Eagles boys in rebuilding mode
GROVE CITY — The names have changed, but they always do.
Coach Don Fee has been here before. For 17 years, he has watched outstanding players come and go from his Grove City Highboys basketball program, yet he found ways to replace them.
But perhaps in no other year has that task appeared as arduous as in this one.
"We don't have much experience," Fee said. "People don't expect us to do much."
That's because much of the nucleus of the team that won a school-record 26 games and reached the PIAA Class AAA Western Final, where it lost to eventual state champion General McLane, is gone.
Jordan Fee has taken his point guard skills to Colorado Springs. Danny Keil and Ben Liebling, standout shooting forwards, are also gone.
What's left is a group who excelled as role players last season: Maxx Stutz, Derek Forese, Kyle Perrine and Ryan McNamara.
This year, they will be asked to become the new nucleus.
Grove City has won 26 straight region games, but, as Fee said, no one is expecting that streak to last very much longer.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing, Fee said.
"Sometimes that is nice and refreshing," Fee said. "The expectation is not there. The pressure is off. It's a challenge and you have to accept it that way. Even though we've been written off, we're not in the picture, we're still the champs and we have to be stingy about that and not give it up without a fight."
Stutz appears poised to be the next standout all-around forward for the Eagles.
At 6-foot-3, he can post people up in the paint, but he also possesses a left-handed shooting touch that can spread out a defense.
The senior was hot and cold last season, enjoying five games of 12 or more points, but also 12 games of six or fewer points.
"He needs to realize he's the focus now," Fee said.
A slow start seems inevitable. Grove City plays a very tough early season schedule, facing teams such as Quad-A Seneca Valley and Erie Strong Vincent its tipoff tournament.
"I told them we're probably going to take some licks early," Fee said. "We can't let it beat us down mentally. We're not ready for those guys yet."
Last year was a learning experience for the Grove City High girls basketball team.Long on youth and short on consistency, the Eagles went 3-21 under first-year coach T.L. Thompson.But as the season wore on, Grove City became more competitive and put a scare into a few teams, including rival SlipperyRock.A young star was discovered in Caitlin McNamara and a solid group of seniors are back., which has Thompson thinking of better things in 2007-08."They definitely can compete a lot more than last year," Thompson said. "My goal for this year is that there is never a game that ends that we weren't in. The big thing is going to be overcoming what happened last year and getting past that."There are good basketball players in this gym."Perhaps the one with the most promise is McNamara. As as freshman last season, she averaged 8.8 points per game. Also back is senior Maggie Orr, who scored 7.6 points per contest.But Lauryn Franklin may be the key to Grove City's fate this season.The senior point guard, who never played the position until last year, will be asked to run the Grove City offense more efficiently this season."She had never been a point guard before I came in last season and made her one," Thompson said. "She definitely has he ability to be a good one, she just needs to be more aggressive."Thompson doesn't have any designs on region championships or long playoff runs.She concedes in her second year that it is going to be a slow process rebuilding a program with a proud tradition.That doesn't mean Thompson is giving up on this season. Far from it."When the second half of the season starts, we still want to play games that mean something," she said. "We want to be competing for a possible playoff spot, or at least be a team that other teams see as a threat. It's still a new program and we're still learning, but this is a team that could do some good things."
