City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@jsantoliquito)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2024-25 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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Northeast boys’ basketball coach Steve Novosel is about to enter his ninth season with a mountain to climb—exceeding a higher peak that was achieved in 2023-24. The Vikings finished their best season under Novosel and best year in over two decades when they went 11-1 in the Philadelphia Public League B and 19-6 overall.

Three years ago, Northeast went 10-10 overall. Two years ago, 14-7.

Sense a trend here?

The goal is to reach the PIAA Class 6A playoffs, where the Vikings fell one game short last season, when they lost in the District 12 Class 6A playoffs to Miami-bound Jalil Bethea and Archbishop Wood, 65-43. To Novosel’s knowledge, Northeast has never reached the PIAA state playoffs in boys’ basketball.

It’s a tangible goal, based on last season’s success.

“I think we were where we thought we could be last year,” Novosel said. “We have been building a program the last three years, and you can see it in how we have progressed: 10 wins three years ago, 14 two years ago and 19 last year. All of our guys have stayed together. We wanted to get that state playoff game. We came one win short. But we learned a lot. I like our character. Last year, we put a great emphasis on our culture, and on great leadership. The guys are connected and have bought in to what we are doing.”

The Vikings will win this season on spunk. They are not the biggest team. Returning senior starter Sharif Wallace represents the Vikings’ size, at 6-foot-3, along with 6-3 senior Makai Autry. The team will revolve around the Vikings’ other returning starter, 6-1 senior guard Bobby Perry.

“I know what it is like to win 19 games and I think we can be really good again this year,” Perry said. “We had some seniors leaving, but with the players we have coming up from junior varsity, we can be better. We play as a team. We share the ball. Most of this team has years of experience playing with each other. Last year’s success proved when we play together, we are one of the best teams in the ‘Pub.’ The only thing we did last year was get complacent in the middle of the season. That was not on the coaching staff. That was on us. Our heads got too big. We were winning. I guess we did not know how to deal with that.”

Northeast coach Steve Novosel (second from left) with Vikings (L to R) Bobby Perry, Zahir Adams and EJ Parrilla. (Photo: Joseph Santoliquito/CoBL)

Over the summer, Novosel worked to combat that. His message was simple: “Our standard is our standard, regardless of what the score is or what the situation is.”

“We competed against some of the tougher teams, and there were some games when we were up by 15, 20 points,” Novosel said. “These guys were not used to that. They let up a little. I have to find ways to challenge these guys, so they are not getting too large of an ego.”  

He will place the emphasis on constant defensive intensity. He points out that one player took 15 charges last season. The idea will be to create a whirlwind of pressure and cause chaos, generating offense from defense.

That will come from the depth provided by returning 6-foot senior guard Zamir Adams, 6-2 senior forward Jon Miller, 6-foot sophomore guard Andre Jones, along with 5-7 junior point guards Tahir Williams and EJ Parrilla.

Novosel has a good idea of what the Vikings will look like defensively. His task will be to piece the offense together.

“We do have the potential to have six guys who can average seven to 12 points a game,” he said. “That will put us in a lot of games this year. These guys are hungry. They want more. They know what it is like to win. They experienced that last year. We will need to be together to do it though. We do not have a guy who can score 20 points a game. But we have a lot of guys who can score. That will make us tough to defend. Our go-to player has not shown himself yet, but if there is one guy close, it is Bobby Perry. He is calling me on the phone, asking me to open the gym, practicing in the morning. He is our hardest worker, and his energy is contagious.”

Adams said determination will compensate for the Vikings’ lack of height.

“We are small, but we have a lot of heart and grit,” he said. “That can work on the court. We will have to win by outworking teams. We will all have to attack the boards to make up for our height. I had a hard season last year. The seniors got my confidence up and I will know when someone is down, I can spread what I learned last year to them.”

Parrilla will be one of the key cogs this season. Paired with Perry, Novosel could have two point guards on the court at once.

“We wanted to make it deeper in the playoffs last year, but this year we have a lot more guys who come back with confidence,” Parrilla said. “This is a team that does not give up. We keep fighting, especially on the defensive end. That’s how we are going to win. We are definitely a small team. But this is a team full of scrappy dogs. We play for the guy beside us, and for the guy in front of us. When we’re together, we will be tough to stop.”

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.