(Atlantic) The Atlantic boys basketball team is on a roll as of late. The Trojans carry a three-game winning streak into a home game with St. Albert on Friday night.
One of the most impressive stats showing up in the three wins is defense. The Trojans have held their last three opponents (Red Oak, Harlan, and Creston) to an average of 48-points. The Trojans’ 52.5 points allowed per game over the entire season rank 24th in Class 3A.
“It’s a group effort,” said Atlantic Head Coach Jeff Ebling. “We don’t do anything differently than a lot of other teams, and it has a lot to do with rebounding. We don’t give teams a lot of second opportunities, which puts a lot of pressure on teams to score on their first attempts. Another key is making sure we’re over-communicating on the defensive end. When we do that, we can be one of the tougher defensive teams around.”
Offensively, it’s up for grabs which player will come up with the big shot. Senior Skyler Handlos is the Trojans most prolific scorer averaging 17-points per game. Still, there are others, like post player Ethan Williams, who led the team in scoring against Creston with 19-points, after logging just six minutes of playing time in a recent outing. And others like Grant Sturm, averaging seven points per game, splashing down a three to put the Trojans up for good in that same game, or Craig Alan Becker’s only shot of the contest, goes in from long-range with less than one minute to play, making it a two-possession game. Not to mention the steady hand of Dayton Templeton, Ethan Sturm’s long-range shooting ability, and Keaton Juhl, who knocked down two threes in the fourth quarter against Red Oak. Garrett Reynolds, who leads the team in rebounding with 72, has had some big scoring nights as well, and athletic sophomore Caden Andersen is earning more playing time each night out.
“This makes us hard to prepare for when teams try and take one thing away; we have two or three other guys on any given night who can step up and give us a boost,” said Ebling. “Practice has become very competitive, and the players are getting more comfortable with each other. Not having an offseason this summer due to COVID made it difficult. We didn’t have the opportunity to work together. It may have taken us a little bit longer to find our groove this season, but happy we’re finding it now, and hopefully we can continue to play good basketball and get a few more wins.”
The Trojans face a tough test against St. Albert on Friday night. The Falcons are 5-1 against conference opponents as of late, with wins over Kuemper, Red Oak twice, Harlan, and Denison. Their only loss during that run was to Glenwood 58-50.
“St. Albert plays aggressively with multiple defensive schemes,” said Ebling. “We’ll need to read and react to whatever defense they throw at us. Offensively we need to attack the rim to have success against this team.”
Offensively Sam Rallis is averaging 15-points per game, and Carter White, 13. Coach Ebling says it starts with Sam Rallis. “He is a left-handed slasher- finishes around the rim extremely well, and averages 4.5 steals per game,” stated Ebling. “He is long, lengthy, and athletic and causes a lot of havoc. Carter White is another one. He is a tremendous shooter, with a rapid release, who knocks down almost 40-percent of his long-range shots.”
Ebling says the others are role players, including Cy Patterson, Connor Cerney, and Greg Fagan. “Fagan plays the post. He has done a tremendous job playing physical inside. He is not the tallest guy on the floor on any given night, but he competes at a high level. We need to do our best to limit his touches.”
We will have the girl’s and boy’s games on 95.7 F.M. The girl’s game tips off at 6:00 p.m. with the boy’s game to follow.
