Mar 15, 2024
Jamestown head coach Billy Miley talks to his team following a practice earlier this week at McElrath Gymnasium. The Red & Green play Elmont Memorial (Section VIII) in the NYSPHSAA Class AA semifinal at 2:15 p.m. today at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg
The Jamestown boys basketball program made its first trip to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four in 2011.
Other treks to Glens Falls followed in 2014 and again in 2022.
Billy Miley sat on the bench for each game, five in all.
But in none of them was he the Red & Green’s head coach.
That all changes at 2:15 p.m. today.
Because that’s when Jamestown will take on Elmont Memorial (Section VIII) in the NYSPHSAA Class AA semifinal at Cool Insuring Arena with Miley calling the shots.
Named to succeed the legendary Ben Drake, who stepped down last spring, Miley hasn’t missed a beat. In fact, the Red & Green sport a 21-4 record and a No. 11 ranking in this week’s New York State Sportswriters Association poll.
Not bad for a guy whose original plan upon graduating from Jamestown High in 1999 was to become an engineer.
“He’s done such a great job with this group,” said Drake, who won 425 games in 25 seasons as coach and who also serves as the district’s athletic director. “I coached him his senior year, he started as jayvee coach after college and he’s been here ever since.”
The continuity has certainly paid dividends.
“Our staff has remained consistent over the years,” Drake added. “It’s nice because we’ve been on the same page. We’ve had the same philosophies and beliefs, and Billy was a big part of that. He was with us during all those playoff runs we had. … I was very confident that he was more than capable of running this program and just really keeping things going, and he’s done that pretty seamlessly this year.”
Jamestown arrived in the North Country on Thursday after posting Section VI playoff wins over Clarence, Orchard Park, Lockport and Health Sciences, and a 56-52 victory over Section V’s Victor in the Far West Regional.
What has made the postseason run so impressive is how well the Red & Green have played defensively — they have held all five opponents under 60 points — and how balanced their offense has been. Assistant coach Marty Stockwell, who was Miley’s junior varsity coach in the late 1990s, isn’t surprised by the latter’s success in 2023-24.
“He’s a worker, he was a jayvee guy, a detail guy and he’s always been a guy who has been after the right stuff,” Stockwell said. ” … Did I expect us to be at states? Maybe not, but to still have success is not a surprise.”
Junior Jaydian Johnson (6-1), sophomore Dominic Gonzalez (5-10) and senior Greg Brumagin (5-10) are the starting guards, while senior Bishop Butts (6-4) and sophomore Elijah Farmer (6-4) are the starting forwards. Senior forward Jack Carlson (6-0) is the first off the bench.
Johnson leads in scoring (19.6), assists (4.5) and steals (2.0); Gonzalez is a double-figure scorer (13.0) and prime ball-handler; Butts is averaging 10 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks; and Farmer is averaging 8.4 points and 5.7 boards.
Elmont Memorial, which is located in western Nassau County just outside Queens, goes eight deep and features a starting lineup of senior Cassius Moore (6-0) and senior Gemer Frias-Walsh (5-11) at guard; senior Osagie Ekhator (6-4) and junior Nassir Edwards (6-4) at forward; and junior Ebubenna Nwabudu (6-5) at center.
Elmont Memorial (21-4), which is ranked No. 10 in the state, reached the final four after edging Half Hollow Hills East 53-51 on a banked-in shot at the buzzer.
“They obviously have a very good team,” Miley said. “Everybody is at this point. They seem to be fairly athletic and they have a few guys who can score pretty well.”
The winner advances to Saturday’s 5:15 p.m. title game against either Our Lady of Lourdes (IX) or West Genesee (III).
“It’s great to be here, it’s great to do what we do,” Miley said, “but we’re not just happy being there and taking a trip. Call it unfinished business. We’re going in with the confidence that we can get a couple wins.”
While that will be determined this weekend, one thing that Miley learned from Drake is unquestioned.
“If you set high standards, kids are more apt to reach them,” Miley said. “If you set lofty goals and set high standards, kids are going to work to try and achieve those things and you can get more out of them when you do that kind of stuff.”
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