NEPTUNE, NJ–This past week the 2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League wrapped up competition with its showcase round of games. The only team from the Greater Middlesex Conference, the South River Rams were still looking for its first win of the spring in the league.
While the Rams were perhaps the smallest high school team to compete in the league, there are still some issues for a program that will take a hard hit from graduation in June. South River will be losing the likes of Xavier Foster, Gavin Campbell, Tim and Craig Huff, Nick Boyler, and Kyle Majewski from a team that finished tied for second with Dunellen at 10-4 in the expanded eight team Gold Division while putting together an overall mark of 13-14.
South River has made tremendous strides in just two years under the guidance of former standout, Rodney Harris. Although a 24-30 record is still subpar, it is still more victories for the school than in the several years previous combined. The Rams have also reached the state playoffs in each of the past two seasons after not making them since reaching the Central Jersey Group I semifinals back in 2005. True Rome wasn’t built in a day, and there is progress made here that the Rams should be proud of. However, more needs to be done.
The Rams still face some of the many problems they had last spring at the Hoop Group Headquarters. The little things are very important. While they may not always be necessary to beat some of the competition in the Gold, which South River will face again in 2011-12, they are vital when playing up against teams in the Blue, White, or Red Division teams in crossovers or the conference tournament. Let’s also not forget non-conference opponents, especially in state tourney play.
Nobody including myself is looking for South River to beat teams such as Neptune and Asbury Park at this stage. However, if the Rams are going to make inroads as a program, they have to start learning to do the little things, which will help them become more competitive against those bigger foes. Boxing out and rebounding was big achilles heel for this team this Spring. Despite having the likes of big men Tyler Harris and Erick Gomez on the front line, the Rams were consistently victimized by second and third chance opportunities that they gave opponents in games.
In addition, the Rams need to get out of the habit of always trying to block shots, especially against bigger and more athletic players. During the course of the spring, the coaches for South River consistently urged the players to draw charges on the defensive end, but those urgings became cries in the dark. Getting back on defense is also another issue. In the loss to Neptune two weeks ago, the Rams were not getting back on defense, and the Fliers took advantage by putting on a slam dunk display.
Harris, Gomez as well as Tim Darrar had some good moments this spring. Both Harris and Gomez are trying to spread their offensive game to the perimeter to compliment their inside scoring. Harris has shown a good deal of improvement from beyond the arc since the end of this past season. Danny Boychuck played with a lot of pride against Neptune, and was one of the few bright spots in that game as a result. These are some good things to build on along with the fact that the kids are getting to work on next year right away, which is a nice plus that Rodney Harris has brought to the program.
However, the Rams need to use this off-season to work on doing those little things so that they will still be able to compete despite heavy losses to graduation.