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From the Sports Deskwith Carey Phillips |
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Blue Ridge went through an up and down season in Arnold Nicholson's first year as coach, but regardless of the outcome of the games, it was a year Nicholson enjoyed.
"I knew at the first of the year we'd have a fun team to watch," he said. "The thing that bothered me was having to move people around." A couple of those moves were Jesse Walsh and Jeremy Robinson going from guard to forward. "I knew there would be some matchup problems with teams who had bigger people inside," Nicholson said. Two years ago, the Bobcats were winless. Last season they won just six games so this year's 12-14 mark was a significant improvement. The coach felt the team would do well in the preseason. "I would be very surprised if we got blown out," he said. "I knew we could compete. There really wasn't a game this year that we didn't compete in. They were a great bunch of guys to work with." Blue Ridge was ahead in the fourth quarter in eight of the 14 losses. "We started out pretty strong," Nicholson said. "What really hurt us was when we started getting into the football schools. We just got worn down. I just had eight players on the team, and only six of them had played basketball before." Nicholson said he often had four guards on the floor along with star center Dusty Biller. "When it got down to crunch time on the inside game is where we really got hurt," the coach said. "Our record didn't show it, but as the year went on we got better," he added. "We were getting to the point where we were starting to develop an attitude of winning." One of highlights of the season was a victory over a Rosman team that reached the sectional finals. Blue Ridge had a narrow loss to the Tigers in the other meeting. Other high points Nicholson listed were two wins over the best Nantahala team in years and playing Smoky Mountain tough twice. Disappointments included an overtime loss to Highlands and a loss to Robbinsville. Another low point was a loss to Polk when the Bobcats blew a 15-point halftime lead and missed 19 free throws. Seven of the eight team members were seniors. They were Biller, Robinson, Walsh, Max Lanning, Brandon Henson, Mike McCall and Jeff Larson. "Dusty was the leader," Nicholson said. "He had to learn to play while being the focus of the other teams' defense. He handled that well. He's a real intense ballplayer and a real competitor. He gave me all he had and had a great year." Biller averaged 19.1 points and 8.8 rebounds. "Jeremy had to play the four position," the coach said. "He's just a competitor. Sometimes he guarded the point guard, and sometimes he guarded the center. If Dusty was the leader, Jeremy was the backbone of the team. He led the squad with 2.8 assists while averaging 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds. "Jesse really improved between his junior and senior years," Nicholson said. "He was the second leading scorer. He had played point guard, but I switched him inside. He sometimes had a problem matching up because of his size, but he gave all he had." Walsh averaged 12.6 points and was tops on the team in steals with 2.0 per game. "Max played outside most of the year, but he was versatile enough to play the inside too," the coach said. "He gave us a lot of important minutes. Most of the time he was matched up against their big man. Because of his size, he had a lot of problems getting into foul trouble. He was a key part of our team." "Brandon really learned how to direct the team," Nicholson said. "He's a great three-pointer shooter and did a good job directing the team." "Mike sat out last year and came back this year," the coach said. "He made a big impact on the team this year. Mike's a competitor, and he always seemed to come up with the big play." "Jeff was a transfer from Florida, and this was his first year of high school ball," Nicholson said. "He's very athletic and always gave 110 percent. I wish he could be around another year or two." The lone junior was Jeremy Stewart. "He got a lot of experience this year at point guard," the coach said. "He's a real good defender. With a lot of work in the off season, he can really make an impact next year." With just Stewart returning at point guard, there are a lot of questions about the Bobcats next season. Nicholson is counting on center Carl Stewart and forward Jose Vivas to provide answers as they move up from the JVs. "With a lot of work in the off season, they're going to make a big difference," he said. "We've got a lot of young guys coming up. It's just going to take some time to develop." He said the lack of experience will cause the style to be different next year as the Bobcats will rely more on the basics. |
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