Passaic Boys Basketball Wraps Up Season to Remember

Indians finish 18-9 and will return several top players

basketball huddle

Antonio Carrera

The Passaic Boys Basketball team in a huddle while playing Don Bosco Prep.

The Passaic High School basketball team had a season to remember. 

The team had its best record in 10 years and made it all the way to the state sectional quarterfinals. The team, which went 18-9 and was led by coach Paul Pomykala, had star power players such as Cam’ron Sylvester, Antrell Monroe, Kendall Malloy, and Travis Pittman.

Coach Pomykala said he  felt this season went great.

“This was a great year,” he said. “I am very proud of the boys. They worked extremely hard all year. We could not have had this type of season without the support from the students and community all season. Especially at our home games. This was the best record posted by the boys basketball team in the past 10 years.”

Pomykala said it feels great to be the coach of the best basketball team at Passaic in 10 years.

“This group really set the bar high for future teams,” he said.

This group really set the bar high for future teams.

— Passaic basketball coach Paul Pomykala

The team’s success could be seen early. In their sixth game, they demolished Passaic Tech, 72-43, a rival for many years that had beaten Passaic the season before. 

Coach said that all of the nine seniors stood out and affected the team’s success.

“Definitely all of the nine seniors. I will never forget them and their accomplishments,” he said.

However, a lingering problem would affect Passaic’s season. Kennedy High School of Paterson easily beat Passaic in their second game and that would be a sign of things to come, as Passaic lost at the hands of Kennedy in the county semifinals and in the state sectional quarterfinals. Kennedy would be crowned champion in both competitions. 

This season, however, was building up for future ones. Coach Pomykala said he wanted to build the foundation of the program more and that was his goal for this season.

“The goal this year was to continue building the foundation of the program,” he said. “This included off-season workouts, weight room, and studying film. The goal for every year is to just develop a strong character on and off the court.”

Coach is already on to the next season, focusing and preparing his players. He thinks the players who will shine the most will be the ones who put in the most work.

“That’s all going to be based on who puts in the most work in the off-season,” he said. 

The way Antrell Monroe and Travis Pittman have been playing as juniors really impressed a lot of people, and Coach Pomykala believes that they can be top-of-the-county players.

“If those boys really work on their game, they can be top players in the county,” he said.