There are three main things Head Coach Greg Zugrave would like to see happen when his St. Ed’s varsity boys basketball team pushes toward the district playoffs after the first of the year.
“We want to play complete games. We want to be able to adjust to what teams throw at us. We want to get contributions from at least eight or nine guys on any given night.”
The Pirates slipped to 3-7 last week when Fort Pierce Central buried a layup at the buzzer for a 65-63 victory. It was a discouraging way to head into the 2015 finale this past Tuesday vs. Community Christian at American Airlines Arena in Miami. Nevertheless, this Pirate team has reason to be encouraged when play resumes Jan. 2.
St. Ed’s got its first district win vs. Berean Christian one day before the Central heartbreaker. Senior Nick Succes set the scoring pace for his team in both games with 16 and 25 respectively but, more importantly, some of his teammates may be poised to provide more punch in that department as the season progresses. Cole Lipkin added 18 and Thomas Bockhorst 13 to the season-high total of 63 against Central. Reliable scoring had been lacking up to that point and Zugrave knows why.
“We are very young in the game, as one of my assistant coaches likes to say,” Zugrave said. “We’ve got a great group of kids, but we need to learn how to play the game of basketball a little more. We are focusing on how to execute offense, how to play defense, how to make good passes, game strategies, all kinds of stuff like that.”
Or in other words the fundamentals, which are noticed mostly on offense when athletic opponents pressure the ball and deny good looks at the basket.
“Part of our problem is that we don’t know how to create shots on our own,” Zugrave explained. “We were so used to seeing (prolific scorer and since graduated) Bobby Barker score so many points that we are still looking for him even though he is not around this year.
“That’s a tribute to him and what he was able to do on the court. Some of our guys are struggling and still looking for him.”
Zugrave went on to say that his guys are learning to play as a team and gaining valuable experience with each game. However, the search for consistency never ends.
“It’s very typical for a young team to play really well in spots and not very well in others,” the coach said. “But that’s something that we are working on and hopefully when we get into January we will be competing for four quarters. We have a tough schedule and everybody seems to be ready for us.
“We scheduled up, there’s no mistake about that. We wanted to play better teams so we can be ready when it comes to those tough district tournament games. Right now our starting lineup fluctuates. Nick Succes, Thomas Bockhorst and Willie Mosley will always start. The other two starters will vary depending on the opponent or who has the hot hand.
“We have four or five guys ready to fill those two spots. That keeps everyone loose and gives them something to compete for.”
The roster is replete with players having little game experience before this year. Nick Succes is the exception. He is clearly the first scoring option in Year Two at St. Ed’s after transferring from Centennial. Fellow-seniors Mason Heim, Kishore Chundi and Lipkin saw limited minutes last year. Juniors Bockhorst, Mosley, James McGuire and sophomore Brandon Succes are getting valuable court time this year for Zugrave.
“We are very young this year but we are getting better.” Nick Succes said. “Last year I was a little nervous coming in here and playing basketball. This year I’m a lot more confident. I’m scoring some points and helping out my team. I think I’m a more well-rounded player.”
Nick is glad and a bit surprised to see his brother Brandon develop and become “a big factor on our team this year.”
Heim is just glad to be playing varsity basketball in high school. “I didn’t play much last year but when I did I played as hard as I could,” he said. “Basketball has always been fun for me.
“This year we are just trying to play more as a team because we don’t have that one super talented player to take over a game. My role is to take charges on defense and knock down open shots when I get them.
“Our district is more competitive this year without dominant teams like Holy Trinity and Florida Air. So we are hopefully looking to be playing for a championship at the end of January.”
The Pirates were 1-1 in the district at the holiday break.