Before Josh LaPrell became the head coach of the St. Dom’s boys basketball team, the Saints had gone 2-52 over the previous five seasons, one of which was against a JV schedule.
LaPrell was hired the June before the 2019-2020 season, which was too late for him to schedule much of a summer program. Then, as winter was approaching, he wasn’t sure the Saints where going to have enough players to field a team.
St. Dom’s, though, got a waiver that allowed two eighth-graders to play for the team, and Gabe Carey transferred from Greely High School to St. Dominic Academy the day before the deadline for such decisions.
Carey and fellow sophomores Mike Stowe and Noah Cyr took on leadership roles, and alongside LaPrell began to start turning the Saints’ program around.
In 2020, St. Dom’s went 8-11, then 3-7 in 2021 in a season shortened by COVID-19, and this winter has jumped to 13-5 and clinched the fourth seed in the Class C South playoffs.
The Saints open the tournament at home against No. 13 Hall-Dale (6-12) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Stowe and Cyr were on the team as freshmen when the Saints struggled in so many facets of the game.
“My freshman year it was just people trying to throw passes, no-look passes, and the guys they thought were there just weren’t there,” Stowe said. “They wouldn’t run plays right and our chemistry wasn’t good as a whole.”
When LaPrell took over, Cyr saw an immediate change.
“I feel like things have become more amiable,” Cyr said. “Josh came in and was ready to work with us. He had patience with us because he knew where we were, and that was the biggest difference when Josh came. Everybody comes to work harder compared to freshman year. Even sophomore year we had kids who hadn’t played basketball before and kind of messed around, but this year everyone came ready to work. We are all friends off the court, too, and that’s where the chemistry comes from.”
LaPrell’s coaching style of practicing hard everyday is something that he took from his six years as an assistant to Bates College men’s basketball coach Jon Furbush.
Meanwhile, Carey brought a work ethic from years of AAU basketball and his freshman year at Greely.
“I came here and was still living in Cumberland, so I was here from 8 (a.m.) to 8 (p.m.),” Carey said. “I wanted to be hard-working, and if they saw me working hard then they would, too. I played AAU, too, and it was grind, grind, grind.”
“Gabe transferred in and we had a new coach, so we did start putting in more effort,” Stowe added. “We had longer practices and did better drills, and as a whole we just improved. It changed our mentality.”
Carey took over as point guard his sophomore year and gave the Saints a consistent player running the offense.
St. Dom’s quickly went from almost dissolving the team to eight wins in 2020. LaPrell credits Cyr’s and Stowe’s dedication to the basketball program for keeping the team alive.
“I give Mike and Noah credit because they won two games as freshmen, they had a new coach come in their sophomore year, so there would be a lot of kids that would lose interest in playing,” LaPrell said. “They stuck with it, they got other kids to come out so we even had enough guys and it would have been easy for them to give up on it. Because of that and their hard work we won 13 games this year, the fourth seed and are 0.87 points away from the third seed.
“We owe a lot to those two guys. They were here before Gabe transferred in, but if they don’t stick around and get enough guys to come in then I am not at St. Dom’s and who knows what’s going on.”
The 2019-20 season was unlike any in recent memory for St. Dom’s, with one win against Buckfield sticking out in Carey’s head the most.
“When I first got here, we beat Buckfield and everyone was hype and going crazy,” Carey said. “I said, ‘Why is everyone so hype? It was a regular season win over a decent team.’ The athletic director (J.P. Yorkey) said, ‘That was our first Class C win in five years.’ They went 2-52 over the last couple years, and it really enlightened me.”
STRONG CHEMISTRY
Cyr and Stowe have been friends years and played on the same basketball and soccer teams growing up.
When Carey showed up in 2020, he was quickly added into the friend group.
“Noah and I have been friends since elementary school,” Stowe said. “Gabe came in sophomore year and pretty soon after came into our friend group, so we are all really close on and off the court. It’s nice because it’s like you’re just playing with your friends.”
“We hang out a lot off the court and we know each other,” Cyr said. “We’ve been playing non-stop together for three years, so we understand each other’s tendencies and know how to play off each other.”
The three seniors have become close, and Carey even gave Cyr the nickname “Harvard Klay” in reference to his intelligence and shooting ability that is, according to Carey, similar to Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson’s. The name stuck, and is on a poster in the St. Dom’s gym.
LaPrell said the three seniors have different leadership styles.
Cyr is a “silent leader,” LaPrell said, who works hard and picks his spots when to speak up. Stowe lifts his teammates up and is always positive, while Carey is the vocal leader on and off the court.
Carey and LaPrell’s bond as coach and point guard has blossomed over the seasons, and Carey has become like a coach on the court.
“We naturally have become close because we spend so much time talking to each other,” LaPrell said. “We both were new to St. Dom’s at the same time and I knew he would be the point guard, and (he) has played a lot of ball growing up and has a high IQ. As we’ve progressed you sort of move on from coach and player and he’s really like a son. … We get in the gym, shoot, talk and it’s not even about basketball, we’re just talking and checking in. The cool thing is a lot of times in the game we’re both thinking the same thing. He’ll come over during a free throw and he’ll say ‘We should do this,’ and I was about to tell him the same thing.”
CHASING GOLD
LaPrell said the best part of his relationship with the three seniors is watching them grow.
“These are three guys, too, that will be around and be involved,” LaPrell said. “It’s not like you graduate and lose the whole four years, the last thing you want to do is be around it more. This is going to be something they can be proud of, come be around it, come see games.”
Another senior, Riley Patriquin, joined the team, and, although doesn’t play as much as the other three, is a big part of the changing culture of the St. Dom’s basketball program, according to Carey.
“Riley has been playing some JV and some varsity, and he’s an incredible teammate,” Carey said. “It doesn’t matter if he’s played five minutes or the whole game, he’s going to work hard and cheer loud.”
For the seniors, the Saints’ 13-5 record is nice, but their expectations are bigger. They all think that St. Dom’s should have won more games and have their eyes on the big gold ball at the end of the tunnel.
“Gold ball has always been my goal,” Carey said. “I’ve told coach that a lot, that we’re getting a gold ball. Without expectations, you’re not going to work hard.”
St. Dom’s has no juniors on the roster this season, but have a few players coming up through the middle school that LaPrell said will be able to continue adding the Saints’ success story for years to come.
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