It hasn’t been the season the Palisades boys basketball team had hoped for.
Following the departure of first-year head coach Bob Musantry, who resigned after the team’s 2-15 start and the recent loss to Moravian Academy, interim head coach Terence Noonan was tasked with stepping up.
Noonan, a 2016 graduate from Palisades, had been an assistant to Musantry, so he knows first-hand the struggles this season has brought. Those struggles continued on Monday, as Palisades lost to Notre Dame Green Pond 74-30.
The story of the night, which has been the story for the entire season, was the Pirates’ 19 turnovers, with more than half of them leading to points scored for the Crusaders.
“Credit to Notre Dame, they play great defense. They get to the spot, they jump the secondary, somebody’s always in the gap,” Noonan said. “We just need to ball fake more, keep our eyes up and see the floor, and we don’t always do that ... 19-plus turnovers has been a theme for the year.”
This is the second time the Pirates faced the Crusaders this season, and their first meeting was no different – Notre Dame Green Pond easily handled Palisades in a 72-27 win.
This time around, the Pirates seemed to be keeping it close in the first quarter. They forced a couple turnovers of their own but their shots wouldn’t fall. Notre Dame Green Pond knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to give them an eight-point lead as the first eight minutes came to an end.
Tyler Bonelli led Palisades in scoring with 11, and Lincoln Cook contributed with seven points.
When asked about how he keeps his team positive amid the struggles they’ve faced, Noonan kept it honest.
“It’s tough,” he said. “We have some kids who have been here for three to four years with six to seven wins, and then we have guys who are just starting out. I’m trying to build the culture with the young guys, and telling the older guys to lead by example.”
Noonan has had limited time at the helm, and he has only four games left in the season. He has five graduating seniors this year and next season is a mystery. But one thing he’s looking to spread throughout those seniors and the young guys in the short amount of time is positivity.
“We had a youth event on (this past) Sunday, every weekend we bring first and second graders into the gym and the kids run a practice for them. So, I get seniors out here, they lead it, the underclassmen help them out, and I think its a great thing for the community, the kids love it. The seniors, that’s all I really ask them to do, be positive.”
Noonan wants to change the narrative about Palisades basketball. In the Pirates’ gym, purple and yellow banners are hung on the white wall behind the visiting teams bench. Above those banners reads “Pirates Wall of Champions.” Baseball, football, cross country and track and field all boast banners on that wall. How will basketball get up there? Noonan hopes to have the answer.
“(The) offseason,” he said. “It’s a commitment. I think it has been lacking in the past, but I’m hoping to change it.”
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