Jamestown head coach Billy Miley speaks with his team after practicing at McElrath Gymnasium earlier this week. The Red and Green will face Elmont Memorial (Section 8) in the NYSPHSAA Class AA semifinals this afternoon at 2:15 p.m. at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. Pajama photo: Scott Kindberg
Jamestown's men's basketball program reached the New York State Public High School Athletic Association finals for the first time in 2011.
Other treks to Glens Falls followed in 2014 and again in 2022.
Billy Miley sat on the bench a total of five times in each game.
But in none of them was he the head coach of the Red & Green.
Everything changes today at 2:15 p.m.
That's because Jamestown will face Elmont Memorial (Section 8) in the NYSPHSAA Class AA semifinals at Cool Insuring Arena, and Miley will decide the game.
Miley has had no time to rest since he was named the successor to the legendary Ben Drake, who retired last spring. In fact, this week's New York State Sportswriters Association poll ranked him 11th in the Red and Green with a record of 21-4.
Not bad for a guy whose original plan after graduating from Jamestown High School in 1999 was to become an engineer.
“He's done a great job with this group,” said Drake, who has 425 wins in 25 seasons as coach and also serves as the district's athletic director. “I coached him his senior year. He started coaching the jayvees after college and has been here ever since.”
Continuation is definitely paying off.
“Our staff has been consistent over the years,” Drake added. “That's great because we were on the same page. We have the same philosophy and beliefs and Billy was a big part of that. He was with us the whole time we played in the playoffs. …I was very confident that he was fully capable of running this program and really keeping things moving, and he ran it very smoothly this year. ”
Jamestown arrives in the North Country on Thursday after wins over Clarence, Orchard Park, Lockport and Health Sciences in the Section 6 playoffs and a 56-52 victory over Section 5 Victor in the Section 5 Far West Region. did.
What made their postseason performance so impressive was how well the Red and Green teams played defensively, holding all five opponents to under 60 points, and how balanced their offense was. That's what I was doing. Assistant coach Marty Stockwell, who served as Miley's junior varsity coach in the late 1990s, is not surprised by Miley's success in the 2023-24 season.
“He was a hard worker, a polite person, a detail-oriented person, and someone who always wanted to do the right thing,” Stockwell said. “…Did you expect us to be in state?” Maybe not, but it's not surprising that we'd still be successful. ”
Junior Jadian Johnson (6-1), sophomore Dominic Gonzalez (5-10) and senior Greg Brumadin (5-10) are the starting guards, while senior Bishop Butts ( (6-4) and sophomore Elijah Farmer (6-4) are guards. Starting forward. Senior forward Jack Carlson (6-0) was the first off the bench.
Johnson leads the league in points (19.6), assists (4.5) and steals (2.0). Gonzalez is a double-digit scorer (13.0) and the best ball handler. Butts is averaging 10 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. Farmer is averaging 8.4 points and 5.7 boards.
Elmont Memorial, located in western Nassau County outside of Queens, is eight deep and stars senior Cassius Moore (6-0) and senior Gemar Frias-Walsh (5-11) at guard. It has become a ting lineup. Forwards are senior Osagie Hector (6-4) and junior Nasir Edwards (6-4). and junior Ebubenna Nwabudu (6-5) at center.
Elmont Memorial (21-4), ranked No. 10 in the state, defeated Half Hollow Hills East 53-51 on a bank-in shot at the buzzer to advance to the final four.
“They obviously have a very good team,” Miley said. “Everyone is at this stage. They seem to be pretty athletic and have some guys who can score pretty well.”
The winner advances to the title game against Our Lady of Lourdes (IX) or West Genesee (III) on Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
“It's great to be here and it's great what we're doing,” Miley said. Call it unfinished business. We're going to go in with confidence that we can win a few games.”
That will be decided this weekend, but there's one thing Miley learned from Drake without a doubt.
“If you set high standards, kids are more likely to reach them,” Miley says. “If you set high goals and set high standards, kids will strive to achieve them, and when they do that, they get more out of it. ”
