High school basketball preview: Eisenhower Tigers (+video)
Schedule
December – 4, Campus; 8, at Salina Central; 11, Arkansas City; 15, at Andover Central; 18, Dodge City.
January – 5, Andover; 8, at Valley Center; 12, Maize South; 19, at Maize (G); 19-22, at Spring Hill tournament (B); 22, at Goddard (G); 26, at Maize (B); 28-30, at Emporia tournament (G); 29, at Goddard (B).
February – 2, Derby; 5, at Arkansas City; 9, Andover Central; 16, at Andover; 19, Valley Center; 23, at Maize South; 26, Goddard.
Boys
Coach: Steve Blue, fifth season
Last season: 10-12
Top players
Matt Pile, 6-8, jr., F
Jack Taliaferro, 6-3, sr., F
Sonny Brown, 6-1, sr., G
Fast-place play is nothing new at Eisenhower, and Blue said he wants more of the same this year. However, when an offense pushes the ball, it translates into more possessions for both teams, and Blue has seen a troubling byproduct of the system surrounding his program in recent years.
“It seems like we’ve given up a few more points every season,” he said. “The major thing we need to improve on is our man-to-man defense. We can’t keep seeing that number go up.”
Eisenhower gave up 56 points per game a year ago, and Blue said he’d like to see that number drop below 50. The pressure will fall on the defensive end, because the Tigers won’t let up on their offensive game plan.
“We still want to push on offense, but at the same time there’s no reason we can’t stop a guy from coming into the paint or getting a rebound,” Blue said. “And we know on offense if we can’t run, we can get it inside.”
Pile remains as an established presence under the basket as a 6-foot-8 junior and the team’s top returning scorer. He’ll have capable shooters on the perimeter with seniors Taliaferro and Brown, who are trustworthy ball handlers with the experience to contribute on both sides of the court.
Girls
Coach: Joe Blasi, fifth season
Last season: 8-13
Top players
Mallory Miller, 5-8, jr., PG
Jaden Damon, 5-7, jr., G
Macy Omli, 5-7, so., G
Plenty of playing time will open up on a team that lost five seniors to graduation. But the girls ready to fill those spots are led by some talented underclassmen.
“We’re fairly inexperienced, but we’ve got three player returning who are solid and athletic,” Blasi said. “The issue we’ll have to deal with is there’s no height.”
At 5-foot-8, Miller is the tallest on the team. Without an established inside presence, Miller and fellow guards Damon and sophomore Omli will have to carry the team from the perimeter.
“The fact that we don’t have height doesn’t make me want to run more, but the fact that we have girls who can get out there and run and push shows that we can run,” Blasi said. “And we will run the floor. We’ll have to have a faster tempo and focus on some of the basics on defense – the double teams and boxing out.”
Though the height isn’t there, the speed and athleticism are present. Blasi said Miller has the most experience and the best shot on the team, Damon is a two-year starter with the best rebounding skills and defensive presence while Omli, a four-sport athlete last year, has the talent to play NCAA Division I basketball.
“She could commit to somewhere as early as next week,” Blasi said.
Billy Byler
This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 7:53 AM with the headline "High school basketball preview: Eisenhower Tigers (+video)."