2016 Hillsboro Indians Preview: Can the Indians improve from last season with experience gained?
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Hillsboro Indians will have experience from their roster last season, but just one senior, as they look to improve while playing in a tough South Central Ohio League.
The Indians’ schedule of game this season won’t be easy. Their league slate is strong with tough competition, and even when they are away from the SCOL, the schedule won’t be any easier. Simply said: the Indians must be ready to play from the very start of the season.
“We know we are going to have to come out and give our best each night on both ends of the court to be able to compete in this league,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “We have an extremely competitive league. Each team in our league offers something different, and for us to have success, the defensive end is where we’ll have to improve.
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“We struggled stopping people last year, and turning the ball over was so much of our youth, playing so many sophomores. We have to grow, taking care of the basketball and stopping people on the defensive end. Shooting the basketball has been a point of emphasis this offseason. We’re also working on the fundamentals like passing, catching, footwork …. those are things we work on during our individual workouts to get better.”
This season, the Indians have one senior, being Ty Haithcock. The junior class consists of seven players, including Philip Mycroft, Matthew Ryan, Devon Gallimore, Payton Bell, Cameron Reed, Marshall Ward and Kelton Anderson. There are two sophomores on the roster in Josh Keets and Ethan Watson.
Those players were part of a successful offseason, according to Coach Miles. The Indians took part in individual work on their own, plus team activities during the summer and preseason.
“We’ve had a great offseason with our weight program, with our individual workouts and kids getting shots in at open gym,” Miles said. “The team camps and the shootouts we went to over the summer were great experiences for some of the younger guys who haven’t experienced a lot of varsity basketball, so that was a good experience for them.”
One of the players that will be heavily relied upon is Mycroft, the leading scorer from last season. In SCOL play last season, Mycroft averaged 12.3 points per game, shooting 53 percent from the field. Overall, as a sophomore last season, Mycroft averaged 11.7 ppg, also shooting 53 percent from the field. He also led HHS with 151 rebounds.
Hillsboro lost DJ Brown to graduation, with not only his 12.1 ppg (SCOL) and 11.2 overall ppg, but his leadership, too. Miles believes Mycroft is next to take over that role.
“Philip dedicates himself to the weight room and to his game. He’s going to have to add to his accomplishments from last season as a sophomore when he was our leading scorer and rebounder,” Miles said. “He’s going to add to his game this year. I’m excited to see the year he’s going to have, because he put so much hard work and time into it.
“We are going to go as Philip goes. He’s the anchor of this team, no doubt. We have to have players step up around him. I look to Marshall, Josh, Cameron and Ethan to help out the scoring. They shoot the ball well, and Ty Haithcock is probably the best shooter we have in the program right now. He’s had a good preseason against some tough competition.”
Miles continued to talk about players on the roster who will be needed for the team to improve from last season, with one being Ward, who is currently rehabbing an injury.
“Our returning point guard, Marshall Ward, dealt with an injury. He tore his labrum in his left shoulder and missed all summer with that,” Miles said. “Then this soccer season toward the end, he hurt his right shoulder, so he’s battling back from that and we don’t know when he’ll be back, but we look forward to his progress.
“When he was thrust into the point guard role last year as a sophomore, he struggled early, but he was one who steadily grew as the season progressed and was playing his best basketball toward the end of the year. So I look forward to getting him healthy.
“The guys have showed a willingness to come in and work on their shooting. That is where we stressed with last year that we needed to do better. We had guys coming in at 6 a.m. when school started to work on their shots. They know we have to shoot the ball better because our league is very tough.”
For the Indians to improve on their 8-16 record from one season ago, they’ve made their opponents this preseason challenging to help match what they will see once the regular season begins. HHS ended last season in the sectional semifinals.
“I scheduled our scrimmages with some talented and athletic schools (Northmont, Logan Elm). Those schools emulate the pressure we’ll see playing in our league,” Miles said. “Our early season schedule is tough, starting on the road at Eastern Brown. Our non-conference schedule is tough. Our hope is to get off a good start, because we know with four of our first six games on the road, we will have to grow up fast.
“We have young guys who are back, but it is tough to go on the road and get wins. We’ll have to play our best, and we have to string together good performances on the road to get off to a good start because I feel that is extremely important for our kids … to see success early.”
For the Indians, another part of having success this season will not just be the players on the roster, but the energy given to them from the stands, as Miles mentioned how the team appreciates the community support.
“We have great crowd support, and there is no doubt our student section is the best in the league,” Miles said. “Our student section brings it, and it doesn’t matter if it is a weekday game, they come out to support us. They are key to fueling our success, and we feed off their success and they get very loud. We look forward to seeing them and being a part of that this upcoming season.”
