BOYS' PREVIEW: Eagles ‘no longer young’ as they build upon 2016-17 experience

South Putnam had an all-underclassman team last year, with many of its major contributors being freshmen and sophomores.

Coach Greg Dean understood that his group would have some growing pains along the way, and it did — starting the season 3-2 before going on a nine-game losing streak and eventually finishing 6-17.

After an outstanding summer of work on both individual skills and in team competitions, Dean knows his team can’t feel sorry for itself about being young.

“We had a very productive summer,” Dean said. “We went into it with that attitude. We increased our competition level, and we wanted to compete more to win.

“In the past, we used everything to work on skill development,” he added. “With everybody back, there was very little where we had to reinsert offensive or defensive principles and philosophies. We finished with a winning record and played a lot of bigger schools, and we were happy with that.”

Leading the returners for the Eagles is 6-5 junior Allen Plunkett, who is much healthier coming into this season after not playing football in the fall.

Plunkett has added muscle to his frame, and looks to improve upon shooting percentages which did not satisfy him last year despite averaging 14.9 points per game.

“Allen had a good summer with us, and he also played in a lot of different things from AAU to college elite camps where he saw a great level of competition,” Dean said. “I think he’s probably as healthy overall as he’s been in a couple of years. He’s feeling pretty good, and he’s regained some athleticism that should add to his ability to put the ball in the hole.

“He has added some weight in the weight room, and I think he’s grown a little bit,” Dean added. “We’ve added an inch or two here and there. I think we’ll be quicker, which will allow us to do some different things defensively. We’ll see if we can get there on the mental end.”

Thomas Fanning, Austin Arnold and Lane Watson all saw time at the guard positions last year, while Wes Lesko is the team’s only senior this year and is a big rebounder in the middle.

Dalton Scott, Steven Schnepp and Kain Gregory also return as experienced frontcourt players.

Several of the football players are still recovering from injuries, Dean noted, but none is serious enough to be of great concern.

“We have some guys who are banged up,” he said. “Everybody is practicing, and we are getting there. We are getting to Saturday [scrimmage against North Vermillion] to play against somebody else.”

The Eagles scored just 45.4 points per game last season, and Dean thinks his team has made improvements in that aspect of the game.

“I think we’re going to score more this year,” he said. “Thomas Fanning had a really good summer, and he should be one of a group of guys who can ease up the scoring load from Allen.

“We have to continue to get better defensively,”Dean added. “That’s going to be vital, especially in the sectional that we have with teams who can put points on the board.”

Dean tries to emphasized the big picture to his players.

“We talk every day about how if we want to do a lot of things and play a certain way, it’s going to take a lot of effort,” he said. “We have to play hard, and go all out. We’ll see if we can continue to play that level of intensity up.”

Having such an experienced group is a benefit, and is giving Dean anticipation for the coming season.

“When you play two years with a lot of freshmen and sophomores, all those guys are still here and back,” he said. “They do have some experience, and I told them at the beginning of the summer that we aren’t going to be able to say we’re young any more. We do have some experience under our belt, and we have to make sure we capitalize on that.”

Dean has not made drastic changes to his alignments on offense or defense, but has used the summer and early practice time to fine-tune what the Eagles did last year.

“The time that it takes to put in is less, so we can just add to what we’ve done,” he said. “We can pick things up quicker, and be more aggressive and intricate in more areas. We are building on things from last year and doing some things we haven’t done in the past.

“There’s a different level of excitement this year, and I think they’re just exited about playing. Summer basketball got them excited, and they’ve been looking forward to this season since th end of June. Basketball season gets here pretty quick, and I’m excited too.”

Except for the injuries to the football players, Dean was thrilled with how several of his players fared in the fall sports season.

Scott and Gregory were key members of the sectional runnerup football team, while Fanning, Arnold and Ty VanSickle were on the sectional championship tennis team and Schnepp was an all-conference cross country runner who advanced to compete in the regional.

“Success breeds success,” he said. “A lot of guys did a lot of good things in the fall, and it gives the guys some confidence. We’re looking for that to carry over onto the basketball court.”

Dean agrees with his colleagues that the graduation of Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese will bring the field closer together in both the county and sectional tourneys, which the Clovers have won for the past several years.

“Everybody has guys who can play, and it’s about as even as it’s been for a while,” he said. “It’s going to be competitive, and we’re going to have to earn everything we get.”

2017-18 roster

Coach: Greg Dean

2016-17 results (6-17)

at Clay City L,45-49

Turkey Run W,55-40

at North Putnam W,43-34

Bethesda Christian L,30-55

Greencastle W,55-44

Southmont L,52-68

Cloverdale L,47-66

at West Vigo L,41-53

Sullivan L,32-55

at Edgewood L,37-77

Northview L,37-51

Cascade L,53-58

Monrovia L,31-52

at Cascade L,37-64

Bloom. Lighthouse W,61-37

Rockville W,65-58

Cloverdale L,45-66

North Putnam L,51-66

at Eminence L,56-64

at Owen Valley L,41-51

North Vermillion W,44-37

at Riverton Parke L,47-51

Sectional

Monrovia {2A} L,40-45

2017-18 schedule

Nov. 21 — Clay City 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 28 — at Turkey Run 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 1 — North Putnam 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 — Eminence 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 8 — at Greencastle 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 12 — at Cloverdale 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 15 — West Vigo 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 29 — vs. Monrovia in Monrovia Tournament, 10:30 a.m.

Dec. 30 — Monrovia Tournament

Jan. 5 — at Sullivan 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 6 — Edgewood 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 — at Northview 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 16 — at Cascade 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 20 — at Monrovia 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 26 — WIC Crossovers

Jan. 27 — Bloomington Lighthouse 6 p.m.

Feb. 1 — at Rockville 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 8 — vs. Greencastle in county tourney at South Putnam, 6 p.m.

Feb. 9 — Consolation/fials

Feb. 16 — Owen Valley 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 17 — at North Vermillion 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 20 — Riverton Parke 7:30 p.m.