Malhoit and Sartor lead Avery Point

You want to know what Waterford High graduate Anthony Malhoit and Stonington’s Tim Sartor have done for UConn-Avery Point?
James Childs will be happy to show you.
The Pointers coach doesn’t have to dig out any film or charts, he just calmly googles his way to the NCAA junior college website and starts reading off the stats.
You can do it for yourself and the numbers tell the story.
Malhoit, a sophomore at Avery Point, is currently third in the country in NCAAJC Division-III scoring as he averages 26.3 points per game for the New London-based school, that trails only Suffolk County Community College’s Leon Washington (29.6 ppg) and Manny Valentin of Atlantic Cape Community College (27.2) and is actually down one spot from where he has resided most of the season at No.2.
Malhoit is second in the nation in field goal percentage (75.7), third in rebounds per game (14.2) and ninth in blocked shots (2.2).
“He’ll be the first to tell you that he has a lot to work on, but I’m so happy,” Childs said as he scrolled down the statistics on Saturday after his team avenged an earlier loss this season to Gateway Community College with an 85-80 win.
Sartor has been just as impressive in his inaugural season with the Pointers as he is currently 14th in scoring at 21.4 points per game and is tops in the country in free throw percentage where he makes 90 percent of his opportunities from the free throw line. Add to that a ninth-best in the country in field goal percentage, despite taking many of his shots from beyond the 3-point arc, and you have a pretty devastating combo.
Still, it has produced only a .500 winning percentage as the Pointers came into the week with a 10-10 record. Chemistry is hard to come by with a team that changes personnel just about every season.
“(The coaching staff) told the team that (Anthony) can’t do it by himself and then I had to tell Anthony that he couldn’t,” Childs said. “Little by little, he’s trusted Evan Jensen a little bit more and Tim has played great.”
That was shown on Saturday when Sartor poured in 37 points and Malhoit added 24.
“We ran some two-man game, me and Timmy, he’s a great shooter and Evan is a great shooter, and we’ve all started learning our roles,” Malhoit said. “It was crunch time and we pulled it out, Tim hit some big 3’s and some foul shots and Jensen ran the show and got some key rebounds, it was a team effort.”
But as quickly as this team is coming together, it’s going to be torn asunder at the end of the season. Malhoit is in his last season with the Pointers and he’s hoping Division-I basketball is in his future.
“I’ve had some looks from Bryant and Northeastern, maybe Ivy League, hopefully it will work out,” Malhoit said.
When Childs is asked the question about Malhoit going Division-I, he let out a big sigh.
“Potential-wise, ability-wise, he could, but to be honest with you, it’s truly up to him,” the Avery Point coach said. “He played great in the St. Thomas More tournament and (Chancellors coach) Jere Quinn raves about him to every college coach he talks to. It comes down to what fits for Anthony. A Fairfield, for example, he could play multiple positions for them and they’re interested. For him, education is a big thing, he even told me Tufts because he has the grades and the talent.”
Malhoit is thankful for Childs’ efforts since he came over from Waterford High School after leading the Lancers to a state championship game in 2007.
“I definitely think it was a great move (coming to Avery Point), I could have left last year, but I didn’t think I was fully ready,” Malhoit said. “I spent an offseason with Coach and he has me lifting, I work out with (former New London, URI and NBA player) Tyson (Wheeler), I went out to (Las) Vegas and saw the pros. He runs you through everything, so I’m a more complete player.”
Sartor could have gone Division-III coming out of Stonington High which he led to a state semifinal berth in 2008, but the guard’s goal is to play Division-II ball.
“Getting bigger, getting stronger, getting in better shape, my skills are improving so I think it was a good move,” Sartor said of his experience at Avery Point.
The biggest advantage to Sartor has been the playing time which he knew he wouldn’t receive as a freshman at a four-year institution. Sartor hasn’t received any offers from any Division-II program as of yet and, thus, will likely return to the Pointers next season without Malhoit.
“He killed us in high school – actually since we were about 12 – so it’s been fun to play with Ant,” Sartor said.

Stailey getting adjusted

Nate Stailey was a high school coach in Pennsylvania, but left that to finish his graduate studies in college and now finds himself with his own junior college program at Avery Point in New London.
That makes for quite the adjustment in a short period of time.
“The biggest thing for me is the behind-the-scenes things,” Stailey said after his Pointers won their 15th game of the season against Gateway Community College on Saturday.
“Having to recruit, having to replace players; when you have seven freshmen and two sophomores- you know the sophomores are going to go, I’m not sure yet how many of the freshmen are coming back- you’re not 100 percent sure what the team is going to be like.”
He’s also had to adjust his offensive and defensive philosophies as there was no shot clock in Pennsylvania high school hoops.
Despite the adjustments, Stailey can look happily at the record as his Pointers are now 16-3 on the season (after a victory over Southern Maine CC Sunday), one win away from tying the three-year-old program’s record for wins in a season and “on the teams to watch list” in the NCAA junior college rankings.
“Region 21 (the Northeast) doesn’t get a lot of national recognition, there’s us and Roxbury (Community College) which beat us earlier in the year,” Stailey said.
The Avery Point coach fully expects it will come down to his Pointers or Roxbury to represent Region 21 in the national tournament.
“Going into the regional playoffs, they will probably be the No. 1 seed and we’ll be the No.2, so hopefully we’ll see each other and come out on top,” Stailey said.
After that, it will be on the recruiting trail, essentially for the first time for Stailey who should have some athletes to choose from, including a few from Eastern Connecticut, something Avery Point lacks right now.
“There’s definitely a lot of buzz about women’s basketball in Connecticut,” Stailey said. “I would love to get kids from everywhere, Eastern, Central and Western Connecticut.”