The last time an interscholastic sport took place at Newburgh Free Academy, the boys’ basketball team suffered a state regional semifinal to Section 1’s Horace Greeley.

That was March 11, 2020.

It’s been a long time since then.

But after missing an entire season – which only would have been about a month with at most eight games anyway – the Newburgh Free Academy basketball teams laced up their sneakers for the first time on Nov. 15 and for the first time since the end of the 2019-20 season.

“It felt good,” said Jah’Likai King, a senior on the boys’ basketball team. “It wasn’t anything new because I’ve still been in the gym, and I’ve been playing basketball in the offseason here and there. Just getting to meet the new guys and new teammates, and people who don’t have experience for varsity basketball, it’s been great learning new things from coach, and it’s just so good to be back.”

Basketball and wrestling had been deemed higher-risk sports by the state Dept. of Health and needed special authorization to play. That authorization didn’t come until Feb. 1 and then three days later, the board of education reluctantly canceled the higher-risk seasons.

“I’m pretty blessed to have a season this year,” said Daysha Simmons, a senior on the girls’ basketball team.

“Last year, I was pretty upset, and I was looking forward to it, but it gave me more time to actually put work in in the gym and work on the things I needed to for senior year.”

Boys

The pandemic dealt the boys’ team a double whammy. Not only did they play their regional game in front of an empty gymnasium, but the New York State Public High School Athletic Association had canceled the state tournament in 2020-21, and the Goldbacks’ sectional championship team was a junior-laden squad that aspired for more.

“It was very upsetting because I wanted to play with them because it was going to be their last year and I already knew they were hungry for another championship,” King said. “So, I was hungry with them.”

Now, King and Deondre Johnson are the only two players remaining from that team.

Boys’ basketball coach Frank Dinnocenzio said both have Division I talent.

However, beyond them, the Goldbacks are low on experience. There are also about five players on the team that were playing with the football team on their deep state playoff run, putting the Goldbacks a little behind the curve this preseason.

“I am hoping the football guys bring their aggressiveness to the court,” Dinnocenzio said.
The Goldbacks will have two sophomores in Elnathan Johnson and Jayen Lornez, that Dinnocenzio hopes will make an impact on the season as they mature.

With the inexperience and the early bumps and bruises, Dinnocenzio will be looking to King and Johnson to provide leadership on and off the court.

“Everybody looks up to because they know I was playing varsity since I was a freshman,” King said. “I’m just going to teach them what I can teach them. I can’t teach them everything, but I know I can teach them something about varsity basketball.”

Girls

The girls’ team also saw a great deal of turnover, graduating eight seniors and juniors from the 2019-20 team. Simmons and Ingrid Murga are back.

While everyone’s glad to be back, Murga took a few days to get back into the flow of practice.

“I’ve been practicing by myself, which is not the same as practicing with my teammates, so I was really tired, but now in the fifth practice and later, it’s been really good,” Murga said. “I see my team is motivated. Everyone is motivating everyone. It’s been kind of hard, but I have to keep it up for my teammates and myself.”

The players aren’t the only ones excited; the coaches are glad to be back as well.
Girls coach Arturo Santana said he was excited to have the team back and have any kind of normalcy, even as the pandemic lingers on.

He’s known Simmons since she was in kindergarten and Murga has been in the program for the last four years since coming to Newburgh from Mexico during her freshman year.

“They are going to be the glue with an addition of a couple of other girls to have a great season on the court,” Santana said. “They’re key players, defensively and offensively, and I expect a lot from them, and they know it.”

There was also a concern that with the interruption that the program would lose players. There’s been heavy turnover at the lower levels. The JV team is brand new, and coaches weren’t sure who was going to come back on modified.

He was confident of who was going to return to the varsity team.

“One of the advantages is AAU basketball because most of the girls, even though there wasn’t high school basketball, they were able to play,” Santana said. “I was thankful for that, but I was extremely scared about what was going to happen with the numbers.”