Boys Basketball

Irish hope to rebound from worst season

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 12:46 PM

ThisWeekSPORTS.com

By Darrin Bryan/ThisWeek

Antonio Bisutti (center) and the Scioto boys basketball team played teams from Dayton in the summer in hopes of bouncing back from a 5-16 season.

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Over the summer, members of the Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball team loaded into cars and made the hour-long drive to Dayton more than once.

Tony Bisutti, in his 16th season as coach, aimed to take his young team out of its comfort zone after finishing 5-16 overall last season following a 56-49 loss to Grove City in the first round of the Division I district tournament.

It was the worst season under Bisutti, who was hired when the school opened in 1995.

"We played some of the teams in the Dayton City League like Dunbar and I don't think our guys are in awe anymore," he said. "We went up against some pretty solid basketball teams over there and I think we learned we can hang with teams like that, but we just have to do it our way."

As a new season begins against visiting Worthington Kilbourne on Saturday, the Irish's motto, "Bigger, Smarter, Better," seems fitting for a team that expects to be much more competitive.

During the 2008-09 season, Scioto fell to eventual state champion Northland in a regional final.

"We had a lot of freshmen playing at the varsity level last year," senior 6-foot wing player Raneal Ewing said. "I think our defense is definitely much improved. We've really worked on our half-court defense and I think teams are going to find it difficult to score against us."

While Scioto remains a work in progress, Bisutti has been buoyed by what he's seen in the offseason.

Along with a more stringent defense, the Irish have the parts to create an offensive that can score from both inside and outside.

"Last year, I think we were pretty much a one-dimensional team," Bisutti said. "We really don't have a personality yet, but we're far ahead of where we were at this point last year in all areas. We have yet to develop that chemistry and we're working on that."

There are plenty of familiar faces.

Ewing, who averaged 13 points last season, returns as Scioto's leading scorer. Also back are sophomore guards Antonio Bisutti (6-0) and Josh Ashwill (5-11) and the only returning starter, senior post player Jamare Mills (6-5), who missed much of last season with a shoulder injury.

The starting lineup is far from set with coach Bisutti pointing to seniors Justin Craig (5-10 guard) and Jalen Johnson (6-5 post player), juniors Ryan Duncan (6-0 wing player), Ryan Gibson (5-10 guard) and Gabe McGlone (6-1 wing player) and sophomore Travis Yates (6-3 post player) as players who will contribute.

"I think people might think we're going to be an easy win again, but I think we're going to open some eyes," Ewing said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but it's way better than last year."

Last season, Scioto went 2-12 in the OCC-Cardinal Division to finish last, behind Westerville South (14-0), Westerville Central (11-3), Westerville North (11-3), Olentangy Liberty (7-7), Olentangy (4-10), Dublin Jerome (4-10) and Marysville (3-11).

With the return of Traevon Jackson, the OCC-Cardinal Player of the Year a year ago, Westerville South remains the favorite to repeat as champion.

Jackson signed to play at Wisconsin last month.

"We've seen Westerville North and Westerville Central and they look good as well," Bisutti said. "North has three guys who come off the bench that might start for us."