Article By: Brian SmileyAlthough their first game of the Brant County high school senior boys basketball season didn't take place until Tuesday night, the North Park Collegiate Trojans already seem to be in mid-season form.
The Trojans captured The Expositor Ed O'Leary Memorial Tip-Off Basketball Tournament and the consolation championship at the prestigious Court Heinbuch Classic in Waterloo before the calendar flipped to December.
"I think it's a really good start to the season," said Andrew. "To start off, we're in a good spot.
"We were lucky to get a little earlier start this year. Unlike other schools we weren't impacted by football and volleyball running on too long. So, I think that has allowed us to be a little further along at this point then we usually are or definitely other schools are."
The Trojans, who were playing Paris District High School on Tuesday, normally have senior volleyball teams that make deep runs into the playoffs. But this year the volleyball Trojans were eliminated early.
With the football team also out of the post-season mix fairly early, Andrew got the full attention of the 23 players who were trying out for the basketball team.
In the end, he kept a group of 12 that includes nine players from last season's team and three junior graduates.
"We've got some experience but we're still young," said Andrew. "We're not greatly impacted by the fifth-year kids.
"Our main nucleus of our top-level kids are just in Grade 12. A lot of our other kids who are playing significant roles are just fourth-year kids.
"We're still kind of young in the scheme of things."
North Park has three big starters returning in guard Matt Minutillo and forwards Matt Krason and Brandon John.
"We're probably one of the bigger teams in the league," said Andrew, while noting that six-foot-eight Grade 10 student Brandon John and six-foot-four Grade 12 student Matt Krason are complemented by Minutillo, a fantastically gifted Grade 12 offensive threat.
"Our offensive abilities circle around Matt," he said. "Matt is a big-time high school scorer."
Ryan Timms will take up the other starting spot and a rotation of Will McArthur, A.K. Rai and Manraj Brar will fill out the final slot. All four of those players are also returnees.
Andrew will use his other senior players - Dyshane Powell-Hodges and Noah Kunej - off the bench, along with junior graduates Kyle Webster, Nic Rankin and Brandon McIvor.
Andrew said the players, as a group, will be working on playing on their own side of the court.
"Team defence is always something that you're working on and then fine-tuning on the offensive end and adjusting as the game goes on," said the coach.
"It's always a constant thing to be fine tuning."
With league play now under way, Andrew is going to use that to get everyone experience.
"Hopefully, within the league, you're trying to bring along two or three guys," he said. "The game is that much faster, the guys are that much stronger.
"The older guys are there to help the younger guys get up to speed faster which will make our team stronger in the end. The more bodies you can get into games, the better off the team is in the long run."
And in the long run, when the season is winding down, Andrew sees no reason why his team shouldn't be fighting for a Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association berth and a chance to play at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships.
"Our goal is to definitely go out and take a run at the city championship," he said. "We're also setting our sights to hopefully get to AAA CWOSSA and making a run at winning that which would ultimately get us to AAA OFSAA.
"Knowing what's out there and what we have, it's totally within the realm of possibility. It should be another exciting year and we just hope to be there in the end."
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/12/02/high-school-boys-basketball-trojans-build-on-experience--n
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