By TYLER DRUMMOND
of The Gazette
The Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) boys basketball team got off to a rough start in its 2003-2004 season.
SPASH is at 1-5 (1-3 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference) but it's something that head coach Dan Fink feels can be turned around.
"We have a wonderful group of young men," said Fink. "Their heads are on straight and we all need to work hard at turning this thing around."
If the Panthers want to turn things around, they'll have to look to their senior leadership to help them. The Panthers have four seniors, three juniors and a sophomore in the top eight players this year.
Ted Schlafke, a senior, heads the team this year. Hot off an All-Conference selection last year, Schlafke leads the Panthers this year in scoring with just about 18 points per game.
Jake Gotta, the starting point guard, is another player that the Panthers look to. Gotta leads the team in assists with four-and-a-half assists a game and just about seven points per game.
The two big men that the Panthers have in the post are Tyler Johnson and Andy Menzel. Will Smith, Lucas Elliot and Kris Riggs are the other taller players that are projected to see a lot of action. Riggs is a 6-foot-5-inch sophomore who will have to rely on his height to battle under the boards for rebounds, as well as use his height to play the post and score some easy buckets in the paint.
One thing this team has going for them is that they are not a selfish team by any means, Fink said. "About 75 percent of our baskets are coming off of assists," he said. "That's absolutely unheard of."
Some of the early goals for the Panthers consisted of competing for a conference championship, something that might be relooked with the three early season losses.
"We may need to look at what has happened to us this year so far and figure out where we're heading," said Fink. "We might need to change some team goals and refocus our attention. Three early season losses are going to be tough to overcome but there's nothing but great things that can happen to us the rest of the season."
Some of the reason the Panthers have those three conference losses is because the Valley is a more competitive conference this year than it has been in the past. "Anybody can beat anybody on any given day," said Fink. "There aren't any outstanding players in the conference this year, but there is a lot of great coaching and a lot of great teams that play well together."
One thing that the Panthers have in their favor is that they have the next two weeks off to retool anything that seems to be off. "We get a chance to look back and really work at the things that aren't going well for us this year," said Fink.
Fink is in charge of the Panthers for the fourth year. "I teach seventh-graders over at P.J. Jacobs Junior High and get to coach the high school basketball team. I have the greatest job in the world, and there's never a day I don't want to do my job," said Fink. "It's easy getting out of bed in the morning."