Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009

East hopes to build on last year's strong basketball run

Lancers advanced to super-sectional

BELLEVILLE -- Belleville East is determined to build on its amazing playoff run of last season that carried it to the super-sectional.

But third-year coach Ray Hoffman has offered the Lancers a sobering message.

"Early in the season here, they're so enthusiastic," Hoffman said. "They want to be right back at that level where we ended last season.

"I've had to get them to realize, 'Guys, it's the start of a new season. We have to approach things differently. We're not the same team. We've got different strengths, different weaknesses. We've got to back off that a little bit.' But they're excited and ready to go."

The Lancers shared the Southwestern Conference championship with Edwardsville last season, finishing 22-9 overall and 11-3 in the league. East then knocked off O'Fallon, Belleville West, Edwardsville and Quincy to reach the Class 4A Normal Super-Sectional, where it lost to (Harvey) Thornton 71-44.

The sectional title for the Lancers was their first since 1996.

"We've got a solid five that I'm confident in," Hoffman said. "They all have some varsity experience and they played in a lot of big games last year. All of them got super-sectional experience, so we're looking for them to provide that leadership on the court."

The Lancers, who open the season against Vashon at 6 p.m. Monday in the Alton Tip-Off Classic, will be led by 5-foot-8 junior point guard Sean Pettiford, 6-3 senior forward Thomas Poston, 6-2 senior foward/center Ariell "Stretch" Coleman, 6-0 senior guard Clarence Goldthree and 6-0 senior guard Joe Gilmore.

Pettiford replaces his graduated brother, Kevin, at the point after spending last season at shooting guard. Sean Pettiford averaged 6.2 points per game last season and ranked second behind his brother with 105 assists.

"We're going to miss Kevin's leadership, but Sean's been around a while," Hoffman said. "He's developed into a good shooter. He can guard and he's a great leader on the floor. He's going to get his first taste of becoming a court general for us, and I think he's going to do a nice job."

Poston will be the Lancers' most experienced player in the paint, where East will miss the physical presence of Warren Herring, a Wisconsin football recruit who won't play basketball this season.

Poston averaged 10.1 points and 6.9 rebounds last season, shooting 60 percent from the field (115-for-191).

"We got him in the weight room," Hoffman said. "He's put on a little bit of weight and he's grown a little bit. We're looking for big things out of him."

Coleman averaged 5.5 points and 3.7 rebounds and became a key cog midway through the season when Hoffman boosted his playing time.

"He's strong," Hoffman said. "He's probably gained 15 or 20 pounds. He can get up and down the floor. He's a true leader on the floor and he's one of our hardest workers in practice. He's just one of those kids that wants the team to succeed. He's willing to run through a wall for his team and his coaches."

Hoffman said Goldthree is playing harder and leaping high, which could help the undersized Lancers in the rebounding department. Goldthree averaged seven points and 2.7 rebounds last year.

"He's a lot stronger and his vertical jump has greatly improved --as well as his ballhandling and shooting," Hoffman said. "We're looking for big things out of him."

Gilmore scored a career-high 11 points, all in the third quarter, of the Lancers' 76-62 victory over Quincy in the championship game of the Pekin Sectional. Gilmore was a virtual unknown during the regular season.

"We're looking for him to do a lot of scoring," Hoffman said.

Hoffman predicts the Lancers will be balanced on offense.

"Last year, everybody pretty much knew Kevin was the guy," Hoffman said. "That's one thing I like about these guys. Any one of those (first) five can put up 20 points any night. And any one of those five can put up two (points) any night, depending on what teams do to us. It's our versatility that might allow us to have some success."

Other players include 6-3 senior Marquis Kilborn, 5-9 junior Darnell Stevenson, 6-1 junior Kiren Williams and 6-2 freshman Malcolm Hill.

"Our depth is OK. I'm not real concerned about that," Hoffman said. "The first five are good and we've got two or three guys behind them who are just as good or adequate, so we're pretty excited going in."

Given their lack of height, the Lancers plan to push the ball.

"We've got some speed, so we're going to try to make teams do it our way," Hoffman said.