Neuqua Valley junior guard Carter Coviello knows he can sink shots.
He understands, though, that his role is all about the art of the pass. In his second varsity season and first as the starting point guard, Coviello is the guy tasked with finding the Wildcats’ two big shooters and Division I prospects, junior guard Mason Martin and sophomore forward Cole Kelly.
“Mason and Cole are our primary scorers,” Coviello said. “Coach tells me all the time when I’m a facilitator, that’s when we most succeed. So that’s what I try to do for the team so we can win.”
Coviello mostly succeeded at that during the opening week of the season. The Wildcats won their first two games at the Hoops for Healing Tournament before losing to Oswego East 74-65 in Oswego on Friday.
“Point guard is the most important player on the team, so he’s got to do it all,” Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said. “He’s got to run the show.”
Coviello earned the starting nod by showing marked improvement at both ends of the court.
“He doesn’t turn it over like he did last year,” Sutton said. “He’s playing better defense, and he’s much more confident.”
Coviello demonstrated that confidence against Oswego East. He scored two points on five shots but had six assists, finding Kelly and Martin with crisp passes all over the floor.
Three of those assists came in the opening four minutes as the Wildcats (2-1) took a 13-7 lead, and that was Coviello at his best. Kelly, one of the top players in the state with offers from DePaul and Illinois, finished with 30 points and nine rebounds, and Martin added 22 points three days after he scored 41 against West Aurora.
Those two will get most of the attention, but Coviello is happy feeding them.
“I do enjoy it,” Coviello said. “I love playing unselfish. I know I can score the ball, but I feel like we just succeed more when I’m getting our guys the shots that they make all the time. That’s what puts us in a better position to win.”
Senior forward Andrew Hoffmann, a Wisconsin-Eau Claire football commit, agrees the Wildcats need Coviello to be on point.
“He’s just a great passer, one of the best passers on the team,” Hoffmann said. “We need a guy that can obviously get our two best scorers the ball, and that’s what he does. That’s his role on this team, and he knows that.”
Coviello is doing it better than he ever has.
“He’s improved tremendous over the past offseason playing Breakaway,” Hoffmann said. “He’s covering usually the best player on the other team, so he can go both ways. He’s giving a lot of effort.”
The Wildcats are requiring a lot from Coviello, whose role has expanded exponentially since last season.
“Last year, I started a couple of games, but I think this year it’s a lot different because of the expectations that are on me now,” he said. “I have to stay on the floor at all times.
“That’s kind of my goal, where I’m not getting ticky-tack fouls, no turnovers. I know I’m usually getting one of the better defensive assignments.”
Coviello’s defensive assignment against Oswego East (3-0) was his toughest yet. He was the primary defender on senior guard Mason Lockett, a DePaul commit.
Lockett scored a game-high 39 points, making 13 of 22 shots from the field and all 10 of his free throws. Coviello tried his best and got help from his teammates, as junior guard Arshil Khimani drew two charging fouls on Lockett. Hoffmann took another charge from junior forward Jacsen Tucker.
The Wildcats led 55-51 with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter, and Hoffman made a free throw that tied the game at 56-56 at the 4:06 mark. But Lockett scored 11 points after that, starting with a drive that resulted in the go-ahead three-point play.
“He’s different than what I’ve tried to guard before,” Coviello said. “He’s very unique in his style.
“He plays at kind of his own pace, so it was a little hard to keep up with his rhythm because sometimes he would go slow, sometimes he would speed it up. It was difficult.”
The Wildcats are unlikely to see many players as good as Lockett, so the game was encouraging.
“We’ve got a lot of potential,” Coviello said. “But we’re really just focused on this week, who we’re playing and how are we going to get past them.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
