Warriors Show Positive Signs for Promising Future Success

By Eliot Schickler

Despite falling
short of a Division 1 playoff spot, the Brookline High boys
basketball team showed many positive signs during the 2023-24 season.

Brookline, which
finished the year at 8-13, 8-12 for MIAA purposes, because a 78-47
loss to highly-ranked Eagle Academy II in Brooklyn, N.Y. didn’t
count towards its record. Brooklyn is renowned for its boys
basketball, and Eagle Academy II is one of the Borough’s better
teams, finishing 2023-24 with a 23-8 overall record, 13-2 in the
competitive PSAL AAAA League.

Playing against the
best teams in and out of Massachusetts was the norm for the Warriors
because Coach Johnny Williams scheduled the hardest teams for his
squad because he believes this will build them up for future success.
Williams did not in the past nor will he in the future schedule a
weaker team to face Brookline if he could help it.

The Warriors
improved in the Bay State Conference standings with a 7-6 record
after going 5-8 during the 2022-23 school year. Brookline swept
Natick and split its season series with Wellesley after being swept
by both teams during the previous year. Sweeping Natick was huge
because it finished the season at 16-6 and was the 17th-seeded team
in the Division 1 tournament. Both wins against the Nighthawks were
close with the Warriors winning 56-53 in Natick and 63-59 at home.

Brookline’s games
against Wellesley were close with the home team winning both times.
The Warriors won 54-53 at home on a buzzer-beater, but lost 50-49 in
Wellesley one month later.

Another team the
Warriors beat but lost to in 2022-23 was Walpole High. Brookline lost
by a point in Walpole the previous year, but defeated the
Timberwolves, 74-48 at Schluntz Gym in 2023-24.

Losing six seniors
from the previous year appeared to pose a challenge for the Warriors
going into 2023-24. They missed All-Bay State Conference point guard
Makyle Hayes, who is currently playing for Framingham State
University, All-Bay State Conference Honorable Mention Zach Weisman,
Jaylen Haynes, Khalid Purifoy, Taj Horowitz, and Caetano Drinkwater.

Working in
Brookline’s was the return of 6’10 center Alan Shi and 6’4
power forward Chris Sillice, who both earned First Team All-Bay State
Conference Honors. Seth Thompson, who played sparingly in 2022-23,
was a sharpshooting guard, and earned All-Bay State Conference
Honorable Mention.