By Coach Steve Mengler
The Plainsman seventh grade boys hosted HLV to finish out the 2009-2010 season Friday night. The boys came out ready to play, jumping to a 10-0 first quarter lead in route to a 41-15 victory. Offensively we were quite aggressive pushing the ball down the court for fast break opportunities. When we were slowed down we were still able to get good shots, and if we missed we hit the offensive board with reckless abandon to get second and third chances to score.
Leading the team offensively in this game was Vance Bohlen with 14 points. Adrien Griffith added eight points, Austin Vranek and Josh Long with six points, Justin Jacobi four points, and Trey Squiers with three points. As a team we shot 19 of 66 from the field to hit 29 percent of our shots. We struggled from the free throw line making only three of ten attempts.
This was probably our best game defensively. This was something that we stressed in pregame talks as well as in the huddle during timeouts. When we play good defense our offense responds accordingly and we get out and get fast break opportunities. As a team we grabbed a season high 44 rebounds, far exceeding our previous best of 36 boards, also against HLV. This was one of the few games that we played this year where we were not at a serious height disadvantage. Griffith led the team with ten rebounds, Squiers grabbed nine, Vranek gathered eight, and Long pulled in six rebounds to help the team. By controlling the boards we kept HLV from scoring which allowed us to pull away early in the game.
This was probably the best possible outcome for the last game of the year. We played our best defense of the year and moved the ball successfully on offense. Rebounding, which we have stressed throughout the season, seemed to come together as well to create a positive finish for the season.
END OF SEASON REPORT
The 7th grade boys finished the 2009-2010 season with a 6-6 record. There were probably another couple of games in which we should have possibly won if we had played up to our ability, but overall I was pleased with the effort the boys gave both during games and also during practice.
As a group we are not particularly tall, so this put the boys at a disadvantage against the larger and stronger teams, but we tried to make up for this deficiency by being quicker than the other teams, which worked quite well in some cases. The boys acquired two victories against HLV and one each against BGM, Tri-County, Montezuma, and North Tama. The boys went down to defeat against Iowa Valley twice that has an excellent seventh grade team, and once each to Union, BGM, Meskwaki, and English Valley.
One of the strengths of this team all year was the balanced scoring among the players. Every person scored at some point throughout the season. Our best shooter on the year was Austin Vranek hitting 38 percent of his shots, while Trey Squiers led the team hitting 38 percent from the free throw line. Scoring averages are as follows:
Justin Jacobi 8.25 points per game
Vance Bohlen 7.08 points per game
Trey Squiers 5.91 points per game
Josh Long 4.00 points per game
Adrien Griffith 2.50 points per game
Austin Vranek 2.16 points per game
Cody Bergom 0.36 points per game
Jacob Fabor 0.33 points per game
Rebounding was sometimes an issue throughout the year as we struggled to block out bigger and taller opponents. Rebound averages per game on the season are as follows:
Jacobi 6.67 rebounds per game
Squiers 4.33 rebounds per game
Griffith 3.91 rebounds per game
Vranek 3.58 rebounds per game
Long 2.67 rebounds per game
Bohlen 2.58 rebounds per game
Fabor 1.25 rebounds per game
Bergom 1.09 rebounds per game
It was a very enjoyable season with these boys. It was obvious that they had played AAU basketball together so they came in with some basic skills to build on as the season progressed. I would like to thank Austin Vranek, a first year eighth grade basketball player, for joining our team and putting some minutes in for both the seventh and eighth grade games. By doing this he got some valuable court time and practice that sped his progress in acquiring basketball skills while at the same time giving our other players much needed breaks during games.
I would like to thank the parents, siblings, and other fans for supporting the boys all season. We often had a loud and vocal cheering section at both home and away games. There is also that parental commitment of getting boys to and from practice at the appropriate times that we as coaches appreciate so greatly.
This group of boys has the potential to continue improving throughout the next several years. There are many things that we have talked about at practice that should be considered “homework” prior to the next basketball season, including such basics as ball handling, especially with the left hand, shooting around the basket with the left hand, shooting form and practice, general conditioning, and gaining strength. Of course growing three or four inches would be helpful as well but probably not something that the individual athlete can control.
All or most of these can be accomplished just by getting a basketball out during the warmer spring, summer, and fall months and using spare time to improve these skills. Of course general conditioning and strength can also be helped by being out for all other sports, including track, baseball, and football. Thanks again for a very good season.
