Spartans learning on the fly
The Westlane Spartans senior boys basketball team is taking some lumps and learning valuable lessons as the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association regular season winds down.
Westlane fell to 0-7 in league play Wednesday with a 64-38 loss to the Centennial Cougars.
“We are struggling this year, but we have a lot of inexperience. We have mostly Grade 11s on the team and one Grade 10,” Westlane coach Jamie Coull said. “That jump up to senior doesn’t take a full year, but we are starting to get there right now.”
Coull sees signs of progress.
“I’m starting to see a lot better habits coming out of them,” he said. “We had a lot of bad habits that need to disappear.
“I always call them junior habits because you can get away with them at the junior level but as soon as you reach the next speed, it turns into turnovers.”
He has modest goals for his squad as the season winds down.
“I want to start playing a lot more competitive games and just being able to compete for longer periods of time during the games,” Coull said. “We are starting to compete a quarter here and a quarter there, but teams still have those little runs on us.
“It’s getting to the next spot where we can put a whole game together.”
One of the young players gaining valuable experience is Grade 10 guard Enrico Gibson.
“He’s still young, he is strong and competitive, there’s a few little things to work at this point, but he’s not afraid,” Coull said. “The reason he is playing senior in Grade 10 is because he is a stronger player.”
Coull wants the six footer to work on his shot, but he needs little work on his court vision.
“He sees the floor very well and he is able to find guys,” Coull said.
One problem for his teammates is that Gibson’s passes, while excellent, have so much zip on them that they are hard to catch.
“I am always telling him that if you pass it to their chest and it goes through their hands, it hits their chest and falls in their hands,” Coull said.
Gibson, a Niagara Falls Red Raiders travel player, feels he is adjusting well to senior basketball.
“One of the biggest things I have to adjust to are the transitions — it’s a lot more fast-paced — and there’s a lot more bigger and athletic guys,” the 16-year-old said. “I’m also the youngest guy on my team so I have had to adjust to that too.
“A lot of times I am underrated because of my age and people don’t expect me to play the way I do and sometimes I let that get to me.”
He knows he still has lot to work on.
“I want to improve on my shooting ability, make better decisions, be able to get the ball to my teammates and allow them to score, and be a better defender as well.”
Gibson and his teammates are not getting down despite being winless in league play.
“The goal is to come together as a team,” he said.
On the teams’ warmup uniforms is written the slogan ‘Win or learn. Never lose.’
Gibson believes in that saying.
“Even if we lose, we are always learning,” said Gibson, who is planning to play AAU ball with the Niagara Tigers next summer.
STATS PACK
Cougars 64 Spartans 38
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Player of the Game: Westlane’s Enrico Gibson with seven points and a strong second half at point guard.
For the Centennial Cougars: Ryan Stark 16, Reese Radobenko 16; Nick Yioldassis 9; Jordan Brewster 7; Jackson McNeil 5; Keon Harry 4; Kyle Clarkson 3; Jack Halladay 2; Anthony Perna 2;
For the Westlane Spartans: Jacob Firotte 12; Gibson 7; Ethan Smith 7; Kevin Delvecchio 5; Waleed Al-Basha 3; Joon Han 2; Taylor Firotte 2.
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