WEST CALDWELL- Veteran coach Mike Fess could certainly sense the turnaround on its way before the covid virus led to a truncated 2020-2021 season in which his Caldwell Chiefs were limited to 15 games.
After going 4-18 and 5-18 in his first two seasons at the helm, the longtime Essex County hoops mentor saw his teams go 13-12 and then 18-7 and 17-8 in pre-covid full seasons.
Still the best was yet to come after a 10-5 record in the fully-impacted, shortened season as the virus was still ever-present.
In 2021-2022, with a junior core group of standout guards Ray Zamloot, Rocco Checchetto and Lorenzo Sozio helping to set the tone along with senior sharpshooter Cristian Talavera and reliable forward Ian Mattison, the Chiefs put together a superb 24-4 campaign which included a first-ever appearance in the semifinals of the Essex County Tournament following an impactful-feeling 76-58 quarterfinal win at Newark East Side where Talavera’s torrid first-half perimeter shooting set the tone for one of the finest victories in Caldwell hoops history.
There was a hard-fought, season-ending 59-55 loss to a very good Newark Central team in the North 2, Group 2 state sectional before a packed house in the James Caldwell High School gymnasium, yet despite the narrow setback the tone was set for another superlative season in 2022-2023 as Zamloot, Checcheto and Sozio, along with football players Ryan Lawrence and Luke Kurzum helping man an undersized front line, led the Chiefs to a N2G2 title with a dominant 66-38 victory against Newark West Side before a solid Group 2 semifinal win over Ramsey at the Elizabeth Dunn Center before a one-sided state final setback at Rutgers’ Jersey Mike’s Arena falling to a very strong Manasquan team that was led by one of the nation’s better sophomores in 6-7 Darius Adams.
A new group of starters stepped in to pave the way in 2023-2024 and the Chiefs finished a much more pedestrian 13-12 (6-6 in the Super Essex Conference’s second-best division, the Liberty).
Yet, the return to another very solid campaign followed last winter as the 2024-2025 Chiefs, with another new senior group, finished an impressive 22-4, including 9-1 in winning the SEC-Colonial Division crown. There was an impressive 50-49 ECT first round win at Newark Tech, a team which would later advance to a third straight Group 2 state final. And, even though the season ended with a 61-60 setback to West Morris in the N2G2 state sectional quarters, there was little to be disappointed about with a second straight team that was comprised of a predominantly first-year starting senior lineup.
Now, it’s time to look forward to the 2025-2026 season, and an all-new starting lineup will step into even more key roles than last year when they were predominantly top reserves.
Gone are the athletic guards Joe Giannetta and Brodie Cook, who were also standout soccer players at Caldwell before being the hoops’ squads’ top two scorers last winter.
Guard Lucas Turner and forwards Marco Sozio (baseball at Drew University) and Santiago Garces also departed via graduation last June.
But, with a solid program firmly in place in season No. 11 for Fess and company, there are both varsity and jayvee players ready to step up. It could be tough at times dealing the speed and athleticism they will now face while moving back up to the SEC-Liberty Division after winning the Colonial last season; however, with another group of talented athletes who are now seasoned in the Caldwell hoops program, including solid summer and fall ball to build off of, there are more hopes for another promising Chiefs hoops campaign.
Caldwell opens up the official 2025-2026 game action on Monday, Dec. 15, hosting an unfamiliar opponent in Memorial of West New York, N.J.
The immediate challenges of hitting the road to play in a tough atmosphere in the SEC-Liberty then hits full throttle as the Chiefs then visit Columbia in Maplewood for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Thursday, Dec. 18, before visiting Montclair Kimberley Academy, 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 20, followed by another SEC crossover 4 p.m., Monday, Dec. 22, back home vs. American Division power St. Benedict’s.
That is all before the annual West Essex Area Hoops Holiday Festival at Caldwell University’s Newman Center which begins with a first-round contest vs. Cedar Grove on Saturday, Dec. 27.
Looking to help lead the way on the hardwood will a backcourt including 5-11 junior sharpshooter Joe DiOrio and the steady 6-foot senior Ryan Keenan, who return with the highest point production among the returnees with 129 and 119 points, respectively, last season, or each at right around 5 points per game.
Another certain contributor will be versatile 6-2 junior swingman Dan Vybihal, who averaged 2 ppg last winter, but is capable of producing much more in what promises to be much more extensive action on the floor.
Junior Nico Sozio provides some nice backcourt depth, while experienced forwards returning for more prominent roles this season as seniors are the athletic 6-2 Aiden Nienstadt and the defensive-minded 6-3 Brad Pankiewicz.
The Chiefs’ successful JV team, which is coached by assistant Ryan Kelly and reached the ECT semis last winter, are promoting key current seniors from that squad led by guards Connor Kennedy and Frankie Anemone plus a potential front court contributor this season in 6-1 Nate Krupp, while 5-10 guard Idan Shiffren is another player who has paid his dues as part of the year-to-year consistent Caldwell hoops program at all levels.
A first-year senior who will be a member of this season’s varsity squad is Luis Papavangjeli, who is from Albania.
Ricky Paige, a former standout Immaculate Conception player and ex-Montclair High assistant coach, heads the Chiefs’ solid freshmen team.
Other veteran assistant coaches on Caldwell’s very cohesive staff are Michael Brown and Alex Rodriguez, who began coaching with Fess as a volunteer while still a high school senior, and he is now a teacher in the building.
Fess remains optimistic about his Chiefs despite some relative inexperience in terms of an overall lack of major minutes returning, and with a potentially tough terrain ahead in the SEC-Liberty with teams such as Columbia, Newark Collegiate, East Side, West Side and Central always ready to try and disrupt an opponent with constant and frequently full court defensive pressure.
“We have had to replace four or five senior starters in each of the past three seasons,” said the veteran Caldwell hoops coach. “Last year Joe Giannetta was really the only starter back and now we have five new kids stepping into starting roles.
“On the plus side we have a very smart and hard-working group who are good at learning what we’re trying to do, and they are looking to build off a strong summer together, and also a good showing in fall ball (in Bloomfield leagues), for those able to play with us then.
“We lost a couple of exceptional athletes in Giannetta and Cook who we relied on a great deal in key spots last season, and we have to be a little grittier and perhaps more patient this year, while of course taking care of the ball and looking to take good shots, but I know that they’ll come each day ready to compete and battle to the end in what we know will be a very challenging conference for sure!”
