During the 2025-2026 season, Boys Varsity Basketball achieved numerous titles and achievements. At the end of the season, the team won the NEPSAC Class A championship game for the second time in the school’s history. They also won the founders league championship. Furthermore, five of their starting players received awards including Jordan Ghee `26, who earned Class A player of the year, while Preston Merrick `26, Owen Zabel `26, Zo Archbold `27, Luke Schorr `26 received the All-NEPSAC award. Additionally Preston reached the milestone of scoring his 1000th point on Senior day, the first senior day hotchkiss has won in 4 years.
The NEPSAC finals game displayed each player’s hard work, perseverance, and teamwork abilities as well as their basketball skills. The final score was 66-54 to end the season leading with the team by at least one point the entire time. Justin Kearse `27, one of the team’s managers said, “the excitement and trust in the team was spectacular throughout the whole championship tournament,” winning against Milton, Exeter and Andover. In addition, Justin Kearse mentioned that Preston Merrick came up to him before the Milton game and said, “they don’t know what’s going to come for them,”
Joe Busacca their Head coach stated “Toughness and unselfishness were the most valuable traits moving into the playoffs. Our group never batted an eye. We always believed and had this level of toughness that gave me confidence going into games. It was fun basketball to watch as well – we averaged 17 mpg – no one was worried about themselves – we were constantly trying to find the best shot every possession and on the defensive end no one wanted to be the reason why a team scored.”
During the regular season, Justin stated, “there were issues with mental bounce back after difficult obstacles whether it be in a game or during practice. Nonetheless, the team always knew what they could be, and they understood that the only way to come back stronger was to stay close and connected, gradually building trust within the team. The team’s development was mainly with trust, meaning the players trusting each other steadily more as the season progressed, the seniors trusting the freshman and the coaches trusting their players.” The Head Coach, Joe Busacca said “one of the main challenges was finding out what our identity was as a team. I think early on, we were good at a bunch of things but didn’t have those 1 or 2 things that we could fall back on when things weren’t going well. It was cool to see our identity take form – we became a resilient group, one who consistently believed in one another and one who really looked to each other. 1 – 14 all played a role in every practice and every game.”
This year is also significant for Head Coach Joe Busacca. After taking over the basketball program in 2022, he inherited the team which was curated mainly by the previous head coach Yassine Talhaoui. This season was the first year that each player was recruited by Coach Busacca. Justin Kearse emphasized how “This year not only signifies a new beginning for Hotchkiss’ Varsity Basketball program but it additionally means Coach Busacca needed to be open and trusting with all of his players since it was his vision and choice as to who is on the team.”
A quote encapsulating the spirit of this season is Justin Kearse ‘27’s reflection: “Remembering to repay ourselves for all the hard work that has been put in with a trophy” emphasizing the importance of a closely bonded team such as this one. The team acknowledged the concept of winning not just to win, but for the purpose of ending this outstanding season knowing that 7 seniors were going to graduate.
With numerous significant games, the top most notable according to Justin Kearse ‘27, Mason Mcllwain ‘29 and Markus Jones ‘29, were not the countless wins but the very few losses or close games. The opening game against Avon Old Farms was a close loss with the score being 51-52. This game damaged the teams morale, however after an empowering speech by Mr. Toure, the assistant coach, the team not only had an uplifted spirit then on, but they continued to overcome every hardship as a team.
Additionally the game against Dexter Southfield was a “turning point” for the team’s connection. Markus Jones ‘29, one of the players said “Dexter Southfield was a movie, plain and simple, and it was incredible for us to fight back being down 14 with time running out, Jordan hitting the game winning shot showed us that we are able to lock in even more under pressure, and to fight as brothers and not fold.”
Joe Busacca remarks, “I wish the year never ended. Obviously the stretch run after Williston is what I will always think about – we have access to the playoff document and after our loss to Williston I knew that we HAD ZERO wiggle room. We had to WIN EVERY SINGLE GAME to just get into the playoffs. I remember telling the group and their response wasn’t to complain but instead it just made them angry and played with a chip on their shoulder. We as a group had something to prove every single game. And at 20-3 in NEPSAC we were only a 5 seed which made the group even hungrier to prove people wrong. The challenges that we faced is that we had to be perfect – and basketball is not a game of perfection. Instead we leaned into our culture, our motto BBTY – we focused on being better than yesterday and making daily improvements. This was my first ever championship team and they embodied everything I can hope for as a coach – true family, tough, resilient and selfless.”
This team ended the season with a 23-4 record. Seven seniors will graduate this year.
