This year, Triway boys basketball wants to finish what it starts
Last season Triway’s boys basketball team finished 21-3 but had its regional appearance wiped out by the coronavirus. This year the Titans are looking to defend their Principals Athletic Conference title under fourth-year head coach Ben Holt, middle in black shirt.
The title of the 2019-20 Triway basketball team’s outstanding season could be called “Unfinished Business.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Titans never got the chance to face Lutheran East in the Div. II Canton Regional.
The OHSAA tournament was postponed and later canceled, leaving many athletes and coaches including the Titans to ponder “what if” for decades to come.
Fourth-year Triway coach Ben Holt took some time to let the bittersweet year sink in but soon turned his attention to developing this season’s Triway team.
“We’ve moved on,” Holt said. “We talked about last year among ourselves or in quiet quarters, but now it’s a new season. It’s the same expectation: to win and play the way we’re supposed to.”
The Titans will have a lot of new faces, and the few returnees will have to quickly assume bigger roles.
Triway lost 77% of its scoring from a team that finished with a 21-3 record including a perfect 12-0 run in the Principals Athletic Conference. The biggest losses are the graduation of Chance Wells (18.2 points a game), Kyle Sturgin (9.8) and Bryce Biggs (9.4).
The guards will likely carry the 2020-21 Titans with junior Channer Wells, sophomore Zack Miller and senior Colton Snyder the top returnees.
The 6-foot-1 Wells averaged 6 points a game, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists last year; 5-8 Miller added 4.9 points a game; and 5-8 Snyder chipped in 1.2 points.
“Guard play is our strength,” said Holt, whose team was scheduled to open its season at Northwestern on Nov. 27. “Channer Wells is starting for the third-straight year, and we have the experience of Colton Snyder starting and coming off the bench. Zack Miller played a lot of minutes as a freshman and was a key contributor.
“These guys played in a district final (51-37 win over No. 2 seed Louisville) and prepared for our regional. They have a lot of experience, and we need them to share it among the others and make sure we are able to build them and bring them along.”
The rest of the varsity lineup includes seniors Derek Bishko (6-3) and Ty Durbin (6-1), junior Kale Miller (6-2), sophomore Riley Gumber (5-11), and freshmen Cale Drown (5-10) and Drew Bishko (5-11).
“I think we’re a team that over the course of several months, if we are able to play (without a COVID interruption or cancellation), is going to continue to get better,” Holt said. “We have some green guys that haven’t been out there on the floor on varsity, but with what we’ve seen in practices and scrimmages, we like the growth that we’ve seen. It might not always be consistent right now, but as we get closer to the end of the season, I think you’re gonna see it come together.”
Holt and his coaching staff were able to start at a more advanced level with last year’s team, but it can be rewarding in ways that go beyond wins and losses working with an inexperienced squad.
“It’s great for us as coaches, but even better for the players because they start seeing the fruits of their labor come to fruition,” Holt said. “Through the practices, the ups and downs, and finally they’ll see that consistent piece, but the standards are the same, whether we have everybody back or only two or three guys that have played varsity. These guys have bought in to the culture that we want to have. We see it every day in practice and through our leadership, and that’s what we’re really happy about.”
Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AaronDorksen.