St. Mark’s Has Improved on the Perimeter

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass. – As is usually the case, St. Mark’s has plenty of size on its squad this year. Also not out of the norm is a large crowd of college coaches at an open gym since they typically hold just one or two. But the real development this year comes away from the basket, as the Lions appear to have the best perimeter unit they have had in Dave Lubick’s tenure at the school.

Plenty of the coaches in the gym on Sunday were on hand to see juniors Alex Murphy (6’9″ Jr. SF, Wakefield (RI)) and Kaleb Tarczewski (7’0″ Jr. C, Claremont (NH)), both of whom come off excellent off-seasons. Murphy wasn’t himself as his jump shot wasn’t falling on Sunday, but he’s shown he can knock down those shots plenty of times before and got a few baskets from driving. Tarczewski battled inside, getting a lot of offensive boards, and drew his fair share of fouls as well.

The new addition to the frontcourt is Jarred Reuter (6’8″ Fr. PF, Rochester (MA)), who is also playing football. At first glance, it’s possible Reuter could be like Tarczewski was last year, not getting many minutes while transitioning to the next level, but he’ll be too talented and give too much of a different look to not play good minutes. While it’s clear the well-built forward needs to improve his conditioning, as he looked a little winded, he held his own for much of the day against the older competition and is capable of facing the basket on offense as he’s a good passer.

The perimeter improvement starts with Nikolas Stauskas (6’5″ Jr. SG-SF, Ontario), who spent last season at South Kent. Stauskas might have played the best basketball of anyone at Sunday’s workout, as he showed solid ball skills, passed well on the move and drew fouls when going to the basket. He’s a capable shooter, but that wasn’t even what he did best on the day. Every time you looked up, he was in the middle of a play.

Returning for his second season, classmate Eric Greene (6’5″ Jr. SG-SF, Mountain House (CA)) is a plus athlete who continues to improve, knocking down several three-point shots on the day. He handled the ball at times and used his left hand on a nice finish one time. Also getting time on the wing will be Eli Lubick (6’3″ Jr. SG-SF, Southborough (MA)), who recently committed to Colgate, and Peter Kazikias (6’3″ Jr. SG, Amagansett (NY)). The son of the coach, Lubick has a more mature body and is a good role player.

Where the excitement comes in is with newcomer Kevin Zabo (6’2″ Fr. PG, Ottawa (Ont.)). The staff is high on the young man, and it wasn’t hard to see why on Sunday. He’s athletic, gets to the basket, has a good body that will certainly get better, and he showed a nice feel for the game. There’s a lot of upside in his game, and it won’t take long before he’s the best point guard the team has had in Lubick’s tenure. What’s more, Tarczewski says Zabo is constantly in the gym working, which is a big reason to believe he will get better.

Jaymie Spears (5’8″ Jr. PG, Georgetown (MA)) returns for his second season at the school and will also man the point. After playing with injuries all last season, he was healthy all spring and summer and should be ready for a better year.

This year, the Lions move into the newly-formed Class AA in NEPSAC, which is basically the old Class B plus a few schools that were in the old Class C and D. As was the case last year, there is enough talent to be in the mix for a title, and while the size will jump out at you first, the real reason to think this team can go far is the perimeter unit. It’s the best one Dave Lubick has had at the school and should make life a lot easier for the big men.