Boys basketball
Sweet Home ready for another journey
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home's Terrell Rankin returns after missing most of last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Photo by Joe Eberle

After falling by seven points to Peekskill in last year's Class A state finals, Sweet Home's ultimate goal this season is to head back to Glens Falls and win it all.

But in a higher sectional class, (AA) and without two of its best players (Quentin Hudson and Daniel Joseph graduated), the journey back is going to be much more difficult.

"I think the experience of getting there last year had such a positive impact on the kids," said Sweet Home coach Paul Schintzius. "I'm sure all of the returning players would love to make it again. (A state title) is our end goal but there's certainly a lot of work that has to be done in the interim."

Schintzius' players seem to have high expectations.

"We're looking to go to Glens Falls but it's real early to say that," said senior guard Eric Schnirel. "We moved up in class so now we're going to have to play Niagara Falls so it's a lot bigger test but we know where we have to go."

"Our goal is to make it back to Glens Falls and finish some unfinished business," added senior forward Glenroy Carr.

"We don't want to go one year and not the other," said senior guard Terrell Rankin.

Rankin, Carr, and Schnirel are among Schintzius' top seven players this year. Also on the list are seniors Steven Roberts, Earl Jackson, and Josh Parker, and junior Ali Ramadan. No starters were chosen as of this writing.

Rankin (6-foot-2, 205-pounds) returns after missing almost all of last year with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Rankin, ECIC I Player of the Year as a sophomore, also severely sprained an ankle during summer league games but according to him is ready to go.

"I'm feeling pretty much back to normal," said Rankin. "I'm really excited and looking forward to the season. I can't wait."

Carr (6-foot-6, 200-pounds) started almost every game at power forward last year and earned ECIC Division I Honorable Mention. This year, he should be the starting center.

"Last year, he was able to play in the shadow of Daniel Joseph," said Schintzius. "Daniel did a lot of the dirty work which enabled Glenroy to be the beneficiary of offensive rebound putback baskets. It's going to be interesting to see how he handles it without his partner down there."

Schnintzius said Schnirel, also a returning ECIC I Honorable Mention, is the heart and soul of the team.

"He's by far our toughest guy," he added. "He's a scrappy, tenacious defender. If I had to describe him as an animal, he would be a pit bull. He never backs down from anything. He's a throwback player. The bigger the possession is, the more he wants the ball. If it was a tie game with a minute to go and the other team's best guy has the ball, he's going to want to guard that guy. He's kind of a coach's dream and an unselfish kid."

"Last year Quentin and Daniel were the go-to guys," said Schnirel. "Now I have to step into that go-to guy role along with Glenroy and Terrell."

Ramadan saw a lot of playing time as a sophomore and has a knack for scoring around the net, Schintzius said.

"He hustles and brings high energy," said Schintzius. "He's a tenacious rebounder offensively and defensively and runs the floor well."

Roberts, 5-foot-4, grew three inches since last year, but is only 110 pounds. He should replace Hudson at the point.

"Of all our personnel he has the best basketball IQ," said Schintzius. "What he doesn't have in stature he makes up for in intelligence. He knows where people should be on the floor and thinks one play ahead of the game."

Parker will come off the bench as a three-point shooter and on-ball defender and Jackson should start at some point at off-guard.

Other seniors returning are Allen Douglas and Jarell Tallington. Juniors Travis Denman, Marcus Johnson, Brian Pappagallo, Richard Rush and Jamel Werts move up from JV.

Schintzius said he doesn't know if his team performs any one skill well but he hopes they will be defensive-minded.

"We take pride on our defense as a program and our kids believe now that we're going to be hard to score upon," said Schintzius. "When the other team scores on us, and when it's an easy basket like a layup, it really bothers them."

Sweet Home, 21-6 last year, opens in its own tip-off tournament with Niagara-Wheatfield at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday. The winner plays Williamsville East or Grover Cleveland on Saturday.

"Every season is a journey," said Schintzius. "Whether you're expected to be good or bad or anything in between, I think you get what the players put into it."

"Our goal is to be the best basketball team we can be and get better every day," he added. "If it's good enough, it's good enough. If it's not, we're certainly going to leave it all out on the floor."

Sweet Home

2006-07 Schedule 11-30 Sweet Home Tip-off Tournament - Niagara-Wheatfield 7:45 p.m. 12-2 Sweet Home Tip-off Tournament - vs. East or Grover Cleveland, consolation (6 p.m.) and finals (7:45 p.m.) 12-5 W.S. West.............. 7:30 p.m. 12-7 Clarence ............... 7:30 p.m. 12-12 Jamestown ......... 7:30 p.m. 12-15 MMA/ECIC Challenge at St. Mary's of Lancaster - St. Joe's TBA 12-20 at Orchard Park 7:30 p.m. 12-27 Ken-Ton Holiday Tourn. at Ken. East - vs. Ken. East ... TBA 12-28 Ken-Ton Holiday Tourn. at Ken. East (consolation, championship) vs. Ken. West or O'Hara TBA 1-5 North....................... 7:30 p.m. 1-11 at Lancaster ......... 7:30 p.m. 1-16 at Frontier............ 7:30 p.m. 1-19 at Clarence........... 7:30 p.m. 1-25 at Jamestown ...... 7:30 p.m. 1-30 at W.S. West ......... 7:30 p.m. 2-1 Orchard Park......... 7:30 p.m. 2-2 Hall of Fame game - Hamburg, following ceremony ............ TBA 2-6 Frontier................... 7:30 p.m. 2-8 at North .................. 7:30 p.m. 2-14 Lancaster.............. 7:30 p.m.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com