Three Shawnee seniors don't play much, but still contribute to unbeaten team
In one sense, this basketball season is unfolding just as they imagined in middle school. Now seniors, Travis Guaracino, Robbie Stephan, and Sam McNelis are members of a Shawnee High School team that is undefeated in mid-January and ranked fourth in South Jersey and starting to draw some favorable comparisons to the better squads in the rich history of the program.
In one sense, this basketball season is unfolding just as they imagined in middle school.
Now seniors, Travis Guaracino, Robbie Stephan, and Sam McNelis are members of a Shawnee High School team that is undefeated in mid-January and ranked fourth in South Jersey and starting to draw some favorable comparisons to the better squads in the rich history of the program.
There's just one twist for the trio of 12th graders on the Renegades roster: They spend the better part of every game on the bench.
"It can be tough to be a senior and know this is your last year and be sitting behind underclassmen," Guaracino said. "But [the younger players] deserve it.
'We're undefeated, we're doing great, and I'm just happy to be a part of it"
Stephan and McNelis both say they feel the same way. The three seniors might not see a lot of playing time - although Stephan saw some minutes in Thursday night's comeback win over Timber Creek - but their positive attitudes have contributed to the good vibrations around the program.
All three have accepted their roles, according to Shawnee coach Joe Kessler. All three work hard in practice. All three are vocal supporters of their teammates during games.
"It's great to see," said Kessler, who is in his 30th year in charge of the Renegades. "In this day and age, with so many kids, if they are not playing they are looking to transfer or they are going to quit.
"These three kids, they push the younger kids, they have great attitudes. They get it. They know they have a chance to be part of something special."
It's not easy for seniors to sit behind juniors and sophomores, even though it's obvious that Shawnee has talented younger players such as Dylan Deveney, Dean Noll, Daevon Robinson, Pat Kernan, and Sean Heine.
Shawnee's seniors knew the score before the season. They knew it last season, when they were playing on the junior varsity while the Renegades were starting three sophomores and a freshman on the varsity.
But they all said quitting the team was not an option.
"I love the sport of basketball," Stephan said. "I never would quit for the world."
Said McNelis: "Just being part of the program for four years, you develop friendships and bonds with these guys. I would never want to give it up."
All three seniors say they try to make the most of practice, both to push the younger players to improve but also to work on their own games.
"You don't know when you might get the opportunity to play [in a game]," Stephan said. "You have to be ready to do whatever you can to help the team."
Guaracino said the opportunity to be part of one of South Jersey's top programs outweighs any frustration over a lack of playing time.
"You only have four years of high school," Guaracino said. "Just because you're not playing all the time doesn't mean you're not part of the team. Just to be part of it, that's something special."
It's telling that Guaracino was elected a team captain along with junior standouts Deveney and Robinson in a vote of the players. And it's clear that all three seniors have contributed to the team's success in ways that aren't in the box scores.
Team chemistry can be a fragile thing. Sour seniors can squash a season.
"They're very important," Deveney, a 6-foot-6 swingman, said of the Renegades' three seniors. "They push us in practice. They motivate us. If we hit a rough spot in a game, they're right there to tell us to keep our heads up."
The Renegades are reminiscient of some of Kessler's better teams in their knack for spreading the floor, sharing the basketball, and shooting from distance.
The veteran coach's mantra that the Renegades "play the right way" is rooted in insistence on unselfishness: Pass up a good shot for yourself for a better shot for a teammate.
Extend that philosophy to the program as a whole and it means that every player needs to understand and accept his role, promoting team success over individual accomplishment.
That stuff shows when the basketball whips around the perimeter and a sophomore makes the extra pass for a wide-open look for a junior.
It also shows when three seniors on the bench rise in applause as the shot splashes through the net.
@PhilAnastasia
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