Returning players take on bigger roles as the rebuild continues

GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL PREVIEW

It’s unknown how far the rebuilding process of Gilman’s boys basketball program will progress in the 2021-22 season in terms of wins and losses at the varsity level, but an important step is taking place with a spike in participation numbers.

The overall program roster has jumped from nine to 16, allowing the Pirates to again field two teams. That’s something they couldn’t do last year in a 1-16 campaign where Gilman got outstanding play from its senior star Andrew Hecker but had very little experience around him and opponents took full advantage of that youth in the Pirates’ lineup.

“It really is big,” second-year head coach Bobbi Marion said Monday. “It’s going to give those freshmen some of that playing time they definitely need. It will allow some of our younger players from last year that didn’t get a whole lot of playing time to actually see some playing time and get on the court. It will help them develop into a varsity team now. We’re looking forward. We have some good eighth graders coming in (next year), so we’re looking at really being able to start building something.”

Gilman tipped off its new season Tuesday with a 68-22 home loss to Loyal in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference opener for both teams. The Pirates visit ECC contender Neillsville Friday before hosting Colby on Dec. 9 with a 7:15 p.m. tip time for the varsity game.

Marion and first-year assistant Phil Tallman know replacing all that Hecker meant to the team won’t be easy. But it will force those who return to the varsity to take ownership in what happens on the floor and, especially for the older guys, give them a chance to turn into leaders. That development is something the coaches are excited to see happen. Kevin Lechleitner is the JV coach.

“It will force some of these guys that were willing to step back in (Hecker’s) shadow step out now and become their own players. I think it will be good,” Marion said.

Five returning players from last year’s varsity figure to make up the core of Gilman’s roster this winter, starting with senior Zack Marion and junior Branden Ustianowski. Marion should be Gilman’s leader inside and enters his third season on the varsity roster. Ustianowski figures to be the leader among Gilman’s guards after lettering last year and getting a few varsity minutes as a freshman. Sophomores Caleb Marion and Dalton Wisocky worked their way into being key players in the second half of last season and senior Gabe Brunner will be another key guard in the rotation.

“We have Zack coming back this year and Branden who we’re putting in leadership roles,” Bobbi Marion said. “We’re definitely going to miss Andrew. We’re looking to maybe spread that scoring out to a lot of our guys. We have Caleb and Dalton who are sophomores this year and saw some varsity time last year. Looking for them to step into that role. They have that first year under their belts, so looking for the some big things from them as well.

“With Zack coming in as our senior, we’re really looking to put the pressure on him as far as being a leader out there on the floor,” she added. “He’s definitely the most experienced player we have out there. We have Branden Ustianowski who is a junior this year. We’re putting some pressure on him as far as being our leader for bringing up the ball. He’s going to be our key ball handler. We’re also looking at him for some outside shots. He passed up a lot of shots last year, so we’re looking at him to step into that role as our shooter out there.”

Other potential varsity contributors, at least early on, that Marion mentioned include senior Bryce Chovan and freshmen Joey Syryczuk, Trevor Vick and Brayden Olynick. Dominic Franzen, Kamdyn Thompson and Donovin Konecny are first-year seniors in the program. Chovan got a handful of varsity minutes as a sophomore. Offensively, the first challenges for Gilman will be reducing last year’s turnover totals and finding scoring as Hecker accounted for about 20 of Gilman’s 33 points per game during the COVID-shortened 2020 21 season. “Our press break is something we’ve struggled with in the past,” coach Marion said. “It’s something we’ve been working on. Branden will be our key ball handler, but we’re also looking for Dalton, Joey, Bryce and Gabe to be up in there too. Gabe’s ball handling has really improved this year so we’re kind of looking at him to help take some of that pressure off of Branden.” The Marion brothers will give Gilman a physical presence in the paint and are expected to be the Pirates’ top rebounders.

Defensively, Marion said the Pirates will be trying some different things to start the year.

“Last year, we ran a lot of the 1-3-1,” she said. “Again without Andrew that’s going to change. We’re actually looking at playing a little bit more man this year and probably some more of the 2-3 zone. We don’t have a real deep bench yet as far as experience goes. But we’re definitely looking to play a little more man, get a little more pressure on the ball. Branden will be our key defender on top putting some pressure on the ball and helping get those early turnovers for us. We’ll also have Dalton up there. He’s become a lot more aggressive this year and really getting after it.”

The Pirates went 0-14 in conference play last winter and got their only win in a non-conference game at Cornell, a team they’ll visit again this year on Jan. 6. Marion’s guess was that Columbus Catholic and Neillsville, who went 13-1 and 12-2 respectively in league play last year, will be at the top as usual. Then after that it could be a scramble. Greenwood had a solid 2020-21 season at 10-4 in the ECC and 17-7 overall, while Owen-Withee (77), Colby (6-8) and Loyal (6-8) were in the middle of the ECC pack.

“I think players lose that valuable JV experience as a freshman, not getting that confidence,” Marion said of her young players being pressed into varsity duty last winter. “It’s hard coming in as a freshman playing varsity against junior and seniors that are at the level. They were kind of getting knocked down in every game. It’s a little defeating, but I think that experience they’ll bring into this and build on it. Caleb and Dalton, they kind of rotated that starting position last year have really come in a little bit more confident. They have that experience and know what to expect a little bit more.

“It will be an interesting season. It’s exciting. We’re definitely still building the program. But there are definitely improvements this year with all of our players ... Hopefully we can pull out more wins this year or at least create some closer games. Our main goal is keeping those games closer, keeping our turnovers down and putting some points on the board.”