Meet the MIAA's newest basketball contenders: The New Heights girls and boys

BROCKTON − The MIAA will release its first edition of the winter sports power rankings this Friday.

Excitement is building throughout the state to see where high school basketball teams will sit in an early snapshot of the postseason bracket, though seasoned veterans may already have a gut feeling of how it will round into shape.

There are no such veterans at New Heights Charter School in Brockton.

“I have no idea (where we'll rank). I wish someone could tell me, though," girls head coach Joneiha Veiga said with a chuckle. "This is all new to me.”

New Heights entered this season as the MIAA's newest member school in Division 4. The girls (5-0) and boys (6-0) teams, combined, have gone undefeated through the first few weeks of their respective schedules, which consist of games against private and public schools, as well as fellow charter schools.

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The boys team is coming off a pair of undefeated seasons that regularly featured blowout wins − for example, a 113-15 win over Codman Academy last January − and ended with Mass. Charter School Athletic Organization titles. The girls team, likewise, went undefeated in the regular season but suffered its lone loss one game shy of the MCSAO championship.

Raising the competition level this winter was the next step, according to athletic director and boys junior varsity coach Steven Dalton.

“We’re very, very excited for what this year has in store for us,” Dalton said. “We’re trying to give (the players) some different opportunities that they wouldn’t normally have had. Playing in the MIAA, it opens up another world for us.”

“I definitely think it will put us on the map, as far as getting the kids recognition and exposure," boys varsity head coach Hosea Langham agreed.

This past week, the teams rolled to statement wins over its new city foe, Cardinal Spellman. The boys won, 57-45, at home on Jan. 3 and the girls won, 48-24, in the Cardinals' gym Tuesday night.

Dalton said the boys team scrimmaged Division 2 powerhouse Mansfield on Dec. 28, a friendly competition that was product of "friendly banter" between brothers-in-law New Heights executive director Omari Walker and Mansfield head coach Mike Vaughan. Dalton said it was a 4-point game with four minutes left, but Mansfield, which advanced to the Div. 2 state title game last season, pulled away and won by 12.

“The loss humbled our guys, but at the same time, I think it made our guys realize they belong," Dalton said. "We were four minutes away (from a win) with one of the best teams in the state. Yes, it was a scrimmage but we played it like a real game. Real refs, real calls, real style of play. To even be in that game with four minutes left, that was an accomplishment for us.”

For both squads, a teamwide effort has led the way all season long.

Dalton's son Christian, a sophomore point guard, runs the show with help from senior Khamari Gillings, junior Raymond Miller and senior Jaylen Thomas. The four individually ranged from 13 to 16 points to combine for 58 of the Phoenix' 67 points in its 5-point win over Match Charter Public in Roxbury on Wednesday.

For the girls, New Heights had five players score over 8 points in its win over Cardinal Spellman on Tuesday. Sophomore Siyhann Sharp and freshman Jayla Depina headlined with 15 points, senior Jizzelle Stephney had 11, and sophomores Jaelah Ferris and Nazaiih Herisse had 8 apiece. Senior Nevaeh Stephney also played well in the win.

“The girls are ready (for the MIAA jump)," said Veiga, a Brockton High alum and two-sport Massasoit Community College Hall of Famer. "They’re proving it to everyone. They want it.”

When asked about the promotion, Steven Dalton said he doesn't think the teams "can sneak up anymore" come the state tournament.

"Everybody knows now who we are," he said. "We go into it knowing we're getting (the opponent's) best effort."

And that's just the beginning of New Heights planting its stake in high school basketball.

“Next year, we want to be able to play Brockton High because we think we would beat them, quite honestly. We think we’re the best team in Brockton," Steven Dalton said. "We know all those kids. They know all our kids. It comes down to, inside the lines, I don’t think they beat us."