SHELBY — Shelby boys basketball coach Greg Gallaway wants to make one thing perfectly clear.
The Whippets are 100% OK with their current predicament.
WARRIORS CRUISING: Young Ontario squad playing well beyond years during 11-0 start
Advertisement
That is, after a football season that saw most of his basketball players spend 16 weeks in season, making a run to a Division IV state runner-up finish and causing several early-season basketball games to be backed up to the point the Whippets have to play 22 basketball games in exactly two months and having to start the season in late December when most teams have already been playing for nearly a month.
All of that is just fine.
“People look at it as such a challenging difficulty, and it is, but this is something we are perfectly OK with,” Gallaway said. “What we can do with our multi-sport athletes, we want them to have success in the fall because we feel like that will carry over into the winter and spring. We understand it might be a slow start for us, but we are willing to sacrifice that every single year here at Shelby. That speaks to the coaches in the district, the administration and our kids.”
The Whippets did get out to a slow start going 1-2 in their first three games with losses to Ontario and Galion, but since then, they have four straight wins including their latest, a 63-46 nonconference win over Upper Sandusky on Tuesday night.
Advertisement
Brayden DeVito scored 26 points in the win while Michael Shepherd had 10 and Gavin Miller added eight to lead the Whippets in scoring during a game where they outscored Upper 36-21 in the second half.
The transition from a long football season to basketball season has been a rocky road, but the Whippets understand they are far from a finished product.
“We are still making it,” DeVito said. “We still aren’t the team everyone will see in late January and into February. All our guys played football, so we had a late start compared to some teams that started Nov. 1. Our second game of the season, we played a team with eight wins already. We are acclimating and making the strides we need to.”
That was shown in their last four games where they pulled off a close win over Highland, 66-63, before routing Pleasant 70-51, Lexington 70-49 and Upper Sandusky by 17. Other than a late start due to football, a key reason for the slow start to the year was because DeVito strained his Achillies during a preseason scrimmage and missed the first three games. He has been lights out since he returned, averaging 25 points per game.
Advertisement
“We know this isn’t a finished product by any means,” DeVito said. “The fact we are starting to do what we are doing now is exciting despite not playing our best. We will be there in the end.”
Shelby’s Kayden Paz looks to score in the paint during the Whippets’ 63-46 win over Upper Sandusky on Tuesday night.
Shelby coaching finding new ways to teach amid hectic schedule
The Whippets have entered a stretch where they will end up with 12 games in the month of January averaging three games per week with six of them on the road including four straight starting Jan. 9.
“If we are lucky, we have one and maybe two practices to prepare for an opponent,” DeVito said. “We learn the scout and try to get a quick practice in. Our four seniors have done a great job of getting the team to turn the page from football and not letting anything affect our basketball mindset.”
Advertisement
There isn’t much time for teaching during practices when most of it is used for game prep, so the Shelby coaches are getting creative.
“As a staff this year, we have been a lot more intentional with what we are doing and making sure everything we do in practice has a reason,” Gallaway said. “It has to make sense. We teach by putting them through live reps, so we do a lot of that in practice and define moments to coach them up. We aren’t doing much install and walk through stuff as much as we are just competing. There have been coaching moments during games because we haven’t had those practices.”
Shelby senior Landon Foltz, who is among the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leaders in scoring, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, assists, steals and blocks, has never seen a practice schedule like the one he is witnessing during his senior year as a four-time varsity letterman.
“It is honestly a lot of playing in practice,” Foltz said. “We are getting good shots up and going up and down the court against JV and our bench guys. The best way to learn basketball is to just play.”
Advertisement
So, the Whippets are playing. And playing a lot. They have already had seven games in 19 days and put together a 5-2 record. They will end January with 16 games played and will get six more in from Feb. 3-19.
“It is a challenge, I can’t lie,” Gallaway said. “Even when you bring back returning starters and letterwinners, it does help make that transition smooth, but you need that practice time in the gym. We haven’t had many opportunities to do that, but the message to our guys is that any opportunity we get, whether it is a shoot around, film session or lifting, we need to make sure we grow in those aspects as a team. We are doing that and making strides.”
Foltz can see those strides.
“It was definitely hard with all of the different movement in a completely different game,” Foltz said. “You can’t be as physical in basketball as you can in football and that has led to me getting in foul trouble too much, but we are adapting well.
Advertisement
“I was definitely sore. Those first few games, there was a lot of heavy breathing after the first quarter and a lot of Jello legs, but we are getting our legs under us and we are starting to play some good basketball at the right time.”
Gallaway almost sees the hectic basketball schedule as a blessing more than a curse. Instead of the mundane routine of practicing for four days, playing a game, shoot around on Saturdays, off on Sundays, rinse and repeat, the Whippets can be on the court in front of their fans keeping interest peaked at an all-time high.
“It is tough with 16-year-old kids to have a focus four straight days during the week and expect them to go play at a high level on Friday,” Gallaway said. “There is a sense that we like being in game mode all the time. Our guys are getting healthier by playing games and are getting their conditioning in. I am so happy with the transition we are making.”
After winning four straight, the Whippets are finding their stride which could lead to a very interesting second half of the season.
jfurr@usatodayco.com
740-244-9934
X: @JakeFurr11
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Shelby Whippets playing well despite late start to basketball season