It’s Dec. 28, and Brady O’Connell is sick. Gassed. The Cushing guard could barely run down the court and back.
O’Connell is fighting a fever during a morning walkthrough in New York before Cushing’s marquee game vs. Blair Academy at the Jordan Brand Classic. It took a lot for him to even get there. The fever came on Christmas Eve and progressively got worse. By Christmas night, he was 103 degrees. But it calmed down just enough for O’Connell to give it a shot.
Late on the 27th, his dad drove him overnight from their home in New Hampshire to New York. O’Connell got to the gym in time for walkthrough, but he had doubts on his availability for the game.
“I’m like, there’s no way I’m going to play more than like five to 10 minutes,” O’Connell said.
He ended up playing 30.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
It wasn’t easy. It was hot inside a small, packed gym at Achievement First High School in Brooklyn. During every timeout, there was a towel draped over his head. O’Connell said his temperature probably rose to 104 degrees.
Call it O’Connell’s flu game. He only scored a single point, but the guard known for his defensive reputation delivered his best performance on that end given the circumstances.
His assignment? Deron Rippey Jr., considered the best point guard prospect in the 2026 class. While battling a fever, O’Connell shut the Duke commit down. He was physical at the point of attack, he fought over ball screens and made life difficult on the talented guard. Rippey finished with just seven points, seven assists and four turnovers as Cushing earned a signature victory, 52-48, over Blair. O’Connell’s inspiring effort was critical.
“I didn’t plan to play him 30 minutes in that game, but that’s what we needed,” Cushing coach James Cormier said. “He’s just going to fight through fatigue and he’s just going to lay it on the line and give you every ounce. …
“That speaks to exactly who he is as a competitor and a winner.”
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Cushing went on to have one of its best seasons in program history this winter. The Penguins went undefeated – a perfect 17-0 – against NEPSAC Class AA opponents en route to the championship, and they finished with a program record 29 victories. A significant part of their success, of course, was due to the stellar play of nationally-coveted Division 1 recruits Ryan Moesch and Theo Edema, arguably the best guard-big tandem in New England. But the story of this Cushing season runs much deeper than that.
This championship was a byproduct of the culture that Cormier has built at Cushing. On paper, this was one of his most talented teams, but for most of the season, they weren’t even at full health. Injuries and illnesses threaten to derail their winter. They didn’t flinch. The entire roster – from Moesch and Edema to the last man on the bench – stepped up and elevated their game. This title required complete buy-in, selflessness and, like O’Connell did that night in New York, doing anything it takes to win.
“To do it with this group — Ryan and Theo and Brady … and we have a great bench that’s super talented but they’re not there yet,” Cormier said. “They’ve made a lot of sacrifices and still continue to compete in practice and push the starters and make us better. That’s kind of what the program is. Right or wrong, we compete every day in practice late in the year and I think that puts us in (this) position, especially if you have the right type of personnel and the right mindset in your locker room that wants that challenge each and every day. …
“Our motto is getting better every day, and I’m a big believer that it comes in practice and challenging one another and competing every day.”
Cushing could never find injury luck this winter. Nate Blenman missed time at the start of the season, and when he came back, Coley Mark turned his ankle. Edema missed some games, too, and O’Connell missed time with a biceps strain. Just when they thought they’d be fully healthy as the calendar turned to February for the stretch run, they suffered a devastating blow. On Feb. 1, in an NEBL victory over CATS Academy, Elliot Erickson fractured his foot when he was undercut on a made 3-pointer and landed awkwardly. He missed the rest of the season.
The brutal injury revealed the character of Cushing’s program. Anthony Vick entered the starting lineup for a few games, including a win over Putnam Science, and was successful. Blenman was called upon, too. But after a close win over St. Andrew’s on Feb. 11, it was David Flores John who stepped to the plate.
In fact, he initiated it.
A two-year player at Cushing, Flores John struggled to earn minutes in 2024-25. The 6-foot-6 wing was timid at times. But his confidence slowly came along. He had earned a rotation spot this season, and he played about eight minutes in that win over St. Andrew’s. After that game, he reached out to Cormier. He wanted to watch some film.
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In preparation for that meeting, Cormier pulled up the tape from the St. Andrew’s game, and he discovered that Flores John wasn’t making mistakes in those minutes he played in. He was making sound decisions and was in the right spots defensively. They realized that he should have been playing more.
“David was the best,” assistant coach Fabian Lara recalled. “He was like, I don’t really care, I just want to do whatever it takes to help us win. I just want to see what I can do better to help us win. I don’t really care about minutes.”
The refreshing message was received. After a strong practice on that Thursday, Cormier plugged Flores John into the starting lineup for a Friday night game at Cheshire, where they didn’t have O’Connell available. Flores John never left the starting lineup for the rest of the season, appearing there for Cushing’s final 11 games.
Flores John played as confidently as he ever did. He played strong defensively, made simple decisions and played mistake-free basketball. His journey, his development, exemplified Cushing’s culture.
“He stuck to the process, he used (last) summer with (Team) White Mamba to get better,” Lara said. “That’s who you ride with. If you’re going to go into the thick of the season, you want guys you know are going to do what it takes.
“It’s about that. It’s about coming a long way and doing what it takes. That’s how you get better in this world. That’s how we do things and that’s why it was very easy to make that decision to get him in the starting lineup and trust him.”
Cushing operates by the motto “better every day.” It’s not just a social media hashtag. They live by it.
Moesch is the leader of the pack, and his brilliant performances all winter led Cushing to the championship. But the development piece for every player on the roster is just as important to the program’s success. They’re process driven and invested in every detail – from practices to film to game reps and opportunities – in an effort to make their players ready for their moments, and eventually their future.
It’s why they’re comfortable bringing in a sophomore like Mikey Chiara for big minutes, because they want him to develop and grow. It’s why they can suddenly lean on a guy like Flores John. When the Penguins were missing Edema for a game at Northfield Mount Hermon, they didn’t miss a beat for one of their best defensive performances of the season. At all times, despite inconsistent lineups and inconsistent practices, injuries and illnesses, Cushing was ready to meet the moment under any circumstance.
“The secret sauce was really, once you took (Edema) out, everybody was like great, let me step up,” Lara said. “Literally everyone.
“Our standard is not winning,” he added. “That just happens to be the product. The standard is to be bought into the process, to be bought into the team and try to get better today. Because of that, we can flip over half our roster with however many seniors we have every year and the next group of guys always step up. …
“To be able to say, we don’t know who we’re going to have out there today but everyone has to do their part and everyone has to be ready for their moment, and for that to culminate in a AA championship, the most wins in program history and a quarterfinal appearance in the national tournament, I think that speaks a lot to years of building the culture into the next man up and everyone matters.”
