Flyers try to get on winning track, overcome injuries
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St. Joseph Flyers
Coming up
at Gonzales Tournament, Friday and Saturday
Corpus Christi Incarnate Word Academy, 8 p.m., Tuesday
at San Antonio Christian, 8 p.m., Dec. 11
at Giddings State, 1 p.m., Dec. 12
The St. Joseph Flyers already had their work cut out for them. Injuries to key players to start the year won't make it any easier.
But luckily for head coach Stan Platz, the games aren't as important right now. He said getting the team to work together and in the swing of basketball is.
The Flyers are tasked with replacing last year's top scorers Clark Pantel and Kier Wells, who graduated. On top of that, much of the team is new, which Platz said has the potential to be good after the Flyers went 11-22 in 2008-2009.
"We're really athletic right now," he said. "We just really need to get those skills in place."
Some of the new additions to the team come from football, like Hayden Vesely and Steven Martinez. Others like Braden Blanton have been brought up from junior varsity.
Since he's come up, Platz said Blanton has ratcheted up his play to varsity level and is probably improving the fastest of any player.
"I feel like my shot has been falling," Blanton said. "I like the way the team is coming together. We just need to close out games."
Wherever they're coming from, Platz is looking for them to step up and fill the void. But it's been challenging with players like Vesely and Luke Dornak missing time because of injuries.
"We've got some injured guys out right now and once we get a couple of them back I think it will be looking a lot better," he said.
The Flyers (0-2) have struggled in their initial outings against Goliad and Flatonia, and Platz said that after strong starts the team usually ends up running out of gas because of their shorthanded status.
"Trying to play eight people against a fresh team, it's going to wear you down," Platz said. "And we're not really in basketball shape right now."
To counter the problem and get the team in shape, Platz has the players spend extra time running and conditioning. But even with conditioning, he said the shear number of games being played at this time of year makes it difficult for the team to find a rhythm.
"You can't really catch a break," he said.
The Flyers will play a tournament and three games over the next week, looking to improve their record. Platz said although the schedule is rigorous, it can help teamwork develop quickly.
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Your point guard and several sophs have grade issues. The program is small in size and numbers. The program has lost a lot of quality players to football and baseball. I don't see Vesley as a major injury considering he hasn't played since his freshman year.
December 5, 2009 at 10:26 p.m.much better in district they did not make the play offs*
December 4, 2009 at 11:01 p.m.STJ has no where to go but up from here, and replacing players should not be a problem Ryan Williams will be the player to watch athletic beyond means. Not having a set point guard will hurt but Kion Wells has the potential to be a top district point guard, and they have plenty of good players in the sophomore class. Luke Dornak is key to wins, if he wouldn't have gotten hurt last year the team would've faired much better in the playoffs. He is a dominate post player averaged close to 20 points and 10 rebounds before he got hurt.
December 4, 2009 at 10:56 p.m.