The 2024-2025 season for the boys’ basketball team has been an anticipated team for years, with three of the seniors having experience as starters since their freshman year. Their leadership and experience on the varsity basketball court have been huge for the team.
Head Coach Mike Fries relies on these seniors, which include brothers Drew and Noah Harvey as well as Sody Gantt, to lead the underclassmen on the team.
“Experience plays a big factor in our success,” Fries said. “Their mindset is to win and nothing else matters.”
As a four-year varsity starter, captain Noah Harvey knows how the seniors can use the lessons they learned throughout their career to make the most of their senior season.
‘‘What I learned over the years is maturity and leadership,” Noah Harvey said. “I feel like I’ve shown growth from freshman year to senior year on and off the court which I’m very thankful for.’’
Despite having an experienced team, the boys finished the season 17-13 after going 23-6 and 25-3 over the past two seasons respectively. The primary reason for this is that their schedule was one of the hardest in South Jersey, with the Pirates facing four of the top seven teams in all of South Jersey.
Harvey commented on the team’s competitive season, acknowledging the mindset that comes in playing a difficult schedule.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, but we know how difficult our schedule is, and we know that it will prepare us for the big playoff games,” Noah Harvey said. “Every game we play seems to be a high-risk, high-reward type of game.”
Even with the tough schedule, the Pirates pulled off some impressive wins versus teams like
Central Regional High School (43-42) and Haddonfield High School (68-53). The Harvey brothers each exceeded 1,000 career points, and Drew Harvey now holds the Cinnaminson all-time scoring record, surpassing the mark of 1,347 points held by John Souder, class of 1983. Drew made CHS history this past winter against Palmyra in a 61-60 win on February 24th when he broke the season three-point record and all-time points record in the same game. Drew now holds the all-time record for three-pointers made in a career and season. Seniors Colin Parrish and Masoud Gantt also came close to the 1,000-point mark.
Although the team had its eyes on a title this season, they fell short of achieving their main goal. As the number four seed in the NJSIAA Group 2 South playoffs, the Pirates first faced off against Cedar Creek in round one at home with a convincing 69-53 win where Parrish and Noah Harvey each had 22 points. The Pirates then had a rematch against Overbrook, defeating them in back-to-back years where Parrish had another 22-point game. But after another heartbreaking loss to Camden for the second year in a row, the Pirates’ season came to an abrupt end.
