Schneider providing leadership, sharpshooting for undefeated Pats

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 2/9/16

Last year, the Pilgrim boys’ basketball team won its first-ever title, but this season may be even more impressive, as the Pats currently sit at 14-0 in Division …

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Schneider providing leadership, sharpshooting for undefeated Pats

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Last year, the Pilgrim boys’ basketball team won its first-ever title, but this season may be even more impressive, as the Pats currently sit at 14-0 in Division III and 18-1 overall.

One of the mainstays that has helped bring this program to ultimate prominence is senior sharpshooter Ethan Schneider.

In the semifinals last winter, Schneider propelled the Pats into the finals with a game-high 18 points, before chipping in with 14 points in the championship game against Johnston.

This season, Schneider hasn’t just returned as a steady contributor, though, he has served as a leader for the team – someone who has acquired experience and knows how to win.

Playing a team-first game, Schneider is third on the team in scoring, putting together a solid senior season with 9.8 points per game while knocking down a team-high 32 3-pointers.

“My teammates,” Schneider said when asked what the key to his success has been. “They always find me the ball at the right time, make the right play. All the credit goes to them.”

And Schneider and his teammates are clicking on all cylinders, coming off of a 22-point win over rival Toll Gate last week – a team that had won its last six games.

“We just work hard, work hard every day in practice,” Schneider said. “We do the same things every day. No matter what the record is, we just continue to work hard.”

But there was a point when wins didn’t come so easily for Pilgrim.

When Schneider was a freshman at Pilgrim, for instance, the Pats’ varsity team went just 5-13 in D-III.

Pilgrim improved in his sophomore season, going 11-7, but it still wasn’t close to where the Pats are today.

Seasons like this one don’t come around too often for any team.

But it’s particularly special for a team like Pilgrim, which finally got its first title out of the way last year. And it’s also special for a player like Schneider, who has seen the rise of the program before his very eyes.

“Yeah, all the time,” Schneider said when asked if he ever takes a step back to appreciate his team’s run. “I look at the record and I can’t believe it. But we work hard, and I think we deserve it. In my sophomore year we made the playoffs, and then last year we accomplished a lot. Hopefully we can accomplish something this year, too.”

Pilgrim head coach Mike Batalon has also taken time to appreciate the run.

“I talked to the seniors the other day about it, for three straight seasons they’ve increased their win total,” Batalon said. “I told them to just savor the moment for a bit because we are having a special season.”

And the season will be that much more special if it’s capped with another championship.

Pilgrim certainly has the pieces to do it, and should be considered the favorite to do so.

In addition to Schneider, sophomore forward Tyrone Weeks has had a breakout season, averaging 18 points per game. As has another sophomore, Matt Woods, who has served as the team’s lockdown defender while pouring in 10 points per game.

The team closest in Pilgrim’s rearview is one-loss Johnston, a team that the Pats know very well.

But Schneider says he and his teammates aren’t worried about how Johnston is doing right now. If they play them down the road, then Pilgrim will worry about Johnston then.

“We just take it one game at a time,” Schneider said. “We don’t really look forward.”

One thing’s for sure, though – if Pilgrim wants to run the table in D-III en route to a second consecutive title, it’ll need standout play from Schneider.

Weeks is the leading scorer, but Schneider may just be this team’s x-factor, with the ability to take over any game with his long-range shooting.

And although Schneider can already say he was part of the school’s first-ever boys’ basketball championship team, he’s hungry for another title.

There would be no better way to go out.

“It would mean everything,” Schneider said of potentially winning a second championship. “That’s all we’re working for.”

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