Saratoga Central Catholic boys' basketball team hitting its stride in third year under Bromirski

That was Bromirski’s first year leading the Saints, and in his words, “We fought and scratched and clawed to be a little bit above a .500 basketball team.” The 2024-25 Saints are far from that.

When they walked into the gym entrance Tuesday and past the large encased photo of the Section II championship team Bromirski played on, they carried themselves like a team that is being discussed at water coolers and breakfast spots. And later, they performed like it. Despite a minor coasting at the beginning, which Bromirski audibly reminded them wasn’t acceptable, the Saints soon got into gear and ran past the Tigers, 63-35, to improve to 10-0 in the Wasaren League and 15-1 overall.



Bromirski the player played like there was no tomorrow. Now a father, teacher and coach, he still believes in living for the moment, but it’s delivered from the perspective of a person whose hairline is farther back. “It’s cool when we were riding the bus and a couple kids asked, ‘Was that a Walgreen’s when you were growing up?’ ‘No, that was a Rite-Aid.

’ ‘Have you got memories on these streets?’ ‘Yeah, we ran all over this town when we were kids,’” Bromirski said. Later, in his pregame speech, Bromirski said he reminded his players the only guarantee they have is six games left. Anything longer is on them.

“I just want them to make sure they’re enjoying this ride, taking it in and being good teammates to each other and enjoying the responsibility we have at 15-1 now, to spread that with other people and enjoy each other,” Bromirski said. “This doesn’t happen often. You have to enjoy it as much as put extra pressure on yourself to continue it.

” This season’s results start with the senior leadership of Ronan Rowe, Ryan Gillis, Hunter Fales — all of whom started as sophomores — and Tyler Hicks and Miles Knussman, who joined last year and this year, respectively. Gillis and Bromirski said the players’ summer and fall dedication is paying off. “Shea ran open gyms for us in the summer, and we kind of worked on our game, worked on defense a lot — that’s his main thing.

He really likes that,” Gillis said. What’s evident from looking at the Saints is they like to run and move quickly both on offense and defense. Bromirski’s practices aren’t easy.

“Oh no,” Gillis confirmed. “He likes to run us.” “We were building it slowly, slowly, and you could start to see the numbers rise in the program and feel an excitement around the school,” Bromirski said.

“With that comes more people at open gyms and more people running. We had a really good October and November, when we played every day after school. The gym’s open, and these guys were playing and running and enjoying each other.

A lot of these guys play other sports, especially baseball, but they really committed to focus on hoops starting in the fall and summer.” This season is also no surprise to Spa Catholic athletic director Phonsey Lambert. “When we hired Shea, I knew we hired the best young coach in Section 2,” Lambert said.

“He deflects any spotlight, and it’s all about his players. His practices are filled with energy and commitment. The players love and believe in him.

” The Saints are getting many contributions. In the Cambridge game, three players scored in double figures (Hicks 15, Fales 13 and Jasyn Thompson 11), but every player who logged time did something to get on the statistics sheet. Spa Catholic is ranked sixth in the state Class C poll, but in a weird twist, is just the third-highest Section 2 team in it, with Berne-Knox-Westerlo at No.

3 and Duanesburg at No. 5. B-K-W beat Spa Catholic 55-49 on Dec.

8. “That was definitely a good game, we had that circled on our schedule,” Rowe said. “They’re probably going to be the one-seed in sectionals.

We’ll probably be the two or three, so we’ll have to go through a lot to get there [to face them again], but they’re definitely a great team. We definitely can compete with them.” “They’re kids, they’re all over social media, they see their ranking,” Bromirski said.

“I try to avoid thinking about it. ..

.I was lucky to play on a sectional team, state semifinal team and then a good college team, so I’ve been through this. I want them to just enjoy it.

We’re excited. We want to continue it as long as we can.”.