Where the boys are

BOB ETTINGER
Star Beacon

December 05, 2008 03:32 am

— A Bob Ettinger column...

A lot will be different in the boys basketball realm during the 2008-09 season. But, in some cases, a lot could stay the same as it was last season.
Players graduated, coaches moved on. Young men who played fringe roles a year ago will be asked to step into spotlight. Teams such as four-time Northeastern Conference champion Harvey, Madison and Perry, that have good portions of last season’s rotations back, will be expected to live up to or surpass the success of recent years.
Others, such as three-time Northeastern Athletic Conference champion Pymatuning Valley and Riverside, have lost star players to graduation and will look to succeed while retooling.
All the while, the rest of the area’s teams will be trying desperately to claim a home among the elite.
Gone from local hardwoods are six of the top seven scorers from the Star Beacon’s coverage area. Pymatuning Valley lost Steve Savel and Corey Shontz, both 1,000-point scorers, and Riverside lost area scoring leader Alex Sullivan.
The area’s leading returning scorer is Edgewood’s Jarod Artman, who was fifth a year ago with 17.8 points per game. He also checked in with an average of 10.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.
Joining Artman as top returning scoring threats will be Madison’s Dan Heidenreich (15.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks), Grand Valley’s Anthony Oscar (14.5 points) and GRA’s Jared Gershen (13.7 points, 3.5 assists, 2.8 steals) who were eight, ninth and 10th, respectively, in the area a year ago.

NEC
Harvey has controlled the NEC championship for four seasons. Talented players have come and gone, but the team finds a way to win. If coach Tim Starkey and his troops are to win a fifth straight title, they will have to plug the gap left by the graduation of leading scorer and rebounder Rayshawn Journigan.
Seniors Wes Paramore (6-1 G), Lionel Jordan (5-8 G) and James Spikes (5-9 G) are the only lettermen back from a team that was 15-9, 8-0 last season.
“We do have some people with varsity experience,” coach Tim Starkey said. “Wes was able to play with the varsity team the last two years and James and Lionel played a lot of minutes for us. We’ve got a nice mix of juniors to go along with the seniors. They work well together.
“(The junoirs will) help give us depth and make up for our lack of size.”
The Red Raiders will welcome Lakeside on Saturday (6) to tip off the year.
Edgewood (8-13, 3-5 last season) has put itself in position to challenge the Red Raiders for NEC supremacy. Aside from Artman (6-5 F), the Warriors welcome back senior Ed Hall (6-2 F) and junior Sean Butler (6-5 W) to the front court. Also back for the Warriors are senior point guard Giancarlo Fasano (5-8) and sophomore guard Marcus Harmon (5-10).
The Warriors will welcome Newbury for their opener on Saturday (6).
Geneva coach John Marhefka has a serious rebuilding job in front of him. The Eagles return only two letterman to a team that was 8-14, 3-5 last season.
Senior Alec Muller (6-1 W) and junior Tyler Erb (6-0 W) will be charged with helping to bring along the young Eagles.
The Eagles will travel to Chardon on Friday.
Conneaut will boast one of the most experienced rosters in the area this season, with seven lettermen returning from a team that was 9-13 (2-6) in 2007-08.
In the backcourt, the Spartans return seniors Dane Malys (6-0 senior), Steven Joslin (5-10 junior) and Chris Howland (5-9 junior). Returning in the frontcourt are seniors Ryan Anderson (6-1), Cody Blood (6-1), Kyle Clancy (5-10) and Karl Clancy (6-1).
The Spartans main concern could be a considerable lack of height — no player on the roster is listed as taller than 6-1.
Conneaut will head to Berkshire for its opener on Saturday (6).
Jefferson (11-10, 4-4) will be without leading scorer Zak Blair, who is now playing baseball at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and return just three players with varsity letters.
However, seniors C.J. Graf (6-3 F), Zak Graf (6-3 F) and John Anderson (6-3 P) have been a part of the Falcons varsity roster for the better part of two full seasons and might well be able to take the Jefferson program to another level.
The Falcons will open at North on Friday.

