Not Champions Yet

So, over the last few days I've had quite a few people comment on how I haven't written in a while. Well, I was going to write about last week's Clopton Tournament. I actually sat down to write it. But I couldn't. For some reason, I couldn't. And tonight I figured out why...

As a writer, I need to write the truth. And of course, I can't ignore the fact that the Eagles coughed up yet another tournament championship game by shooting a dreadful 4-24 from behind the arc and committing not-so-timely turnovers. Instead of finishing the tournament with an 8-3 record and a redeeming victory for the Fort Zumwalt North loss, the Eagles felt the sharp pang of defeat again, this time at the hand of the Elsberry Indians.

However, I did discover one thing that I won't do as a writer. This is high school basketball. I'm not gonna dwell on mistakes, because these guys aren't professionals. It's gonna happen. Instead of focusing on the poor shooting and ball control, I can focus on the positives.

Take Adam Glenville for example. Last year's breakout star had a slow start, averaging 12.5 points and 8 rebounds per game in the first four games. That may not seem "slow", but in the last four games, Glenville has been reminding us who he was last year and how he is developing as a player. In the last four games, Adam has put up 18.25 points per game and 9.25 rebounds per game. This includes 36% from beyond the perimeter (50% if you exclude the 1-9 performance against Elsberry) and a selection to the all-tournament team at Clopton (though it's debatable whether he should have been the MVP.) Glenville also looks more confident with the ball. His shot selection is good (aside from a few mistakes here and there) and his drives are great. Glenville is the team's best free throw shooter at 64% and he does a great job of getting to the bucket and getting to the line. He's great in transition and as a small forward, he's taller than most people who play the position, making his defense a great asset to his game. And like last year, Glenville is just going to keep getting better.

Also of note is the emergence of two bench players, Lance Lehmann and Zach Wetzel. Wetzel, a junior, and Lehmann, a sophomore, have been contributors on the floor this year, adding strong, physical minutes when needed, but last week's tournament suggested that these two are ready to start stuffing their stat line a little bit. During the tournament, Lehmann averaged 8.3 points per game including a very good 41% from 3-point range. Wetzel averaged 6.7 points per game and shot 38% from the promised land. This includes an impressive 14 point game against Confluence. Now you may ask why I'm concentrating so much on shooting with these two. Mostly because Wetzel and Lehmann have risen to the occassion and made themselves the sharp-shooters. If they continue their rise, they'll see more playing time. Which means about 15 points that the Eagles were missing at the beginning of the year.

Finally, the Eagles rebounded nicely against Wright City tonight. It was an impressive 55-33 effort that brought the Eagles to 8-4 on the season. And looking down the schedule, the Eagles only have one or two more games in which they really aren't favorites. Aside from the unorthodox collapse against Elsberry, the Eagles have been dominant in their 3 victories this semester. And this is the part of the season in which the games start to pile up. I know from experience that Coach Meers and Coach Lehmann will have them physically ready. The question is simply this. Which Eagles team is gonna show up? The one that outscored their opponents by an average of 31 points in their three victories this half? Or the one that laid an egg against Elsberry? I'm not worried. I'm confident in the first choice. Because the latter isn't like them. And sooner or later, the guys are gonna rise to the occassion. No reason to be negative about that.