John Raffel
Sports Scene
It’s basically a repeat of 2010. The Ithaca Yellow Jackets boys basketball team is playing catch up after starting late because of the accomplishments of the football squad that went to the state finals over Thanksgiving weekend and brought home a first-place trophy.
Despite the late start a year ago, the Yellow Jackets won their district and advanced to the regional title game, which is a scenario that coach James Thompson wouldn’t mind seeing again. Eight of the 12 players on the roster played football and all five of the starters were on the state title-winning team.
The starters are David Brown, Luke Rayburn, Charles Schnetzler, Jake Greene, and Lucas Slater.
Ithaca was able to delay the start of its regular season. Instead of starting December 9, the team tipped off December 13 with an 82-46 win over St. Charles in which Slater had 17 points. The team then had a 46-35 victory over Valley Lutheran, with Schnetzler scoring 14 points.
After starting the season 2-0, the Yellow Jackets were handed their first loss of the season by Alma, 59-49. Schnetzler scored 13 points in that defeat. By mid-January, Ithaca was 6-2 overall and 6-0 in the league. Jake Greene scored 22 points in that game.
“We moved our first game,” Thompson said, noting that he and athletic director Terry Hessbrook, who is also the football coach, decided to make that move. “In September, we were able to move our first game to a holiday showcase. If we had played that opening game, we would have had only seven practices. With moving the game, we were able to have nine practices. If we wouldn’t have moved that first game, we would have had just seven practices.
“We played well against St. Charles and gutted the win against Valley Lutheran. Against Alma, at Alma College, we’re struggling to shoot the ball right now. The two things in basketball that are the last two things to come are your legs and your shot. They kind of come hand-to-hand. To shoot the basketball, you have to have your shots. Hopefully during the break, we’ll get it.”
Thompson noted that he has outstanding athletes on his team.
“We need time to play together and get in a basketball mode,” he said. “Right now, we’re still struggling to find our shot and our stride. I’ve coached a lot of these kids for four years. They’re a lot of fun to be around. It’s a matter of getting in basketball shape right now.”
Thompson recalls when his team finally got into the basketball mode last year.
“We won about 12 in a row and beat every team in the league the second half. Coming back from Christmas, they’re off school a week and half, and they’re practicing for an hour and a half and have a lot of down time,” he said. “They recharged their batteries at Christmas break. We didn’t make any excuses last year for our situation. We don’t have anyone hurt this year. Last year, we went into the season with two starters who didn’t play until after Christmas. We should be in 100 percent basketball mode.”
Brown and Schnetzler started all the games after coming back from their respective injuries.
Ithaca wound up with an 18-7 record last season.
“There’s a ton of experience on this team,” Thompson said. “We have a very tough district with Beal City and Montabella. We’re not even thinking about that now. We’re thinking about winning the league. Our first two games were league games.”
Schnetzler has been leading the team in points and Slater in rebounds. But Thompson likes the depth he has in rebounding and scoring.
“You got such a good group of kids that it will be a well-balanced team,” Thompson said.