Boys Basketball: Farmingdale 2011 Preview

The boys basketball team turned a lot of heads last season as coach Jim Pastier took a relatively young team to the Nassau Class AA semifinals before being ousted by Baldwin. With a number of key pieces still returning, the Dalers look to advance even further this season. 

Farmingdale is paced by a duo of sophomore guards in Kevin Petit-Frere and Dalique Mingo. The Dalers don't start one senior, though Pastier doesn't believe their relative inexperience is a problem.

"We're very young this year," he said. "We're starting one freshman, three sophomores and a junior. For any varsity team, that's outrageous. But the kids are good. The kids are tough. They don't play like young kids, that's the shocking part about it."

Last Season: 10-9 overall, 6-6 Conference AA-I.

Coach: Jim Pastier (10th year).

Top Players:

• Kevin Petit-Frere, sophomore, small forward
• Dalique Mingo, sophomore, point guard

Position Breakdown: Dalique Mingo will be the offensive catalyst in the backcourt this season. Mingo, who started as a freshman last year, has big expectations for his teammates this season.

"I want us to win it all," Mingo said. "But I just want to lead the team, and do good. We had a good offseason so hopefully we will."

Joining Mingo is freshman guard Jack Burke. Though only a rookie, he has surprised a lot of people with his defensive prowess thus far. "He's our best defender right now," said Pastier. "He's 14 years old and he's our toughest kid out there."

Leading the charge at forward will be sophomore Kevin Petit-Frere. Like Mingo, he will be one of the team's main sources of offense. Pierre St.-Simon and Matt DiCarlo round out the starting lineup, as the team will be looking to their two big men to grab some rebounds and limit the opponents' second-chance opportunities.

The Dalers lost two key forwards to graduation last year, and could be feeling the holes they left behind all season. Morton Chambers and Chris Richards were important rebounders.

"They were two big physical people inside," said Pastier. "It's tough to replace them this year, but the kids that are stepping in are doing a good job so far. We're going to need a little more help from our other guards rebounding. Those two kids did a great job so we didn't need to worry about it too much [last year]."

Expectations: Pastier believes a return trip to the Nassau semis is in order for his young team.

"You've got Uniondale, Baldwin, Elmont and these guys," he said of his group. "They should be right there. We went to the Final Four last year, and we're expecting to be back this year. It's a tough road, you've got to take it game by game."

He'll need serious leadership from Petit-Frere and Mingo to move the Dalers forward.

"With young kids like this, you don't always know what to expect in different venues or places they go to," Pastier said. "They might shut down, get a little nervous or get happy feet at times. But we're expecting our sophomores who played last year to play like seniors. That's what's expected of them." 

 Key Games:

• Jan. 4: Uniondale @ Farmingdale, 5 p.m.
• Jan. 11: Hempstead @ Farmingdale, 4:30 p.m.
• Jan. 20: Massapequa @ Farmingdale, 4 p.m.
• Feb. 11: Oceanside @ Farmingdale, 4:30 p.m.
• Feb. 14: Syosset @ Farmingdale, 7 p.m.