By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the second time in a decade, Mike Bree will take the Waterloo girls’ basketball team to the NYSPHSAA final four.
This time around, he has a refreshed perspective. A frame of mind that was gained after time away from the program and was given a kick start by a fellow coach who was willing to put aside his pride.
“We haven’t touched a basketball in two days,” Bree said by phone on Tuesday. “We’re getting back at it today and getting ready to just enjoy the ride.”
Bree’s Waterloo squad, ranked No.1 in the state, will put its undefeated record (25-0) on the line Saturday against Putnam Valley (I).
“Obviously, every group that’s up there is going to be good,” Bree said of the games this weekend at Hudson Valley Community College – site of the girls’ championships. “They’re going to be nervous. Whatever happens, you don’t want it to be I wish we would have done this. I wish we would have done that.”
Being able to accept outcomes is something that has come with experience.
In the nine seasons since Waterloo reached the championship game in 2013, Bree and his family spent three of those in their home state of Indiana. It was there that they realized what they left behind.
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“We really missed Waterloo. We made a connection here. My wife and I decided we want to come back.”
Two years after Bree departed Central New York, Waterloo was in need of a coach. Former head man, Tim Lincoln, had returned to the sidelines but only until the next leader could be found.
Little did he realize that a former coach was going to be the future coach.
The call came while Bree was on the golf course.
“Tim must have gotten wind that I was coming back. I’ll never forget it. I was just finishing up a round of golf and he asked me If I’d like to come back and help at the JV level.
“I didn’t really have any intention of getting back at it right away, but once you’re a coach you’re always a coach at heart. When the opportunity arises, it’s hard to walk away from it.”
At first, prospects looked dim. Low numbers at the JV level caused doubt. Bree saw beyond the surface.
“I just went over and watched a couple practices. I’m watching these kids and I’m like well they’re pretty good as seventh and eighth graders.”
That season Bree’s starters on the junior varsity level included eighth graders Macy Carr and Giavanna White-Principio along with seventh graders Natalie DiSanto and Jazzmyn Lewis. The following year, Morgan Caraballo joined the JV team as an eighth grader.
“You could tell then that they were special. As a JV team, they were doing the same things they’re doing now with frustrating opposing teams and really kinda having their way.”
At the same time, Lincoln approached Bree with an idea.
“In my mind, I knew I wasn’t going to be doing this for much longer,” said Lincoln who coached Waterloo to six league titles and two sectional championships in his seven seasons on the sidelines in the early 2000s. “I told him ‘Let’s be smart about this. Eventually, you’re going to take the program over. Let’s do what you want to do going forward.’ ”
With that, the varsity coach worked to put into place the JV coach’s system. Lincoln’s squad used Bree’s offensive sets and defensive schemes.
“I could have had a different take on the whole thing and said ‘no, we’re going to do things my way,’ ” Lincoln commented. “He had some great stuff that he was looking to run with the kids offensively. He’s got a great basketball mind, far better than mine. He is very passionate about it. He’s got a vested interest just like I had a vested interest.”
Both junior varsity and varsity squads practiced together. Bree and Lincoln shared the instruction as the two implemented the former’s system.
“For that to happen, it tells you what kind of person Tim Lincoln is,” said Bree whose coaching career started as an assistant at Muncie Central where he helped a pair of teams to the Indiana State finals. They lost to Lawrence North led by former NBA player Greg Oden and current NBA veteran Mike Conley (Utah Jazz). “That’s not an easy thing to do as a head coach to say let’s run someone else’s stuff. That’s what happened. It was a success for that year and moved forward.”
Bree returned to the varsity sideline for the 2018-19 season. That Waterloo roster included three eighth (Carballo, DiSanto and Lewis) and two ninth graders (Carr and White-Principio) while just two seniors played on the team. The Indians finished with 10 wins and 12 losses. The following year they won 19 and lost three by a combined total of 10 points – all to divisional rival and eventual Class B2 finalist, Palmyra-Macedon.
Last year they went 14-0 in the Covid-shortened 2021 campaign. With 25 wins to their credit this season, Bree’s squad holds the longest winning streak in Section V Basketball for both boys and girls.
“It takes a lot to go right for this to happen,” Bree said of the streak. “You’ve got to avoid injuries. You’ve got stay healthy especially at this time with Covid.
“We’ve been relatively healthy and had some big battles along the way that game-tested us this year and ultimately help prepare us to what we did.”
One of the biggest challenges came in late January when White-Principio (15.7 points/7.8 rebounds per game) was sidelined with an injury.
“We really didn’t know until the day before we played Penn Yan and it was our closest game all year. We were actually down in the fourth quarter and found a way to pull that one out.”
The four-point win represented just one of the three occasions this season that Waterloo’s margin of victory was less than 10 points. Two nights later, Waterloo went on the road and beat Wayne.
“A win like that shows you what you’re made of,” Bree said of the victory over Penn Yan. “We really didn’t have any time to prepare. You’re talking about our leading scorer, our leading rebounder. To come away with a win and follow it up with another win, showed what we’re capable of. Primarily, we’ve been healthy. This group has stuck together.”
This weekend, the team that Bree started with five seasons ago will have a chance to do what no Waterloo girls’ basketball team has done: win a state championship.
Last time, Bree took a squad this far, Waterloo lost to Irvington (I) in the Class B State final.
“They were a juggernaut.”
Bree came away from that experience with a clearer understanding of priorities for the weekend.
“In 2013, getting to go with the girls I felt like I had a lot of people were telling me what we needed to do and you get pulled in all different directions,” Bree said of that team which was led by two-time All-State performer Lauren Demming along with Lindsay Johnson and Chelsea Steinruck. “Before you know it, you’re playing the game. I didn’t feel like I got to soak it all in as a coach. I didn’t know if the players felt that way as well.
“I told the girls this year, we’re going to keep it real loose. We’re going to go and enjoy the moment. Let them soak it all in and see what it’s like and not try to put a rush on everything.”
If you’re going: A 12:30 p.m. tipoff is scheduled on Saturday.
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