Titan boys hoops tips off into season

“There’s more balance this year”

by Than Acuff

Last season there was a lot of weight on the shoulders of then-senior Quinn Winter. Standing 6’7” tall with a nice shot, Winter was called upon to lead the young team through the season.

Winter had senior Joe Hayes out there to help and a solid support crew including David Wasinger and Noah Dumas but, overall, the team was young and had their highs and lows throughout the season.

This year, Wasinger and Dumas are back, as is John Theis, and several players who spent last year getting varsity time are now one step further in their development. Coach Brandin Hamilton looks to build off of what they started last season.

It all began back in June when Hamilton took his team to a couple of tournaments to get a glimpse of what he will have this season.

“I’d say it was a successful summer,” says Hamilton. “I learned a lot.”

The official start of the 2015-2016 season was on November 12 and Hamilton has 23 players on the roster right now, including 11 freshmen, and Mike Gehab and TJ Curry to help as assistant coaches. So far, Hamilton sees a big difference from what he had last season. Most evident is the fact that the kids he started coaching three years ago are now upperclassmen and already ahead of the game.

“This is the first time I’ve had ‘my group,’” says Hamilton. “The juniors and seniors know my expectations and I can watch them show the younger guys. There’s real solid leadership.”

As a result, systems that Hamilton and the Titans have been working on are now firmly in place and they can start to stretch things in all areas of the court, from defense to offense and the transition game in between.

“I’m trying to progress things that we started last year,” says Hamilton.

The Titans got their first test in a game situation last weekend as they hit the road for scrimmages against Cotopaxi and South Park. Unofficially, they won both but, more important, Hamilton saw something new in his team.

“We controlled the scrimmages because we were more powerful,” says Hamilton. “We had more team strength and more team explosiveness. There’s more balance this year. I think we can attack in a lot of different ways. It was fun to see.”

While a balanced attack and a more powerful team all sound good in preseason, they will have their hands full in the Southern Peaks league, a league known as one of the top 2A leagues in the state.

“It’s one of those years where everybody will be better than last year,” says Hamilton. “It should be an even higher quality of play in the league but these guys are hungry to prove they belong in the league.”

If everything plays out as hoped, Hamilton sees his team making waves in the Southern Peaks and expects a lot of the games to be close.

“With the improvements we’ve made, we can beat anybody,” says Hamilton.

The Titans will open the regular season with the Lake County Invitational tournament December 4-5 and then face 2A state powerhouse Ridgway on December 12.