Howell High School boys’ basketball coach Patrick Ramsay said he expects the Rebels to be greatly improved during the 2017-18 season.
“Last year, we took a step back. In the beginning of the year, we had a rough start,” Ramsay said.
The Rebels started 1-6 last year, but they finished the season by winning their last six games to conclude the campaign at 11-13.
Ramsay attributes the team’s slow start last year to losing its leading scorer and to injuries.
“We have a bunch of returning core guys. We have six varsity guys back from last year who played valuable minutes for us,” the coach said. “We have Brandon Wilson, who transferred back from Mater Dei Prep. He was our leading scorer as a sophomore, and now he is back for his senior year.”
When speaking of the core group, Ramsay mentioned senior Naseim Brantley, the leading scorer a year ago at 17 points per game; junior Matthew Ganter, the second leading scorer; and senior Eddie Morales, who emerged last season as the third scoring option.
“We have a lot of kids back with a lot of experience, and that should be helpful,” Ramsay said.
The coach said the Rebels need to play together on offense and to step up their effort on defense.
“The past few years we have been playing fast, trying to attack the basket, a little dribble-drive,” he said. “We like to try and spread the floor because sometimes we play five guards and we have some pretty athletic kids, so we try to get out and run in the open floor and push as much as possible.”
Ramsay has prepared offensive sets for Ganter, who the coach considers a really good shooter.
Ganter is a sharpshooter from deep, but he said he has been working on getting to the rim, handling the ball and defense.
“As far as team goals, we want to get to the Shore Conference Tournament, the state tournament, all of that,” he said.
Ganter said he and his teammates want to play as well as they can and win as a team.
“Our goal is to compete in the division and hopefully be there at the end of the season and have a chance to make the Shore Conference Tournament and the state tournament,” Ramsay said. “We are going down to [a tournament in] Maryland for Christmas, and we want to win our bracket there.”
The coach reported that Brantley can play all over the court.
“He can bring the ball up, he can play down low and cover big guys, he can play the wing and he is a very good scorer,” Ramsay said. “He has to improve a little defensively, but he is a kid that a lot of [opponents] have to game plan for.”
Heading into the season, Brantley said, “My mindset is a little different this year. I am going to pass the ball a little more, score and then set up for my teammates. Coach said we have to play as team. Our motto this year is ‘Everybody eats,’ and if everybody eats (contributes), we can make it all the way to the Shore Conference and probably win the state championship with this team.”
Brantley said he has worked on distributing the ball and said he is “trying to be original” with his style of running the offense.
He echoed his coach’s sentiment about stepping it up on the defensive end.
“I am always working on my defensive aspect of the game. I struggled at that a little. I just want to step up and be a better defender,” Brantley said.
Brantley said he believes he can defend any position on the court.
The Rebels will open the 2017-18 season on Dec. 15 at Colts Neck High School. Tip off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
