Falls Bradberry banking on tough schedule to harden the Wolverines as they progress towards playoffs

Sure, he hears the whispers. Carlos Bradberry knows there are people in the Niagara Falls basketball community who thought he was a little crazy when he made the big move, that he must be some kind of hoop masochist.

Three years ago, Bradberry decided to pull the Falls boys basketball team out of the Niagara Frontier League and play an independent schedule. The motive was to create more competition for his team. In essence, to lose a little more.

The first year, the plan worked like a charm. The Wolverines showed remarkable resilience in 2023-24, weathering a difficult beginning and peaking at the right time. They captured the Section VI AAA championship and won the Far West Regional before bowing to unbeaten Bay Shore in the state semifinals.

This season, it seems Bradberry might have gotten more than he bargained for. “When I was putting this together, I was thinking this would be the toughest schedule we ever had,” he said after a recent practice. “And it is.”

Niagara Falls has lost close games to Canisius, Nichols and St. Joe’s. They lost by a point to Berne-Knox Westerlo, a school outside Albany. Over the Christmas break, they lost two games in Maryland. Then came the real gauntlet: Road games on Saturday and Tuesday against the No. 1 and 2-ranked Class AA teams in New York State — Nottingham (Sect. III) and Penfield (Sect. V). The Wolverines lost by 29 at Nottingham and by eight at Penfield.

Halfway through his sixth season as the head man, Bradberry’s team is 2-8. He said he couldn’t remember having a record that poor since he was a Division I college player at New Hampshire (Bradberry began his college career at Niagara, but left the program early in his sophomore season).

“It’s really top heavy as far as our first 10 games,” said Bradberry, who was the Western New York player of the year at the old LaSalle High in 1993. “We figured we’re going to learn a lot about ourselves and hopefully we’re going to get a lot better in the second half of the season. Some teams go through a year and don’t get challenged a lot. I think at the end of the day, we’re going to go through 16 or 18 games that are just battles. I’m hoping that when we get to Buff State, or wherever we are in the playoffs, it’s going to make a difference that we were in that situation so many times, and that our kids will be OK with the adversity that’s going to come with it.”

Of course, a high school player can take only so much adversity. Bradberry remains confident about his long-term objective. He knows his team will be tougher for the struggle. But when a team is losing, it’s only natural for a coach to wonder whether his players’ self-belief is being shaken.

“It is tough, because I get a lot of pushback from the community,” he said. “I “hear a lot about losing games. The only thing that bothers me is the kids’ psyche. To this point, I can see the kids sort of get down a little bit more. That’s the one thing I worry about, our kids’ psyche about losing games. I want to keep our kids’ morale high and not get too low by looking at our team record.”

Losing is tough, whether it’s in close games or blowouts. But Bradberry, 50, said his players love the tough schedule, which might very well be the toughest in the state. He said they appreciate the travel, the competition, battling through close games.

“The tough schedule, it’s helping us get better,” said junior Jeremiah Shipp, who leads the Wolverines in scoring and assists. “It’s helping us develop. Even though it’s tough and we play tough teams back-to-back, I feel we’re getting better facing the tough teams. We trust our coach every time. The good thing about Coach ‘Los is he helps us play our hardest. It’s about winning, but also the effort out there. He keeps pushing us. That’s what makes a good coach.”

Niagara Falls has won 15 sectional titles in the last 24 years. The standard is high. Bradberry wants to be measured against the best. He played for the great Pat Monti at LaSalle, which won 90 percent of the time during its peak and won 10 consecutive sectional championships at one point. He said winning became routine, and sometimes a player tended to go through the motions against overmatched opponents. Carlos would rather be challenged by the best.

Bradberry said he didn’t aspire to be a coach when he was younger. He began coaching when his son, Jalen, began playing as a young boy. Jalen, who played for the Falls is now playing Division II ball at the District of Columbia. Carlos was an assistant coach at Niagara Falls under Giulio Colangelo and Sal Constantino. He became head coach in 2021 when Brent Gadacz resigned.

This is Bradberry’s sixth season as head of the program. A year ago, he asked former Niagara Falls and Canisius College star Jermaine Crumpton to take over his junior varsity program. Crumpton, who was MAAC co-player of the year in 2018 and was briefly a professional in Luxembourg, didn’t hesitate.

“I love Carlos,” Crumpton said. “He was the JV coach when I was coming up. Had a loud voice when he was assistant to Sal Constantino. He coached us in the sectional semis against Kenmore West when Sal had a family emergency. He did a hell of a job, was very well prepared and we were ready to go. He was nervous, but he did a great job and we won that game. I knew he’d be a hell of a varsity coach when the time came. The proof is in the pudding.”

Bradberry said Monti was the best coach he ever had, including all his college mentors. He said Pat’s influence remains with him to this day. Monti was a fundamental master and a motivator. He was a demanding defensive coach, a disciplinarian who scoffed at the notion that city kids didn’t want to play defense. Bradberry was a scorer and marginal defender as a young man, but he has applied Monti’s concepts and is a stickler for defense with his Wolverines.

Niagara Falls isn’t a gifted offensive team. Senior Tre Gayle is their best pure scorer. They play a lot of low-scoring games, and at times their offensive shortcomings catch up with them. They led in the second half in several of their losses. They blew a 12-point second-half lead at St. Joe’s two weeks ago, faltering after Gayle, who had 15 points at half, left with an ankle injury.

“We have to figure out how to close out games,” Bradberry said. “We’ve turned over the ball a lot, haven’t been able to make free throws (they’re shooting a shade under 50 percent as a team). If we clean those two things up and get a little bit more efficient offensively, I think we’re going to be good. Because I think we’re a really good defensive team.

“It’s weird, but I think this team has a chance to get to a state championships. And I’m not just blowing smoke. I tell them that and I really mean it. I think we’re a better team than we were last year (they finished 10-9). We didn’t get to states, but we weren’t far from it. Jamestown beat us (in the sectional final) and moved on.”

Of course, when you’ve won 15 Section VI crowns in 24 years (and a state title in 2005), reaching the sectional final doesn’t cut it with the program’s more demanding followers. When Niagara Falls loses, people have questions. Even Bradberry admits he has questions when things aren’t going well. “And it wears on you,” he said. “You start to question certain things, whether you’re doing things right.”He hears the mutters, in and outside the Falls. Some local high school hoop types believe Bradberry takes it too far, that it’s fine to play elite teams outside the section, but they should find more of a balance with local opponents.

“Fans coming in, outside noise, parents, whatever the case, we hear it,” Crumpton said. “But we don’t really give a damn. We’re going to bring the kids, get ‘em together, get ‘em ready, put our philosophies in, and hope the kids gravitate to it and it makes them better competitors. We hope our message gets through to the kids, because at some point the ball’s going to stop, but can you mentally fight through adversity with life?

“You’re going to have ups and downs,” Crumpton added, “bad games and good games, but can you mentally stay the course and be strong? At the end of the day, graduating and becoming a man and living life. Sports did that for me and Carlos. We hope it bleeds into the kids. ‘I’ve been through the tough schedule and now I’m ready for the playoffs. Or ‘Hey, the basketball is done, but when I was playing, when things weren’t going my way, how did I deal with that? Maybe I can use that in my every-day life’. That’s the main, main goal.”

Yeah, the schedule is tough, maybe even a little unfair. But just wait to see what life has to throw at you.