The Indians’ schedule of game this season won’t be easy. Their league slate is strong with tough competition, and even when they are away from the SCOL, the schedule won’t be any easier. Simply said: the Indians must be ready to play from the very start of the season.
“We know we are going to have to come out and give our best each night on both ends of the court to be able to compete in this league,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “We have an extremely competitive league. Each team in our league offers something different, and for us to have success, the defensive end is where we’ll have to improve.
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“We struggled stopping people last year, and turning the ball over was so much of our youth, playing so many sophomores. We have to grow, taking care of the basketball and stopping people on the defensive end. Shooting the basketball has been a point of emphasis this offseason. We’re also working on the fundamentals like passing, catching, footwork …. those are things we work on during our individual workouts to get better.”
This season, the Indians have one senior, being Ty Haithcock. The junior class consists of seven players, including Philip Mycroft, Matthew Ryan, Devon Gallimore, Payton Bell, Cameron Reed, Marshall Ward and Kelton Anderson. There are two sophomores on the roster in Josh Keets and Ethan Watson.
Those players were part of a successful offseason, according to Coach Miles. The Indians took part in individual work on their own, plus team activities during the summer and preseason.
“We’ve had a great offseason with our weight program, with our individual workouts and kids getting shots in at open gym,” Miles said. “The team camps and the shootouts we went to over the summer were great experiences for some of the younger guys who haven’t experienced a lot of varsity basketball, so that was a good experience for them.”
One of the players that will be heavily relied upon is Mycroft, the leading scorer from last season. In SCOL play last season, Mycroft averaged 12.3 points per game, shooting 53 percent from the field. Overall, as a sophomore last season, Mycroft averaged 11.7 ppg, also shooting 53 percent from the field. He also led HHS with 151 rebounds.
Hillsboro lost DJ Brown to graduation, with not only his 12.1 ppg (SCOL) and 11.2 overall ppg, but his leadership, too. Miles believes Mycroft is next to take over that role.
“Philip dedicates himself to the weight room and to his game. He’s going to have to add to his accomplishments from last season as a sophomore when he was our leading scorer and rebounder,” Miles said. “He’s going to add to his game this year. I’m excited to see the year he’s going to have, because he put so much hard work and time into it.
“We are going to go as Philip goes. He’s the anchor of this team, no doubt. We have to have players step up around him. I look to Marshall, Josh, Cameron and Ethan to help out the scoring. They shoot the ball well, and Ty Haithcock is probably the best shooter we have in the program right now. He’s had a good preseason against some tough competition.”
Miles continued to talk about players on the roster who will be needed for the team to improve from last season, with one being Ward, who is currently rehabbing an injury.
“Our returning point guard, Marshall Ward, dealt with an injury. He tore his labrum in his left shoulder and missed all summer with that,” Miles said. “Then this soccer season toward the end, he hurt his right shoulder, so he’s battling back from that and we don’t know when he’ll be back, but we look forward to his progress.
“When he was thrust into the point guard role last year as a sophomore, he struggled early, but he was one who steadily grew as the season progressed and was playing his best basketball toward the end of the year. So I look forward to getting him healthy.
“The guys have showed a willingness to come in and work on their shooting. That is where we stressed with last year that we needed to do better. We had guys coming in at 6 a.m. when school started to work on their shots. They know we have to shoot the ball better because our league is very tough.”
For the Indians to improve on their 8-16 record from one season ago, they’ve made their opponents this preseason challenging to help match what they will see once the regular season begins. HHS ended last season in the sectional semifinals.
“I scheduled our scrimmages with some talented and athletic schools (Northmont, Logan Elm). Those schools emulate the pressure we’ll see playing in our league,” Miles said. “Our early season schedule is tough, starting on the road at Eastern Brown. Our non-conference schedule is tough. Our hope is to get off a good start, because we know with four of our first six games on the road, we will have to grow up fast.
“We have young guys who are back, but it is tough to go on the road and get wins. We’ll have to play our best, and we have to string together good performances on the road to get off to a good start because I feel that is extremely important for our kids … to see success early.”
For the Indians, another part of having success this season will not just be the players on the roster, but the energy given to them from the stands, as Miles mentioned how the team appreciates the community support.
“We have great crowd support, and there is no doubt our student section is the best in the league,” Miles said. “Our student section brings it, and it doesn’t matter if it is a weekday game, they come out to support us. They are key to fueling our success, and we feed off their success and they get very loud. We look forward to seeing them and being a part of that this upcoming season.”