New coach, different style of play and a fresh-faced varsity make for a Comets this season.
The boys team, coming off their first tournament win in five years, will have a lot of new faces. Many senior departures gives first year head coach Don Schenz a chance to mold a young and exciting team.

Practicing for almost a month now, Schenz is pleased with what he has seen so far.
“They are getting better,” Schenz said. “Something we preach to them, whether practice or open gym, is to get better every day.”

The system they are using is similar to the one former coach Chet Feldman used, but Schenz said they are building upon that and changing a few things.

One big change will how the scoring will come about. Last year, there was a heavy dose of alumnus Josh Sasinouski, who had a knack for putting on an offensive show night in and night out. This year anyone could be a threat according to Schenz.

“The nice thing about the group, we don't have (a player like Josh), but we have eight to 10 guys that could score 10 points,” he said.

The team only has three seniors on the squad, but two of those players, Jimmy Conner and Steve Deckert, were big components of last year’s team and will help lead the way for the younger players.

“Jimmy and Steve have shown a lot of leadership and been vocal in practice,” Schenz said.
Two juniors that will see their roles expanded this season are Traynell Brown and Jake Frounfelker. Brown, a point guard, showed signs last season he has the ability to conduit the offense. Frounfelker was a outside threat last season off the bench, but will need to be more consistent this season.

There are several sophomores that also will be getting plenty of time on the court. Desmond Jacobs, Steve Ilijevich and Alex Tackett have all made good impressions in practice so far.
“We’ve got a nice problem of being deep, lots of guys are going to see some varsity playing time this year,” Schenz said. “It’s exciting for us.”

To make up for the team’s lack of size, Comet fans should expect a lot of up tempo basketball. If they can harness that style of play by the time league play begins, they should be able to accomplish their goal of being in the top half of the conference. 

Another goal, at least 12 wins for the season, will come down to fixing a problem of a year ago - winning games they should.

“There were several games we lost last year that we had no business losing,” he said.
Besides a team that has welcomed the new coaching staff, Schenz was happy that two of the coaches from last year, varsity assistant Mark Liendecker and junior varsity coach Kiel Cox.
“We have young, real energetic staff, and are thrilled to have them coaching,” Schenz said.
The team will open with Marlington on Dec. 5, which Schenz said will be a good test because they are a physical team which will challenge the running up and down attitude the Comets will bring.