Say what you want about Kevin Boyle.
The Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick coach doesn’t schedule a bunch of cupcakes.
Consider this upcoming stretch of games for Kentucky-bound Michael Gilchrist and Company.
On Sunday the unbeaten Celtics (6-0), ranked No. 2 nationally by ESPN Rise, will face St. Benedict’s Prep in the SFIC Basketball Festival at Kean University. (The event also features Seton Hall Prep against Hudson Catholic, Saint Peter’s Prep versus Trenton Catholic Academy and No. 3 St. Anthony against St. Joseph of Montvale.)
After that, the Celtics face traditional New Jersey powerhouse Plainfield on Tuesday before traveling to Florida to meet Duke-bound Austin Rivers and No. 21 Winter Park Friday in their gym (7 p.m., ESPN2).
Then on Monday, St. Pat’s travels to Springfield, Mass. to meet No. 47 Las Vegas Bishop Gorman (1 p.m., ESPNU).
“It’s important to take it one at a time,” Boyle said Friday by phone. “If you get too far ahead of yourself, you might have five or six losses.”
The goal every season at St. Patrick, a Catholic school of about 200 students, is to win a mythical national championship.
Last year’s team, which featured current Duke freshman Kyrie Irving, was banned from the New Jersey state tournament for holding illegal out-of-season workouts.
With Irving, guard Kevin Boyle Jr. and forward Chase Plummer (UMBC) all gone from last year’s team, the coach said he entered this season thinking the current team was weaker at four of five positions — every one except the small forward position Gilchrist plays.
But Boyle was quickly surprised by how quickly this team jelled.
With a rotation that goes 10 or 11 deep, the Celtics won the City of Palms Classic for the first time after losing in the final five times.
“The biggest thing is good chemistry,” Boyle said. “They share the ball. We got them to buy into how we have to play to be good. Take care of the basketball, play unselfish. They’ve done a good job of accepting that.”
After struggling with weight and what Boyle called “personal issues” last season, Western Kentucky-bound guard Derrick Gordon is playing at a very high level. He dropped 37 points on Chicago Whitney Young in the quarterfinals of the City of Palms.
“Derrick has turned it on to be significantly better than last year,” Boyle said.
Senior point guard Jarrel Lane, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the final of the City of Palms, and transfer Chris Martin have also fit in well in the backcourt.
“Jarrel is playing his role very effectively and done a geat job of guarding and getting the better players the ball,” Boyle said. “I think he had three or four turnovers in Florida total. He did a fabulous job of not making errors.”
Up front, sophomore Austin Colbert and freshman Dakari Johnson have also excelled, with the 6-9 Johnson emerging into a star attraction with the potential to be a mobile, 7-footer.
“Dakari’s played very well, especially in some big games,” Boyle said.
Gilchrist, meanwhile, has improved his mid- and long-range jump shot and was named named MVP at the City of Palms after finishing with 25 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in the final against Milton (Ga.).
As always, a potential showdown with Bob Hurley’s St. Anthony club looms down the road in the North Non-Public B championship game. With Paterson Catholic now closed, it figures to be a formality that St. Patrick and St. Anthony will meet once again. (St. Anthony beat PC in last year’s final at Rutgers).
Boyle said he wasn’t sure if he would stay at Kean on Sunday to scout the Friars, which now feature two former PC players, Rutgers-bound senior point guard Myles Mack and junior point guard Kyle Anderson, the No. 1 player at his position in the Class of 2012.
But make no mistake, Boyle does his homework on the Friars.
“My cousin [Dan Schantz] does the scouting,” Boyle said. “He watches them anywhere from 7 to 10 times [a season]. He’s been to so many of their games, I think he’s a St. Anthony fan.”
Boyle said Schantz prepares a 15-30 page scouting report on St. Anthony that his players receive about two weeks before the teams meet in March.
In the meantime, St. Patrick marches on, slogging through a brutal schedule that will also include standout junior big man Andre Drummond and St. Thomas More Feb. 13 in the Primetime Shootout.
“One game at a time,” Boyle said.
And they aren’t a bunch of cupcakes.
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(Photo courtesy NJ.com)
