As the West Geauga boys basketball team gets ready for the playoffs, the Wolverines can already be proud of their program's progress this season.
As the West Geauga boys basketball team gets ready for the playoffs, the Wolverines can already be proud of their program’s progress this season.
Last year, first-year head coach Micah Young increased the Wolverines’ win total to 10. This year, as a second-year coach, West G sits at 13-6, a three-game improvement. The Wolverines finished second in the Chagrin Valley Conference, one game behind champion Hawken, whose lone CVC loss came at the hands of the Wolverines.
It’s West G’s first winning record in five years.
“It’s night and day,” Young said. “Last year, everything was brand new. Now we’re just adding onto our base offense. Our defensive principles have stayed the same, but it’s been a big difference this year. I learned a lot, and the team learned a lot.”
Junior Landon Lear is the team’s leading scoring at 20 points per game.
“I feel like we’ve grown a lot, especially since the beginning of last year,” Lear said. “We’re not 100 percent satisfied, but we’ve done well this year.
“We have a lot of fight and the will to win.”
Fellow junior Colin Whiting is the team’s leading rebounder and best defender, according to Young.
“We found our rhythm,” Whiting said. “At 13-6, I will take that. We’ve played well together. With only two seniors, we should be even better next year.”
Carson Weisman is the only senior who starts for West G. He’s the Wolverines’ point guard, leader in assists, and “Mr. Reliable,” as Young calls him.
As successful as this season has been, next year can be even better for Young and the Wolverines.
“The future is very bright,” Young said. “We start two juniors and two sophomores. We play three sophomores.
“We’re not the most athletic team and we’re not the biggest team. This is a blue-collar community. We go out and compete.”
Sophomore Ryan Mobley, who is 6-foot-3, is the tallest player on the team, followed by sophomore Dominic Paros (6-2) and Lear (6-2). There are no 6-8 players or future Big Ten stars on the roster.
“It would be amazing to have a kid like that,” Lear said. “(But) we try to be very fundamental. We do what we can.
“There are some things we can improve on. Every year, we think of beating Chagrin (Falls). We haven’t swept them in years. We want to beat them so bad.”
This season, both teams won at their respective home gyms. Both were close, hard-fought games.
“I feel we’re very fundamentally sound,” Whiting said. “Other teams have to beat us. We don’t turn the ball over. We don’t have a 6-9 kid, but we all want to win and play well together.”
With Young leading the Wolverines and most of its roster returning next season, the future is bright for West G.
“I feel like he’s done a great job as our coach,” Whiting said. “He knows what to do, and we’ve improved a lot. All of our coaches have done a great job.”
