By Ryan O'Connor

Alethal backcourt combination, a deep bench and a proven home-court advantage once again have the Pelham boys basketball team in position to challenge for a state championship.

After wearing the Class I crown in 2006, the Pythons relinquished the hardware to Hanover, a quarterfinal-round winner over Pelham during last year’s tournament.

But coach Todd Kress, who led the Pythons to three straight state finals – once in Class M and twice in Class I – before last season’s setback, said his squad is poised for another run.

“Last year we took so many kids who had never been on a varsity court,” he said. “This year, we are returning eight players, seven of which got some pretty good minutes.”

Yet even the optimistic mentor admitted his team has, literally, a tough road ahead. The Pythons, who finished 2006-07 with a 4-6 road record, open the season with eight of their first nine games on the road. At least five of those contests are against legitimate title contenders, added Kress.

“All that prosperity we received last year at the beginning of the season (playing eight of nine games at home), we’re going to have to fight through this time around,” he said. “The positive side is if we can get to that point of the season and feel good about ourselves by being in a good position, we’ll have a lot of momentum going into the second half.”

That may prove an understatement.

Pelham has a 37-game home winning streak dating back to January 2004 and has yet to lose a Class I matchup in its own gymnasium.

But it’s going to take more than a great home record to win another title, which is why Kress is putting the ball in the hands of Justin Hojlo, the junior standout who played the role of secret weapon during the Pythons’ championship run in 2005-06 and last year led Pelham in scoring as a sophomore.

The spark plug moves from shooting guard to the point, where his coach said Hojlo is a natural.

“Definitely, positively, he’s going to be the main guy, and he’s going be the focal point in terms of making other teams stop him,” said Kress. “It’s really going to be his world out there. We are going to put all our eggs in his basket, so to speak, and allow him to make the right decisions.”

And for all the little things Hojlo does, Kress said his greatest attribute is making those around him better.

One teammate who isn’t lacking talent is Hojlo’s backcourt mate, Ricky Costa, who developed into the team’s best pure scorer as last season progressed, said Kress

“He’s really going to benefit from Justin drawing most of the attention from other teams,” said the coach. “Whereas Justin is more of a playmaker who gets everyone involved, Ricky just loves to play physical and really hurt defenses with his scoring ability.”

Swingman Jamie Vaiknoras, who last year came off the bench as Pelham’s sixth man, steps into the starting lineup and serves as the team’s third scoring option.

Though Vaiknoras often provided a spark last season, Kress said inconsistency was a concern, something he expects Vaiknoras to overcome. The senior, who shares the captaincy with Hojlo, is the Pythons’ top shutdown defender, said his coach.

Junior Grant Hebert starts at center. He runs the floor well and has a good perimeter shot, something Kress said Hebert will use to draw opposing big men away from the basket.

The surprise player of the year, however, could be 6-foot freshman Stephen Spirou, who starts at forward for the Pythons this season.

“He’s a good defender, he rarely makes mistakes, he doesn’t turn the ball over, he runs the floor well, and he can knock down 15- to 17-foot shots, which is so important to what we do,” said Kress. “Even as a freshman, people are going to start realizing very early that this kid is going to be something special in the next couple years.”

Others expected to play pivotal roles this season include senior forwards Evan Cove and Craig Moreau and guard Brady Tryon.

“These are things we weren’t able to do last year. I mean, we had Justin and (graduated guard) Mark Catalano playing all 32 minutes in some games. And in our system, that’s very hard to do and still be fresh at the end of the game,” said Kress. “With three very experienced seniors coming off the bench, we’re hoping to be much deeper and get back to that typical Pelham eight-, nine-man rotation where we really wear teams out.”