GRANBY — Ask anyone on the Granby boys basketball team about the key to their success and the answer is the same – energy.
It’s more than that, of course. Their chemistry is possible with a team that’s grown up playing together, as well as a coach in Dylan Dubuc whose new systems and style has fit perfectly with this year’s players. Add in a group that has the skill needed to compete at a high level, and the Rams have everything going for them this winter.
“I think this is by far the best team I’ve been part of,” Granby senior Brandon Wishart said. “We’ve had solid years every year we played, but now everyone’s bigger, stronger, faster, (there’s) more chemistry, more experience.”
Still, this is a basketball team that plays its best when utilizing a high-paced intensity that other teams can’t match. Dubuc, who is in his first year as the Granby varsity coach, said he thinks the Rams are finally starting to understand who they are as a group.
“Me being a first year coach, (we’re) just learning the overall system, having our plays down and our defensive schemes,” Dubuc said on where his team has improved most this season. “We’re starting to come together and really having an identity, (both) defensively and offensively. Guys know where they’re supposed to be.”
While the star of the Rams is clearly senior Nate Breault, who knocked down a cool season-high 42 points against Monson on Valentine’s Day and leads the team with 323 total points this year, Granby’s depth and multi-prong attack keeps opponents on their heels. Granby’s three-point shooting has been its calling card, whether it’s Breault and Wishart knocking down triples, or Christian Cudworth or Ryan Gaughan stepping up to drill a 3. Their post players are tall and have shut down opponents in the paint, and their passing is crisp and efficient no matter who has control of the ball.
In the most recent MIAA Division 5 Power Rankings released on Feb. 10, the Rams (14-3) were ranked 10th. It looks like the team is playing its best basketball as the regular season comes to a close, exactly where Dubuc wants them to be.
“We’ve talked all year about trying to peak at the right time and we’re getting toward the end here. We have one more game left. Then we’re at the Western Mass. [tournament], and then states,” Dubuc said. “We’ve been trying and focusing on playing our best ball toward the end of the season, and things are starting to come together.”
Granby has won nine of their last 10 games, the only loss during that span a heartbreaking two-point defeat to Hampshire on the road. It’s clear to those watching that the Rams have all the pieces of a great team put together. It’s just whether Granby will be able to put those together for a postseason run.
It’s something that this senior class in particular wants more than anything. None of the members of this senior class have ever won a postseason contest, and that’s a feeling they want to experience before they graduate. Many of them have been playing basketball together since they were just learning the game, and they’re hoping to end their high school careers with a memorable postseason performance.
“We want the ‘ship. We’ve never won a playoff game out of our senior group,” Breault said. “(It’s) always a first-round bounce. I think getting this first playoff win would be a great step in the right direction.”
Granby closes the regular season Thursday against South Hadley.