The Press-Dispatch
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D-2 Winter Sports Preview The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, November 27, 2013 PCHS BOYS' VARSITY BASKETBALL The 2013-14 Pike Central High School boys' varsity basketball team, front row, left to right: Manager Gabby Morton, Nick Kluemper, Garrett Wojtowicz, Kegan Aldridge, Damon Schnarr, Colton White and Manager Katelyn Bailey. Second row: Junior Varsity Coach Shawn Warner, Head Coach John Mokris, Garrett Elliott, Dakota Walker, Tyler Toopes, Gabe Elliott, Bailey White, C-Team Coach Joey Riggins, Manager Daniel Krieg and Assistant Varsity Coach Steve Barrett. Ed Cahill photo. Chargers looking to overcome youth, experience By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School boys' basketball season doesn't begin until Friday, Dec. 6, when the Chargers will host Barr-Reeve. As a result, second-year head coach John Mokris is taking his time after losing four seniors from a team that went 3-17, including 0-7 in the Pocket Athletic Conference last year. "We have three seniors back, but we've got a lot of younger kids who have to get some fundamentals down and stuff like that," said Mokris, whose team began 3-5 last year before suffering 12 straight losses to end the season. "We're just going slow. There's no reason to rush." Pike Central returns just three players with significant varsity experience – 5-foot-8 senior Kegan Aldridge, 6-foot junior Garrett Elliott and 6-foot-3 sophomore Tyler Toopes – while " nament time, I guarantee you we'll be ready to go, as long as we're healthy." Injuries have already begun taking a toll, however. Toopes strained a ligament in his right knee during a pre-season scrimmage at South Knox on Tuesday, Nov. 19, while Aldridge is suffering from a shoulder injury incurred during football season and has patella tendonitis in one knee. "Kegan's going to help us out this year, definitely, with his quickness, as long as he can stay healthy," Mokris said. "He might even be able to post up some guys inside, whether he's 5-8 or not, he's so strong. We did that this summer and it worked out really well for us." Mokris is expecting Colton White to compete for the Chargers' starting guard position. "He did everything this summer with that," Mokris said. "We'll have the ball in his hands most of the time. If he's not in the game, Kegan might have to handle it It's going to be tough for these freshmen to play against juniors and seniors. We're going to take our lumps early on. But by tournament time, I guarantee you we'll be ready to go, as long as we're healthy." -Head Coach John Mokris 6-foot junior Nick Kluemper saw limited playing time on the varsity level last season. The other six players on the Chargers' roster – 6-foot-2 senior Bailey White, 5-foot-6 senior Dustin Schnarr, 5-foot-10 junior Garrett Wojtowicz, 6-foot-2 junior Dakota Walker, 6-foot-3 freshman Gabe Elliott and 5-foot-10 freshman Colton White – have no prior varsity experience. "We're going to be young," Mokris said. "We're just working in everything that we need. It's a process." "Like this summer, we started 0-7, but we finished up 6-3 the last nine games we played," Mokris added. "It's going to be tough for these freshmen to play against juniors and seniors. We're going to take our lumps early on. But by tour- a little bit." Wojtowicz, along with Kluemper, could also see playing time at the point. "It just depends," Mokris said. "Wojo had an ACL tear last year, so he didn't even play. He's down with his experience because he's missed a year of basketball." Aldridge will likely start at the second guard spot "if Colton's handling the ball," Mokris said. "Garrett (Elliott) can play that spot, too," Mokris said. "He can play two or three and, if we had to, I guess he could bring the ball down the floor, too. He's come a long way since last year" Toopes will see action mostly at the big forward position, although he could split time with Garrett Elliott at the small forward spot, while Gabe Elliott will New Main St. Location senior SPOTLIGHT Kegan Aldridge start at center. Bailey White will come off the bench to back up at center. "He didn't play his first two years so he's learning everything," Mokris said. Walker will see action both on the junior varsity and varsity, while Schnarr will also come off the bench. "He's going to get some time," Mokris said. "He's just got to understand the roles that we're playing. All the kids need to understand their roles. "I think we'll be a little bit more diversified than we were last year," Mokris added. "We'll be able to move some kids around." Mokris described last year's team as "very decent, very good" defensively, allowing an average of 52.3 points per game. That's the fewest allowed by the Chargers since the 1996-97 season, when Pike Central went 22-4 and advanced to the semi-state. "We had a bunch of hardworking seniors," said Mokris, whose team scored an average of 42.6 points per game last season. "I mean, I could put them on the floor and they would work their butts off. Offensively, we were a little less skilled, as I thought that we would be. But the seniors