North boys ready to get basketball season started

Friday night can’t come soon enough for the Nashua High School North boys basketball team.

The Titans open the year on the road against Exeter, and while it will be good for the players to face someone wearing a different jersey in a game that counts, coach Andy Otocka is anxious to have see how the team is going to perform.

“The first week, we played better on offense and not as well on defense,” he said. “Last week, we were better on defense and not on offense. (Monday) we were awful in both. We’re ready to play a game. We need some competition.”

Getting to see some unfamiliar faces trying to defend the Titans might help get the players to focus more on what the coaches have been teaching them through almost three weeks of practice.

“What I need to see is more of an idea of what we’re trying to do on offense than trying to freelance as individuals,” Otocka said. “We have to trust that what we’re doing will work on offense.”

North returns two starters from a team that went 9-9 in the regular season and lost in the first round of the Class L tournament. Juniors Javon Williams and Ryan Gauthier give the Titans a strong combination in the backcourt and could serve as the backbone for what will be a young team this season, as North has just one senior on the roster.

“There’s a different level of athleticism in the backcourt,” Otocka said. “It’s quicker and faster. We’ve got some smaller kids who are fairly athletic and strong enough to hold off bigger guys down low. Hopefully.”

Jake Mellin and Mike O’Connor, both 6-3 juniors, also saw time with the varsity and will be called upon to provide the Titans with help inside. Also stepping in for North is junior Anthony Farmer, who has been the team’s most consistent player through the preseason, according to Otocka.

Although North lacks some size in its post players, the coach believes that could be an advantage for the Titans at times.

“I think that’s an advantage because people have to matchup to us as much as we have to matchup to them,” Otocka said. “We don’t have a shot blocker, so we have to play well together.”

North hasn’t hosted a playoff game since 2006 and this year, the Titans are setting that as a goal, which means finishing in the top eight in Division I.

“That’s a makeable goal as we continue to grow,” Otocka said. “I think that what has to happen, we have to improve on very specific things. In order to get there, we have to beat the teams that we should beat because we do have some talent. The first half of our schedule is a little lighter, I think and the second half is a little heavier.”

The Titans begin their season Friday at Exeter at 7 p.m.