By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Brian Putnam spent his Tuesday morning sitting down with the district business manager making plans for the upcoming weekend.
You could call it a trip 10 years in the making.
Putnam and his Avoca/Prattsburgh boys’ basketball team will be heading to Glens Falls for the NYSPHSAA Class D semi-finals. The A/P team will be looking to win its first state title since Putnam was a player in 1991.
“It’s very cool with a lot of the similarities that are going on between then and now,” Putnam said.
A/P (25-0) will face Oppenheim/Ephratah-St. Johnsville (II) in Friday’s semi-final with South Krotright (IV) and Heuvelton (X) playing on the opposite side of the bracket.
Putnam’s assistant coach Zach Devoe was also a starter on the 1991 state champion. Their sons Macoy (Putnam) and Sawyer (Devoe) are starters on the current team.
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“We were a little bit bigger back in ’91,” said Putnam referring to the 6-foot-4 Devoe and Gary Day who stood 6-foot-3.
Putnam’s current A/P team scores nearly 86 points per game.
“We were into the mid 80s for sure,” he said of the team during his playing days that came before the advent of the shot clock in New York State High School basketball.
“Nor did we need a shot clock for that team,” he noted. “The shot clock has come into play this season for maybe four possessions all season long if that.”
The 1991 team was led by hall-of-fame coach Jim Burke and Putnam is happy to carry on what his former coach started.
“There is a lot of tradition there and it’s an honor to step in after Coach Burke to carry on all the things that he did,” Putnam said by phone. “That’s something that I take pride in with the green blazers and the respect that the kids show on the court.”
Burke retired after the 2007-08 season with 517 wins. He returned to Glens Falls in 1994 but his squad lost to Tuckahoe in the semifinals.
Putnam has been the Prattsburgh head coach since 2013-14.
The Prattsburgh and Avoca programs merged after the 2019-20 season, a year when Avoca won the Section V Class D1 title and Prattsburgh the D2 crown. Avoca won the regional qualifier in the season that was shortened by Covid-19.
“I was excited,” Putnam said of the merger between the two rivals that are separated by 11 miles. “I knew the players that they had over there. They would add to the players we had. I was like holy cow, this is going to be an incredible ride.
“It just makes sense. Both programs were struggling to have enough kids to play at age-appropriate levels. You had a lot of ninth graders playing on varsity that really weren’t ready. The merger has kept that from happening. The kids are playing where they’re supposed to. There are more opportunities for kids. It’s been a great combination.”
Devoe leads A/P with 16.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Pacey Hopkins has 16.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Macoy Putnam adds 15.5 points, 7.5 assists and 4.8 steals per game while Haden Abbott scores 11.7 per game and Caleb Johnson has 9.5 points per game.
Avoca/Prattsburgh holds the longest current winning streak in the state at 36 games.
“These kids are just amazing. They come in day-in and day-out. You’re going to have bad days here and there in practice where we’re just not in it. Consistently, these guys just come in and work hard.”
As for the travel plans needed?
“The eating and the camaraderie and stuff like that is the thing the kids really remember. You kinda want to make that memorable as you can.”
An 11:15 a.m. tipoff is scheduled at Cool Insuring Arena.
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