worked hard last year." Mokris noted that last year's season-ending losing streak began when the Chargers suffered a 61-48 loss at Heritage Hills, after entering the fourth quarter tied at 42-42, and a 5436 loss at Jasper on back-toback nights. "After that, we were in mostly every game," Daniel Krieg Mokris said. "We just could not play 32 minutes. We would play three quarters and we couldn't play that fourth quarter. A couple of games, we were up 10 at halftime, 8 at halftime, and just couldn't finish the game off. Hopefully, this year that'll change, plain and simple." Mokris said he would like nothing better than for this year's squad to emulate last year's as far as defensive average. "If that can continue, I think that we can score more than 42," Mokris said. "I just think that we're more diversified this year. We have more options this year than we did last year, offensively." "The defensive end of the floor, that's what I worry about," Mokris added. "If we can get to the level we were last year defensively, then we might be successful this year." Mokris said he wanted the Chargers to push the ball up the floor offensively as much as possible and take good shots. "I want to take the lay-up if they give us the lay-up; if not, we need to execute on offense," Mokris said. "We need to run our sets. We need to run our offenses. And we need to be patient. We could still do that and score 60 points. "We're going to have to rebound the ball and we're going to have to play defense," Mokris added. "We're going to have to keep our turnovers low and take care of the basketball for us to be competitive in every game." Mokris said that he would like for the Chargers – who Damon Schnarr averaged about 15 turnovers a game last season – to average 12 or fewer this season. "We had some games where we only had two turnovers in the first half, but then we'd come out in the second half and we'd have 13 turnovers," Mokris said. "You can't do that. If we can balance out, 5 and 5, that would be great. "We work on ball-handling every day," Mokris said. "Some of these inexperienced guys who haven't been on that level, they have a problem making decisions. But it seems like the freshmen have done a decent job of making decisions and making sure that they know where the ball goes." Shot selection, however, is an area where the Chargers need improvement, according to Mokris. "We're just trying to learn what's a good shot, what's a bad shot, and that comes from practices and having a few games and showing them on tape," Mokris said. "I do a lot of tape watching with the kids. We'll take 20 minutes during practice to watch film, see what we did, learn from our mistakes. That seemed to help out a lot last year. "Plus we need to keep our composure, too," Mokris added. "Composure's going to be a big thing this year with some of these younger kids." While last season's team shot a respectable 70 percent from the free throw line, Mokris would like to see that average upped to near 75 percent. "On the varsity level, you've got to make free throws," Mokris said. "We Your car or truck is a valued asset When you have mechanical problems, you want to take it to a place that you can trust, a place that has been helping people since 1975. Using only quality products, professional care and the latest technology to diagnose your automobile. ASE certified. •OilChange •Exhaust •Tires •Tune-Up •Batteries •SuspensionSystems •A/CService •EngineDiagnostics ModiS •BrakeService •FuelSystemService Modular diagnostic system Trust your vehicle to the Automotive Expert We support our Pike Central Chargers! John's AutoCare Center 24 HoUr ToWing 409E.Main,Petersburg•354-1673or789-3042 Visa • MasterCard • Discover • Diners Club • American Express • Wright Express • Geico • Motor Club Bailey White need to get to the line. We need to be smart. If we could shoot 20 free throws a night, that would be awesome." Mokris said his goal every year is to have a winning record and to compete for both the conference and sectional titles. "I'd like to win a little bit more than last year," Mokris said. "We're taking baby steps. And we're trying to change the program on all levels, too." Mokris said that he is especially working to instill a winning mentality throughout the program, noting that the Chargers have not had a winning record since going 15-8 during the 199899 season. Mokris is hoping the success being experienced on the middle school level – the eighth grade boys' team went 27-1 last season and has begun this season 3-0 – will carry over to the high school level. "The mentality has to change ... and we've got a younger class where that's happening," Mokris said. "So we'll see." Mokris said he was "pretty optimistic" about the coming season and that he expected the Chargers will be more than ready to open their season on Dec. 6. "By about next weekend, we'll be tired of playing each other," Mokris said. "By the end of the week, we'll be ready for another opponent. "We're going to have plenty of time to get in what we need to get in, that's for sure," Mokris added. "We're just taking it as slow as we possibly can, because we have a learning curve."