurch, off guards Anthony Durham and Dalique Mingo, inside standouts Chaise Daniels, Jordan Butler and Jalen Terry and sixth man Kyle Menard.

Over the years the Mustangs have featured the likes of Dayshon “Scoochie” Smith, now at the University of Dayton; Shaun Lawton, now at the University of Maine; and 7-foot Rundell Mauge, at Pacific University in Stockton, Calif.  These greats and many others have paved the way in the growth of the program.

The winning history they’ve established and the legacy they’ve imparted have been the groundwork and foundation that’s helped Espinosa to put together this year’s team, which now has the opportunity to go one step further if they can qualify for the National Prep School Championships in March.

 

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