PAC
Heidenreich is one of six senior letterwinners that return to the Blue Streaks following a 17-5, 8-2 season last year.
After losing big to Glenville in a Division I district semifinal, Madison coach Pat Moran hopes take the team a step further.
“We’ve told the players that the last couple of years we’ve had some great success,” Moran said. “It’s great for the players, the school and the community. But it doesn’t mean anything this year. This group has to create its own legacy.”
Heidenreich, Mitch Krotz (5-11 G), Bryan Hill (6-0 G), Kenny Janz (6-7 C-F), Mike Maroney (6-0 G) and Steve Maguire (6-3 F) are going to be the ones Moran will count on to design that legacy.
Madison welcomes Parma on Friday to kick off the season.
Aside from losing Sullivan, Riverside (17-5, 10-0) will be without six letterwinners from last year’s team.
Only four letterman — all seniors — return. Andrew Tompkins (6-1 F), Mike DeBalski (6-2 F), Brandon Gibson (5-8 G) and Mike Plesnicar (5-10 G) must find a way to replace the nearly 30 points per game that Sullivan scored, as well as learn how to get the job done when it comes to crunch time.
The Beavers will host Perry on Friday.
After a tough couple of seasons, Lakeside is poised to make a splash. The Dragons lost just three letterwinners from a team that was 8-13 (3-7) a year ago. Most of the current varsity players were members of a team that was undefeated two years ago on the junior varsity level.
Seniors James Christian (6-1 F), Fred Spikes (5-9 G) and Ace Jones (6-4, G-F) and juniors Emelio Parks (6-4 F-C) and Joe Kelly (5-8 G).
The Dragons will venture over to Harvey for the season opener on Saturday (6).

Others
Behind departed seniors Shontz, Savel, Bryan Easton and Jake Lautanen, Pymatuning Valley’s last three seasons have been as exciting as they could get, culminating in the Lakers’ trip to the Division III regional championship game last year. The Lakers fell short in that last step before the state tournament with a 91-71 loss to Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
In order for the momentum of those recent seasons to continue, coach Jeremy Huber must find a way to fill the roles of the players lost to graduation. It won’t be an easy task.
But Huber believes his team is up to the challenge, partly because of the players he lost to graduation last spring.
“I think they saw what those kids did before in terms of committing to playing and committing to practice every day,” Huber said. “We’ll see (if they’re ready to step in and fill those shoes). With some, they’re ready right now. With others, it’s going to take a little more time. They have to play hard and commit like those guys last year and we’ll be fine.
“It’s crucial that we keep that going. They spent a lot of time playing in the summer. They want to keep the tradition going.”
Huber has four returning lettermen — all seniors — Mark Riley (6-1 F), Garrett Drnek (5-11 F), Andrew Smith (6-1 F) and Jon York (6-0 G).
PV will jump right into conference play when it hosts Southington on Friday in the opener.
Perry made an incredible run into the Division II regional semifinal before finally falling to Poland, 67-60, in finishing 20-4. The Pirates won the Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division championship with a perfect 10-0 record in the process.
After losing just three seniors to graduation from a balanced team, the Pirates could be among the favorites to make a return trip to the regional tournament.
“We want to build on that experience,” Perry coach Chad Frazier said. “(The players) had that experience, now they want to have it again. They want to go further. They motivate themselves. They’ve done nothing but strengthen our program. They want more now because they had such a great ride.”
The Pirates boast experience with 10 letterwinners back from last year’s squad. Among them are seniors Vinny Hokavar (6-3 F), Joe Gutowski (6-0 G), Patrick Byrne (6-0 G), Daniel Johnson (6-1 G), John Phelps (6-4 C), Bob Whalen (5-10 G), Jon O’Keefe (6-1 F), Jake Elmore (5-10 G) and juniors Erik Petrecca (5-10 G) and James McCallister (6-0 G).
The Pirates will open their season at Riverside on Friday.
Only three players with a letter have returned for SS. John and Paul (11-10, 5-3 in East Suburban Conference). Seniors Jake Phelps (5-10 G), Steve Robison (6-1 G) and Trevor Herpy (6-2 F) are all back and should be in position to better last year’s record. SJP employed just a seven-man rotation a year ago, but will be much deeper this time around.
Fairport will host the Heralds on Tuesday to kick off the season.
Grand Valley, now coached by Luke Strohm after Mark Spellman stepped down, is recovering from a season (2-19, 0-10 CVC Valley) it would rather forget. The good news is the Mustangs return nearly everybody after losing just three to graduation.
Seniors Anthony Oscar (6-3 F) and Brandon Hart (6-2 C) and juniors Corey Weyer (6-0 G), Robbie Slusher (6-1 G), Trenton Doing (6-1 F), Tommy Jusko (6-1 F) and Cody Wilson (6-0 G) are all back for Mustangs.
The Mustangs will host PV for their opener on Tuesday.
Only three players are back to a Grand River Academy squad that was 12-5 in 2007-08, but the Eagles will not lack for athleticism.
Jared Gershen (5-11 G), David Haggerty (5-6 G) and Blais DiBatista (6-0 F) have the most experience for coach Bill Crawford’s team.
The Eagles will be tested right off the bat as they open the season Friday at the Jamestown Tipoff Tournament.

Ettinger is a sports writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at bettinger@starbeacon.com.

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