Cardinal Mooney boys basketball has the depth needed for a deep run

The reception is different now. 

The Cougars were the surprise team of 2021-2022 in the program's first year under coach Vince Cherry, finishing 23-5 after losing 78-76 in overtime to Northside Christian in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A regional quarterfinals. The Cougars' turnaround was spurred by uncommon depth that other teams could not match, allowing Cherry and his Mooney staff to give everyone more rest without a drop-off in quality play.

Mooney finished 7-13 the previous season without Cherry, which worked to the team's advantage, at least early in the season while the team's rotations settled.

The team didn't have the advantage of surprise this year. It hasn't much mattered.

The Cougars lost three players from last year's team — and one starter, guard A.J. Russo — heading into 2022-2023, and added Out-of-Door Academy transfer Kevin O'Donoghue, a wing/power forward, to its talent pool. Given that everyone has another year's experience, this year's edition of the Cougars, which holds a 15-9 record, may be even deeper.

Mooney has eight players averaging four or more points a game and three players — O'Donoghue and junior guards Connor Heald and Dylan Higgins — averaging more than 11. Spreading out the scoring means teams cannot key on one player to shut things down and gives everyone an opportunity to be a leader on a given night. 

Photo by Ryan Kohn

While Cherry will never turn down a chance to coach this much talent, it also creates some difficult decisions. 

"We probably have four or five kids (on the bench) who could start for other teams in the area," Cherry said. "It's good and bad sometimes. It's tough. We do our best to make it work. Everyone feels like they should be playing X amount of minutes. It's hard to balance." 

The Cougars' schedule has given Cherry's roster balance a stress test. According to MaxPreps, Mooney holds a strength of schedule of 9.5, which is in line with many of the top teams in Class 3A. It is especially tough for the Sarasota-Bradenton area; district rival Bradenton Christian holds a schedule rating of 7.4, and Sarasota High, Mooney's next opponent, holds a schedule rating of 0.5. 

"We're battle-tested now," Cherry said. "We wanted to schedule up and challenge ourselves. If we want to get to where we want to get, we had to do that. Every team we have lost to has seven or less losses, and we've battled. We're ready." 

The Cougars' schedule has led to the team having a minor dip in record, thanks in large part to a four-game skid in mid-January where three games were decided by five points or less — and the five-point loss came on the road against Berkeley Prep (19-2) in overtime. 

But the Cougars have rebounded and won two games in a row heading into its regular-season finale against Sarasota at 7 p.m. Thursday at home. That includes a 57-44 road win over Booker High (10-13) that at one point the Cougars led by as many as 24. In it, the Cougars showed what makes them dangerous, as they moved the ball well in the half-court, creating open shots, but also made the Tornadoes pay for turnovers in transition. 

Photo by Ryan Kohn

O'Donoghue, who had 11 points against Booker, said he expected the Cougars to be a contender when he came to the school during the offseason. O'Donoghue said he's known many of the players and coaches since elementary school and has played against them enough to know what they can do. Going forward, O'Donoghue said, the team's biggest hurdle is a mental one. 

"We need to keep getting each other up for every game," O'Donoghue said. "If we do that, we'll play well, and I think we can make it far." 

On Thursday, the Sailors will act not just as a challenging tune-up before the postseason, but a fun match-up of coaches. Cherry played for Sarasota's BJ Ivey at Riverview and beat Ivey, then at ODA, twice last season. Meanwhile, Ivey picked up his 300th varsity win on Jan. 26. 

"I'm happy for him," Cherry said of Ivey. "I wish him the best in all his games besides Thursday." 

On Tuesday night against Booker, Cherry's Cardinal Mooney shirt read "We (over) me," speaking to the idea of a team being great than the sum of its parts. It is a philosophy Ivey teaches as well — but for this Cougars team, with the depth it has, the saying rings especially true. 

Cherry said the team's potential lies entirely on their own shoulders. 

"If we keep our turnovers down, we can compete with anybody," Cherry said. "We can be (competitive) in any style of basketball game if we do that."