Over the last two seasons the Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team has been blatant in its approach to scoring and defending: Get the ball to the big man and let him protect the paint.

Everything centered on 6-foot-7 post player Clark Crum, who as a senior last season helped lead the Irish to a 14-8 finish after a 58-53 loss to Hilliard Davidson in a Division I district semifinal.

Crum, whose size and quick feet earned him a football scholarship at Virginia Tech, is the program's career leader in rebounds (470) and its second-leading scorer (1,133 points) behind Ish Kamara (1,201).

Scioto will be without last season's leading scorer, but coach Tony Bisutti remains excited about the return of Crum's supporting cast, which brings somewhat of a freshness to the court.

"It's going to be very different because we're implementing a style of play that's similar to what we played in the early years here," said Bisutti, whose team will open Saturday at home against The Plains Athens. "We're going to try and extend more defensively and we hope to run more even though we've always been looking to push the ball."

Along with a nucleus of returning starters, the Irish also have three sophomores who Bisutti believes will give his lineup plenty of depth and range from beyond the 3-point line. The mix has Scioto believing it's a contender for the OCC-Capital Division title.

"I feel like everything looks good for us right now," senior forward Austin O'Connell said. "I definitely see us playing a much faster, uptempo game with more defensive pressure. We can't just sit back around the basket like we did last year."

O'Connell (6-4) will be joined in the frontcourt by seniors Michael Eubank (6-1) and Kevin Lolli (6-1) and first-year senior Tim Kromer (6-6), who should give the Irish some size inside.

Junior Blair Gorniak (6-0) and senior Spencer Mooney (6-1) will provide depth on the wing.

Seniors Kelly Winter (6-1), a second-team all-league selection who averaged better than eight points last season, and Ben Ashwill (6-0) return in the backcourt.

"Kelly had a great summer, and he was hard to stop," Bisutti said. "Around the basket, he's good at getting shots and drawing fouls. Austin is another guy who's going to be able to score. He and Kelly both are three-year letterwinners."

Four sophomores -- Rainer Duzan (5-10 forward), David McKinley (5-7 guard), Bradley McDougal (5-11 guard) and Marco St. John (6-3 post player) -- will give the Irish another look when they're on the floor.

"They are some of our better 3-point shooters," Bisutti said. "Our seniors give us a good defensive presence, but they haven't been used to that luxury of having a deep bench. We've just got to make sure some of these younger guys grow up in a hurry. I know our practices have been very, very competitive."

Scioto finished 6-4 in the OCC-Cardinal last season behind Grove City (9-1) and ahead of Chillicothe (5-5), Olentangy (4-6), Westerville Central (4-6) and Pickerington Central (2-8). With realignment, its opponents in the OCC-Capital are Franklin Heights, Olentangy Liberty, Big Walnut, Watkins Memorial and New Albany.

"I think it's kind of funny that sometimes the Capital Division is frowned upon," Bisutti said. "But you look at it and New Albany's won the district two straight years, Big Walnut might have their entire starting five back and everybody's talking about Franklin Heights being the best in the league, at least on paper."

The schedule also includes neighborhood rivals Dublin Coffman (Dec. 27) and Dublin Jerome (Dec. 28). Scioto never has faced Jerome, but has met Coffman three times, including twice in the Division I district tournament when it won 57-52 in 2002 and lost 33-27 in 2004.

AT A GLANCE

Coach: Tony Bisutti, 12th season

Opener: Saturday vs. The Plains Athens
Thursday, November 30, 2006

Key players: Ben Ashwill, Michael Eubank, Kevin Lolli, Austin O'Connell and Kelly Winter