Prep Profiles 23-24 - Bridgton

Owen Carlson | Thursday, December 21st, 2023

Bridgton Academy, another member of the elite NEPSAC-AAA conference, has started the year on a great note with a renewed roster filled with high-level talent. They have already begun signing players to continue their basketball careers in college. Let’s take a look at the intriguing lineup for this year…

“Whit Lesure has once again put together a group of guys who have bought in and performed well thus far this season. Maine-native Silvano Ismail, arguably one of the best on-ball defending guards in the 2024 class, has continued to have success. Will Davis has played a large role in the post with Coker-commit Kalvin Catchings displaying his dynamic slashing abilities as well. Warren Yeh had one of the best performances of NPS and the team has gotten big moments from Chris Yapo, Anthony Chinn, and Joey Poulin amongst others. How far can this group go this season?” -Dylan Thayer

3 Things You Need to Know About This Year’s Team

One committed, others have received offers…

So far, Kalvin Catchings is the only Wolverine who has announced his commitment to play at the college level. He takes his talents down to South Carolina to join the Cobras of Coker University, where he will be competing in the South Atlantic Conference at the Division II level. He was a standout at the recent ZG Prep Classic. 

But it doesn’t end there, as Anthony Chinn has also received an offer from Post University. He showed dominant performances at the NEPSAC Showcase over the summer. 

That’s only the beginning…

We had a sense of the level of some of these prospects based on their performance at previous schools in New England.

Silvano Ismail is a name that should have several offers attached to it at this point, and no one can explain why this is not the case. Ismail earned the #1 spot on our Maine Class of 2024 Rankings, and he has proven to be a do-it-all player, tallying 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in a 1-point victory over Canada Topflight. He also had 18 points and 7 assists at the ZG Prep Classic.

Will Davis has also proven to be a high-level recruit, getting the game-winning block to seal the game against Canada Topflight, also charting 9 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Vanier. We got a glimpse at the Newton North postgrad’s talent at this past June’s Elite 75 in front of a number of New England schools.

Others who earned some of the top spots in the rankings include Senegalese big Mamadou Kane, who stands at a towering 7’1”, as well as Devonte “DJ” Reed, who had 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in the victory over Loomis, and Peter Gellene, who comes from Catholic Memorial in Boston and recently hit the game-winning free throw for the Wolverines.

There’s even more…

Some of their biggest pieces come from out of the region and were therefore not included in the last edition of the rankings…

Porter Kelly recently jumped onto our radar, as he hails from Memphis, TN. He tallied 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals against PHH Prep. He has taken on a big role for this squad right away.

Warren Yeh is another newcomer to the region who has popped out, as he actually comes from Taiwan. He dropped 21 points with 4 assists against Fork Union Military Academy at the National Prep Showcase. He also added 14 points versus PHH Prep. 

Another standout who is new to New England is Chris Yapo, who made his way to Bridgton from the UK. He posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds against Fork Union. 

F Joey Poulin is another out-of-region addition, but not as far out of the region, as he comes from New England’s only American neighbor—the state of New York. He has played a key role on this year’s squad, dropping 22 points with 7 rebounds and 2 steals at the ZG Prep Classic, as well as 17 points with 11 rebounds and 5 assists prior to that. 

It still doesn’t end there, as we also saw Chris Kulakowski and Nick Moore make appearances at the Scholar Roundball Classic, as well as Yunosuke “Yuno” Matsuda, who comes from Japan’s Tokyo Samurai AAU program.

3 Questions Heading into the Season

Can they continue meshing? 

With a lot of talent on the roster, especially with all of it being in the class of 2024, it will be interesting to see how they can all play together throughout the season. It seems to be a different player stepping up each game… will anyone carve themselves out as a clear leader? 

Can they maintain their current success? 

With big wins coming against some big-time opponents, including CATS Academy at the ZG Prep Classic, where will they end up by the end of the season? Can they make an appearance on our new series of National Prep Coaches’ Poll Rankings?

How will they compare to last year?

Last season, the Wolverines finished third in the NEPSAC Class-AAA after the regular season. They faced Newman in the first round of the playoffs, winning by 16. They faced a particularly stacked Brewster Academy team in the semifinals, and they ultimately fell by 32. Can this year’s squad exceed the success of last year’s?

So far this season:

The Wolverines currently have an 8-4 record at the time of this article’s writing, with big regional wins, including the victory over CATS (69-63) at the ZG Prep Classic, as well as wins on the national/international stage, including the recent win against Canada Topflight. Their record might not do them justice however, as two of their losses were heartbreakingly close, and they came against national powers Fork Union and PHH Prep at the National Prep Showcase.