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Select Team
Right: The Woodstock Academy’s Basketball Select program is being guided by Reginald Stovell in its first year in existence at the school. International students make up the roster for the Woodstock Academy Basketball Select program. Photos by Woodstock Academy.
Select basketball comes to Woodstock Academy
It’s not the same as the prep basketball program that Woodstock Academy had begun to field prior to COVID.
But the Centaurs do have a prep basketball program again and it’s now known as Select Basketball.
“Prep basketball before was a very good program run by Tony Bergeron and Jacque Rivera. They did a great job of bringing top talent from the area and across the country. At some point, Tony’s program was No. 1 in the country. We are not going to fill those shoes,” said Select coach Reginald Stovell. “We just want to get out there, compete and work hard.”
The Woodstock Academy Select basketball program consists of international students.
That includes student-athletes from Germany, Turkey, Spain, Serbia and China.
“We’re looking to get ourselves going and maybe, in the future, get some domestic students involved, too,” Stovell said.
The Centaurs started their season a couple of weeks ago at a tournament in Massachusetts.
The Centaurs basketball Select A team finished as champions in its division of the Zero Gravity Fall Tip Off tournament in Hanover, Mass., with a 59-51 win over BNL Elite.
The Select B team finished in second place in its division as it lost a close one to Big City Dreams, 64-59.
The teams had opened the day before. The Select A team downed Chunky Elite 62-32 in its tournament opener. David Volz (seven rebounds, three steals) and Filippo de Giorgi (six rebounds, three assists) each scored 16 points and Casper Winkel added 10. The Select A team also downed Level Up, 55-31 on a doubleheader day.
The Select B team posted a 54-28 win over BNL Elite. Mert Coker had a double-double with 10 points and 21 rebounds while Ziming Wang had 11 points and Qiguo Ma added eight in the win.
The Centaurs did participate in the New England Recruiting Report Fall Festival this past weekend in Stoughton, Mass. After these fall AAU tournaments, the Centaurs will return to the court to play some familiar foes in the Power-5 Conference.
“We’re going to compete against teams like Thetford Academy, Putnam Science Academy and Redemption Academy. This is all new to me. I’ve already scheduled most of the games. It’s going to be pretty full, some 30-plus games, and we’re going to be working our butts off but that’s what they signed up for and I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Stovell said.
The Centaurs will finish up in the spring with some more AAU-type tournament games run by Zero Gravity.
“I have guys who want to play, who love basketball, and will get up at about the same time I do around 5 a.m. and get to a practice with me,” Stovell said. “I have a T-shirt that says ‘dedication.’ All work and dedication is my team’s motto and I use it as a teaching tool as well. Teaching them what it’s like to do something you love and try to be successful at it. So far, so good.”
Stovell has had a little personal adjustment to make as he hails from the metro Chicago area.
“There is not a whole lot going on out here,” Stovell said, “but when it comes to basketball and the support that I have received from the school, it’s actually working out pretty well. It’s an adjustment in some ways but a perfect fit in others.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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