Michael Brino is approaching 1,000 career points, which would make him only the fourth basketball player in Girard Academic Music Program history to accomplish such a feat.
But he would trade every one of those baskets for a winning season.
The Pioneers are dogged by a 0-17 record, which includes a 0-8 record in league play.
Brino is a two-time Honorable Mention All-Public selection, but in his four-year career at GAMP, the squad has never won more than seven games in a season. As in the last three years, the boys from 22nd and Ritner streets will miss the postseason cut.
When the Pioneers suffer a lopsided loss, as they did to Bok Tech, 68-32, last Thursday, other GAMP students take out their frustration on the 5-foot-11 guard-forward.
"Why do you keep playing?"
"Why don’t you shoot the ball more?"
And then there are the insults.
Brino, who grew up playing CYO basketball at King of Peace and Our Lady of Angels, doesn’t pay much attention to his critics. He wants to save all his energy for the Pioneers’ five remaining games.
"I know we have a win in us," he said, after scoring 18 points against Bok. "I know we’ll get it. We are going to produce at least one win.
"We are not as bad as our record shows."
Brino, who leads the GAMP offense with 15.1 points per game, knows the team’s youth puts it at a disadvantage. The Pioneers have five freshmen on their roster, and have struggled to score consistently and hold opponents on defense.
That was the case against Bok, as the squad dug itself into an early 10-0 hole. A three-point basket by senior Greg Pecca scored GAMP’s only points of the first quarter. The home team entered the half trailing 43-10.
As a result of the big halftime deficit, the game resumed under the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association mercy rule with a running clock, which makes those eight-minute quarters go a lot quicker. Brino said being on the losing end of the mercy rule is embarrassing.
"We know the score is bad, but they didn’t put eight minutes on the clock for nothing," said the player, who was honored at last Wednesday’s Markward Memorial Basketball Club luncheon — a weekly ceremony for high-school athletes. "You’ve got to finish the game. We are not worried about the score, but we are trying to get better."
The same rule applied to last Tuesday’s 82-30 loss to Southern.
The day after that defeat, the GAMP players used their practice time to review every single play from the game tape, hoping to correct their mistakes.
"I didn’t leave school until 6:30 p.m.," said Brino, of the 1700 block of South Newkirk Street. "It was hard to watch, but it’s something that has got to be done. If we are not seeing [the mistakes], we can’t fix it."
But some factors are beyond the athletes’ control. Their tallest player is 6-foot-2, and many simply lack experience. GAMP is without a junior varsity squad, so younger players jump right into varsity competition. The Pioneers’ closest game this season was a 41-40 loss to Masterman on Dec. 18.
Still, coach Art Kratchman is heartened by his athletes’ effort.
"They are really easy to coach," he said. "They are trying to learn and get better."
Brino also seeks the advice of his other coach — his father, Michael Brino, who coached him in CYO basketball. Father and son spend several hours a week reviewing GAMP game films.
"After the game, I’ll talk with him and get some pointers," said the younger Brino. "Without my father, I wouldn’t be where I was. He helped me develop as a player."
In the CYO’s Region Six, Brino scored many victories with his King of Peace team. His eighth-grade Our Lady of Angels squad won the championship, and made a strong showing in the city tournament.
GAMP’s struggles — 13 wins over four seasons — have been a tough adjustment for the athlete.
These last few games with the Pioneers could mark the end of Brino’s competitive basketball days. The student knows playing Division I college basketball simply isn’t a reality. Division III Cabrini College sent an inquiry, but Brino, who plans to major in sports management, is more concerned with academics. He currently ranks 10th in the senior class with a 93 GPA, and already has been accepted to Temple, Drexel and La Salle.
Brino likely will leave his mark at GAMP as the fourth member of the program’s 1,000-point club. Tom Catlett (’94), Chris Feggans (’03) and David Spady (’94) are the current members.
"It’s a tremendous milestone for a high-school basketball player to score 1,000 points," Kratchman said. "There just aren’t too many kids who score 1,000 points."
But that adds up to little for this team player.
"If I score 30 points and we lose by 60, I am not satisfied with that," Brino said.
GAMP’s Top Scorers
Tom Catlett 1,370
Chris Feggans 1,304
David Spady 1,254
Michael Brino 937 (through 1/28)
