O'Brien hopes to lead Aztecs team into postseason
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Marlborough - A new leader with a coaching pedigree will look to lead the Assabet Valley Regional boys basketball team to a winning season and a trip to the Central Mass. Division 2 Boys Basketball Tournament.

Mike O'Brien, a facilities management teacher at the school, has been named head coach of Aztecs, replacing Dan Coffey. O'Brien, 30, played basketball at Wachusett Regional High School for his father, Brian O'Brien, whom he coached with for three season while he attended Assumption College.

"I'm excited for the season to start," O'Brien said. "We open against Maynard [Friday Dec. 14] and I'm really looking forward to seeing how we'll be. Practice has gone well, but you never know the personality of your team until you get tested in game situations."

O'Brien thinks the Aztecs' personality will have a tenacious edge to it, with six seniors, four juniors and a sophomore, many who were on the team during last year's 6-14 campaign.

Senior co-captains Dustin Taylor and Sean Milliken lead the list of key returnees. Taylor is a 6-foot-3 banger who will play close to the basket. O'Brien said Taylor has a great knowledge of the game that he believes will pay dividends for the Aztecs on the court this season. Milliken will serve as one of the team's sharpshooters, playing in the off -guard position.

Complementing Taylor and Milliken will be, among others, juniors Steve Parker, James Mahoney and Alex Moore.

"Steve Parker transferred in from West Boylston, where he was part of a very successful team last season and averaged about 20 points a game," O'Brien said. "We're going to look to James Mahoney to handle the ball for us and run the off ense, while Alex Moore, who was the quarterback of the football team, is a sixfooter who plays like he's eight feet tall."

Other seniors on the Aztec roster include Andy Crory, Jeff Proctor, Tom McNair and Russell Cliff ord. Crory is a reserve guard on the team while Proctor can fill in at both guard and forward positions. McNair and Cliff ord can play either the forward or center positions.

Junior guard Jeremy Viera will fill in at shooting guard while sophomore Mario Rivera will see time spelling Mahoney at the point guard position.

O'Brien said his starting lineup against Maynard will come from a group of six - Taylor, Milliken, Parker, Mahoney, Moore and Viera.

"The starters will come from that group," O'Brien said, "but we'll go eight or nine deep with our playing rotation, especially early."

The Aztecs' off ense, O'Brien said, will be fast-paced while the defense will challenge the opposition, often for the entire length of the court.

"We're a pretty athletic team, so I think we're going to try and take advantage of that," O'Brien said. "We're going to look for our off ense to be a result of our defense. I was a defensive-minded player - that's the way I played - so I expect that will be the way I coach, too."

O'Brien believes having members of the football team, which won 10 consecutive games and qualified for the postseason, on the roster will be a big plus.

"I think it will be huge," O'Brien said. "They've been in close games, they've won close games. They know what it takes to go out and win games rather than just going out and hoping not to lose. I think that experience can lead to several big wins for us."