Cape Tech Boys Basketball Off To Fast Start Under First-year Coach Furey

 HARWICH – Kevin Furey was ready to hit the ground running. 

 After 10 years serving as the junior varsity coach for the Cape Cod Tech boys basketball program, Furey took over the reins as varsity coach this winter after longtime coach Brent Warren hung up his whistle at the end of last season. 

 The Crusaders haven’t skipped a beat under Furey’s direction. Despite losing its past two games, Tech is in the hunt for a Division 5 state tournament berth after opening the season with a 4-0 mark.

 “We’ve had the most growth in the past couple weeks in terms of what it takes to win at the varsity level,” Furey said. “We have a winning record and our goal is to get into the tournament. It’s certainly in our sights and something we should reach, but we can’t settle or take anything for granted.”

 Furey’s familiarity with the program and players helped ease his transition. Most of the players on this year’s roster played under him at the JV level, so there was a shared understanding about the players’ skill sets and the coach’s expectations. 

 “He pushes us,” said Shaye Hautanen, a senior co-captain from Wellfleet. “He holds us to a high standard – especially me and Josh (Cohan) – he’s always pushing us and expecting more.”

 Hautanen’s co-captain, Cohan, said the players and Furey entered the season with an established respect for each other. 

 “The respect between players and coaches is there,” said Cohan, a Dennis resident. “(Furey) has a very strong mindset of hard work and he’s very strict.”

 Cape Tech (6-4) opened the season with victories over Cape Cod Academy (57-50), Sturgis West (50-37), St. John Paul II (28-26) and Sturgis East (63-40) before suffering a 75-33 loss at Mashpee on Dec. 27. 

 The team has gone 2-3 since the Mashpee loss, though Furey has been pleased with the leadership of not only Hautanen and Cohan but also the underclassmen. Sophomore Anthony Bartlett has been a key piece in the team’s fast start.

 “You can’t have a successful offense without strong point guard play, so our point guard Anthony Bartlett has really taken on a much bigger role than he did last year,” Furey said. “He’s definitely set the pace and set the tone.”

 The coach also praised junior Brian Amaru. 

 “He’s really taken his game to another level,” Furey said of Amaru. “He missed all of last year with injury, so he was hungry to make up for lost time. He’s putting in work and has a lot of potential and has been an anchor for us in the middle.”

 Regardless of the final scores during games, the players said Furey is establishing a winning culture that starts at practice. 

 “The effort is there,” Cohan said. “All players, all positions, everyone’s just giving it their all. Day in and day out, everyone just shows up and it’s just consistency. That’s what makes us a team."