Raptors eye 3-peat — but it won’t be an easy ride
Executive Education Academy Charter School has the newest and one of the nicest gyms in the Lehigh Valley.
However, because of an unwritten ban on playing the Raptors due to ideological differences, few other area teams have been inside since the school opened in 2018.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed that, at least for one Lehigh Valley school.
Notre Dame-Green Pond opened the season on Executive Education Academy’s home court last Friday night.
It was an opportunity for the Raptors to showcase their gym and a team that’s the only one in Lehigh Valley to win district championships each of the past two years. Can they get a three-peat this March? It will be a little tougher because Executive has moved up to the 3A classification, where there are 10 teams, including Colonial League members such as Catasauqua, Notre Dame, Northern Lehigh, Palisades,
Palmerton, Pen Argyl and Salisbury.
Also different will be the Raptors schedule, which had an array of Philadelphia Public School teams over the first two seasons of the program.
With Philly shut down due to COVID19 issues, Executive had to look elsewhere for games and has several attractive matchups, including games against Berks Catholic, Imhotep, Holy Ghost Prep and Steelton-Highspire.
“It’s a weird year, but we try to focus on what we can control,” Raptors coach
Ray Barbosa said. “It’s a year where you’re going to have to roll with the punches.”
Executive Charter
Coach: Ray Barbosa (third year, 36-15 at Executive; 100-37 including three seasons at Becahi).
2019-20 season: 18-7.
Postseason: Defeated Williams 71-56 and Schuylkill Haven 71-56 to win District
11 2Atitle. Defeated Church Farm School 55-42, lost to Constitution 79-76 in the PIAA 2A tournament.
Opener: Defeated Notre Dame-Green Pond 84-75, lost to Muhlenberg Township 72-61 in unique doubleheader last Friday.
Players towatch: Jevin Muniz (6-5, Sr. G-F) Jean Marc Nonirit (6-5, Sr. F); James Watkins (6-0 Sr. G); Nick Waltermyer (5-9, Sr. G); Jalil Schenck (5-10 Jr. G); Kobe Magee (6-4, Jr. F); Dontae Oquendo (6-1, Jr. G-F); Elijah Patron (6-1, Jr. G-F); Moustapha Sanoh (6-10, So. C); Patrick Allieu (6-5, So. F); Rylan Muniz (5-9, Fr. G); Lamine Sanoh (6-6, Fr. F).
Why they are ranked: While graduating four talented seniors from last year’s team, including all-area and all-state player Titus Wilkins, the Raptors have a talented core of players led by Muniz, who has grown in height and as a player and could be a Division I recruit. Muniz reached the 1,000-point mark for his career on opening night. Executive always plays a schedule loaded with quality opponents that prepares the program for the postseason. Barbosa has a knack of bringing a team together and having it peak at the right time.
What to know: Oquendo is a transfer from Liberty. Waltermyer is a transfer from Pleasant Valley. Nonrit was at Executive as a sophomore, played at Dieruff as a junior and has returned to Executive.
Muniz, who was a Morning Call All-Area player and a second-team all-state selection last year after averaging 21 points per game, enters the season just 15 points shy of 1,000 in his career. Muniz, who has received interest from the Air Force Acad
emy, scored 141 points as a freshman at Freedom.
The burning desire: According to Barbosa, it’s “to get these kids as many games as possible and an opportunity for the seniors to get an opportunity to be seen by colleges. The scheduling got tougher because we had a lot of games against Philly in the past, but we’re trying our best to put a good schedule together that will challenge our kids and give them an opportunity to grow because we have a lot of younger guys ... juniors, sophomores and freshmen ... who are looking to grow.
“I don’t think we’ll be a great team right off the bat, but I think once we continue to work we’ll be a good team by the end of the season. We’re really excited about this group.”
Conquering the coronavirus: Barbosa said the program took a long pause from its last game on March 11 until the middle of June, when players started to do socially-distanced drills such as one-on-one and two-on-two shooting.
“Once September came along, we were able to get in the gym about three days a week,” he said. “Our administration is supportive of athletics and we were fortunate to get into the gym and get some good work in. I love being in the gym with these guys.”
The final word: Barbosa, who is a teacher at Executive and instructs his classes virtually, said his team has all the ingredients of a championship team. And this year with the state tournament field drastically reduced, there’s a clearer path to Hershey.
“We have size, we have shooting, but the one thing we lack right nowis experience,” Barbosa said. “We lost four really good players from last year, but this group has a chance to be just as good. This could be the year where we take that next step.
“The key is to make your adjustments and keep these guys focused. As a coach, it’s still important to take care of your guys. Whether we play games or not, we’re just going to work