Bishop Stang High School’s boys basketball (13-2) team has been making waves with it’s most successful season in years. At the forefront of their success is Avery DeBrito.

DeBrito, 17, is one of the team’s co-captains, and he takes his role very seriously.

“I feel honored to lead my team and that my coach can trust me with anything,” DeBrito said. “To know that the guys come to me when they have a question, I might not always have the right answer but they [value] my opinion.”

Head basketball coach Colbey Santos first became acquainted with DeBrito at Bishop Stang’s basketball summer camp after taking the role of head coach in 2014. Santos was particularly struck by DeBrito’s work ethic.

“There’s no quit in him,” Santos said.

For Santos, DeBrito has been an invaluable asset, both on and off the court. An excellent student, DeBrito’s constant communication with and accessibility to the team has helped Santos streamline concerns with communication, while also helping DeBrito build his leadership skills and unify the team.

“He gets the game plan for the week, he distributes it and I’ve never had a player late for practice,” Santos said. “He’s definitely a great leader.”

According to Santos, DeBrito was pushed to truly excel after Stang’s loss at the state tournament last year. He was one of the top performing athletes at the basketball summer campbefore the 2015-2016 academic year.

“Now, he’s playing at a high level. We got him there, and hopefully he finishes out the season well,” Santos said.

Since joining the Spartans, DeBrito has seen the shift to a more “up-tempo” team, running a lot more and dominating the court. An extremely technical team, DeBrito is thrilled to be a part of this history-making team.

“It feels awesome. It just feels good, for my senior year to make history at Stang with our record,” he added.

DeBrito is very much a team-oriented individual. He would prefer to see the team “Win, win, win” than concern himself with personal goals. “That’s all I care about,” he added.

“He hates losing more than he likes winning,” Santos said. “Whether he scores two points or he [scores] 30, as long as the board says W at the end of the day, that’s all he cares about.”

DeBrito has been playing basketball practically since he could walk, and he isn’t looking to slow down even though his final varsity season will soon be wrapping up. With college on the horizon, DeBrito is eager to try out wherever he goes.

“It’s good to be on a team where we just come to every practice and make each other better,” DeBrito said. “No complaining, no anything, we just go at it to better ourselves for the game.”

Santos is very satisfied with the impact DeBrito has left on his younger teammates and hopes that they continue performing at this level even after he graduates.

“We need another little guy,” Santos said. “I wish I had him for another year but hopefully he comes back and helps out.”