RHAM heads into new season with lots of experience, talent

RHAM's Andrew Burke goes up against Waterford's Connor Lewis. Photos by Melanie Savage.

The RHAM boys’ basketball team looked good early in the season, winning the majority of its periods in a mixed scrimmage against Waterford and East Hartford on Dec. 1. With a total of 37 players in the program, RHAM has renewed its freshman basketball program this year. “It’s huge this year,” said head coach Steve Emt. “That’s why we pushed so hard for it.” For now the freshman team is self-funded, but Emt hopes to see it included in the budget in the future. With nine seniors graduating out of the program at the end of the season, it will be especially important to have the freshman program providing the players with experience.

This year, “I’m putting a lot on the seniors,” said Emt. He characterizes his team as hard-working, eager to learn, and tight-knit. “A lot of them have been together for a long time,” said Emt. He will ask his experienced players to push each other, “but also to be on the younger guys, to push them to get better,” said Emt.

Senior Kyle Rodegher, who Emt called last year "one of the best point guards in the conference," will likely be a top scorer for the team this year. But if the Dec. 1 scrimmage is any indication, the season will be very much a team effort, with a strong core of experienced players working together and pushing each other through the season.