Canton’s Matt Droney soaring to new heights at CM

By Jay Turner

With deep roots in Canton and an undying love for the game of basketball, Matt Droney had always imagined himself in a Bulldogs uniform, playing alongside his friends and dominating opponents in front of his hometown crowd.

Photo courtesy of Catholic Memorial

It had been a dream of his for as long as he could remember, and yet for a whole host of reasons he chose to take a different path, enrolling at Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, where he has blossomed into a star over the past four-plus seasons in the Knights’ vaunted program.

“Sometimes I wish I could have played at Canton and won with my friends,” admitted Droney, who still has great memories of their eighth grade travel season and their magical run to a state title.

For the most part, however, Droney is thrilled with the choice that he made — and he has every reason to be, considering what he has accomplished in his time at CM, a school well-known for athletic excellence.

Just recently, the 6’4” senior guard became the eighth basketball player in Catholic Memorial history to score 1,000 points in his career, achieving the milestone with seven regular season games to spare. He is also just the second two-time basketball captain in school history and is one of a small group of players to make the varsity team in his freshman year. (In eighth grade he played on the freshman team, leading the squad to an undefeated season.)

With easy access to team statistics, Droney said he knew he was headed for the 1,000-point barrier this season, barring an unforeseen circumstance like a major injury. The accomplishment meant a lot to him, he said, although it wasn’t something he spent a lot of time thinking about.

“I like seeing the team work together on offense and on defense,” said Droney, when asked about his favorite part of the game. “I like it when we move the ball and when we execute the plays.”

And therein lies one of Droney’s greatest strengths, according to his coaches, teammates, and just about anyone who watches his game up close. He’s a hard worker, a team player and a leader — not to mention a deadly shooter with a highly developed all-around game.

“He’s very heady. He knows what’s going on out there all the time,” observed his father, Hank Droney, who also played high school basketball. “He’s a good teammate. He doesn’t really care who scores the most points. He’s happy when the team wins.”

“Matt is one of the few players who understands the whole game and knows what’s going on all over the floor,” added Dick Simons, Droney’s grandfather and one of his biggest fans. “He’s very unselfish and a very good passer and keeps all of the other kids involved. He’s really a consummate player.”

He’s also a winner, and it has been that way from his earliest days of AAU ball right up to his senior season at CM, where the Knights are currently 13-2 and ranked No. 1 overall in the Boston Globe Top 20. Last week, they clinched the Catholic Conference title with a 74-57 victory at home over their bitter rivals, the BC High Eagles.

The game was actually tied at 54 early in the fourth quarter when the Knights caught fire, finishing the game on a 20-3 run. Droney was the second-leading scorer with 23 points, which included the first eight points of the contest and another eight straight in the middle of the fourth.

The game got ugly for a brief moment at the end of the third quarter when a shoving match broke out between two players while fans from both sides rushed the court; however, the night still largely belonged to Droney, who was honored prior to tipoff for scoring his 1,000^th point.

Fittingly, Droney asked his grandfather to join him on the court for the ceremony.

“I just felt it was the right thing to do, and I knew it would mean a lot to him,” Droney said of the decision to choose his grandfather, adding that the past few years have been “really tough” for him personally with the deaths of his wife, Peggy (Matt’s grandmother), and only daughter, Julie Droney (Matt’s mother).

Droney asked his grandfather Dick Simons (second from left) to join him on the court for last Friday’s pre-game recognition ceremony.

Both mother and daughter died of a heart condition within a three-month span in 2009 — Peggy on September 11 and Julie on December 6. Matt, who is the oldest of three children, was a sophomore at the time.

His father recalled how Matt used basketball as a way to cope with the loss, noting how the sport became a “really good outlet for him” at a very difficult time in his life.

“Basketball helped me a lot,” agreed Matt, who also leaned heavily on his friends and teammates throughout that painful season. “Every day for an hour or two, just to be able to get away from everything and just be in my own world made it a little easier.”

He also realized he could use basketball as a way to honor his mother and grandmother, and so he wrote each of their names on his basketball sneakers. The following season he changed his uniform number from No. 21 to No. 44 in honor of his mother, who was 44 years old when she died.

Two years have since passed, and Droney credits the school, and in particular the basketball program, with helping him to get through some of his darkest days.

“It was nice to be around a team; they really picked me up,” he said. “It really made me feel good knowing I had friends like that.”

Now he’s hoping to return the favor by leading his team to postseason glory in his final season with the Knights. And while he wasn’t willing to make any guarantees, he had no problem sharing the team’s ultimate goal.

“We want to win it all,” he said with confidence. “There are a lot of good teams out there, obviously. But if we play the way we are capable of playing, then we can beat anyone.”

As for his future plans, Droney will spend a year at a prep school, where he will work on the finer points of his game with the hopes of landing a college basketball scholarship. He does not anticipate pursuing a professional career in the sport, at least not now, although there is always the chance he could find a roster spot overseas.

“I know there’s an end to basketball,” he said. “I love basketball, don’t get me wrong. Right now, I’m just trying to take it one step at a time and not wish it away.”

Share This Post

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=11496