Team Preview: Bishop Kelley (5A)

<p>Bishop Kelley coach said he believes his Comets have potential be one of the best teams in school history.</p> <p>"We are literally aiming for a Gold Ball," Nagel said. "I know everybody in the state goes, ’oh, we want to go win a State Championship,’ but this team may be one of the best teams at Bishop Kelley in a long time."</p> <p>The Comets are lead by a ten-deep senior class, a facet of his team Nagel believes will be very important as the season progresses.</p> <p>"This team is very, very together," Nagel said. "All of these kids are best friends, because you’ve got a group of kids, they’ve all grown up together, and they all go over to each others’ houses on the weekends and hang out."</p> [caption id="attachment_1085279" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Jake-Gendron-Eli-Wallace.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1085279" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Jake-Gendron-Eli-Wallace-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="938855" first="Jake" last="Gendron"] and Griffin Been (Joshua Cleary/Prep Hoops).[/caption] <p>Leading the Comets on both ends will be the highly-touted recruit, forward [player_tooltip player_id="938855" first="Jake" last="Gendron"], a 6-foot-5-inch talent who can soar above the rim with as much consistency as he shoots from beyond the arch.</p> <p>"Jake can flat-out score, everybody in the state knows it," Nagel said. "My job is to get him in space to where we can run some stuff to relieve some pressure."</p> <p>Helping him lead the floor will be [player_tooltip player_id="938856" first="Eli" last="Wallace"], a quick shooter who has gained some recruiting traction of his own in the past couple months.</p> <p>"We can absolutely shoot it," Nagel said, "and it’s not just [Gendron and Wallace]. We know we’re gonna light up the scoreboard, but we’ve gotta be able to defend and stop people from scoring."</p> <p>Helping to fulfill some of those defensive needs is the interior talents of forward Collin Morrison.</p> <p>"Collin was the missing link last year to what we needed," Nagel said. "He absolutely helps us offensively, ’cause he’s got a soft touch. Defensively, [Morrison] can guard somebody, we don’t have to go zone, we can go man-to-man, and he helps us on the boards."</p> [caption id="attachment_1085281" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Eli-Wallace.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1085281" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Eli-Wallace-300x177.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="177" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="938856" first="Eli" last="Wallace"] (Joshua Cleary/Prep Hoops).[/caption] <p>Another importance piece to Kelley’s puzzle is guard Matthew Plaisance, to whom Nagel gave much credit after he helped Kelley to advance to the State Tournament following injuries to Gendron and Morrison.</p> <p>"He’s a guy that’s not talked about," Nagel said. "When all of those guys were out due to injury, Matthew led us in the Area Tournament last year. He had 20-plus in a couple postseason games. . . he absolutely makes us go."</p> <p>Other guards like Griffin Been, Adam Roy and Thomas Dee, will play expanded roles for the Comets.</p> <p>"Griffin was a starter for us last year due to injury," Nagel said, "little-bitty guy out there, but he’s our scrapper, he’s gonna talk some noise, he’s gonna defend on the perimeter and get up-in your guard and pressure you really well."</p> <p>One of the Comets’ few juniors, Justin Wormell, will also play a big role for Kelley after receiving limited minutes as a sophomore.</p> <p>"Justin may be the hardest-working kid we have in the program," Nagel said. "That kid is in the gym more than I’m in the gym, and I have to kick him out. . . he can flat-out shoot it, and there’s a guy who’s gonna come onto the scene this year."</p> <p>Nagel said the Comets’ unlucky tendency for injuries in 2020 could help them in 2021.</p> <p>"My ninth man and 10th man ended up being starters for us," Nagel said. "Because they had those quality minutes for us, we’re really, really deep this year."</p> <p>That depth could help Kelley become one of the best teams in the state.</p> <p>"We have, definitely, the talent," Nagel said. "This team can absolutely get there."</p>