Article By: Vincent BallHeading into the second half of the Brant County senior boys' basketball season head coach Mike Petrella likes what he has seen from his Assumption College team so far.
But, he adds, the team needs to work on its defence and that will be continue to be the No. 1 priority for his players in the coming weeks.
“In terms our strengths, we're a team that likes to push the ball up the floor,” said Petrella.
“We like to fast-break a lot. We 're an athletic team.”
But the coach said defence is a concern.
“We have to do a better job of rebounding on defence and, if we do that, I think we can compete with anybody.”
Sporting a winning record, the Lions get a lot of leadership from Andre Toic, a Grade 12 student, who has been playing senior boys basketball since Grade 9.
“He is a really talented player and we rely on him on offence and he usually covers the other team's big man on defence,” Petrella said. “We get a lot of leadership from him and we also get a lot of leadership from Tanner Baldin.
“He (Baldin) plays lacrosse at the provincial level,” said the coach, adding that he is “an extremely good athlete.”
The team includes Mike King, who plays forward and guard, Austin Tlustos, a guard, Josh Turner, a Grade 10 student who plays forward, Brandon Vincent, a forward, Ben Miller, a forward, Josh Znidaric, a forward, Marc Paderon, guard, Erik Cayaban, guard, Ron Taylor, a forward and Mike Heron who plays both forward and guard.
On Tuesday, the Lions defeated the Paris District High School Panthers 64-25 with Toic leading the way with 20 points. King scored 13 and Tlustos scored 11. Ian Lawrence scored 10 for the Panthers while, Chas Nolson got 9 and Ryan Campbell scored 4.
The Lions have already proven they can compete with the top teams in the city. They split with St. John's College Green Eagles, a traditionally strong team, winning one game 57-55 in overtime with Toic scoring 24 points.
Their only other loss was to North Park Collegiate, another traditional basketball powerhouse. In that game, played before the Christmas break, the Lions lost 48-46.
The Lions will be heading out of town for a couple of tournaments, which will give them a chance to work on their team defence and prepare for the playoffs.
The Lions will be at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo this weekend for a tournament and in Burlington at the end of the month for a tournament at Notre Dame Roman Catholic Secondary School.
“We thought we'd be competitive and after the first half of the season we know we can compete,” Petrella said.
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/01/09/high-school-boys-basketball-defence-top-priority-for-lions
