Boys Basketball: Gary West Side’s rebuilding, winning behind promising freshmen

Updated: December 22, 2011 10:38PM

GARY — Rod Fisher’s voice was reverberating off the walls during practice at West Side earlier this week.

The Cougars head coach pleaded: “Go harder. Go harder. You’ve got to go harder. Go as hard as you can.”

When Fisher’s patience had been more than tested watching his players trying to break a full-court press, the girls started shooting free throws.

Since only a few of those went in, a sprint followed each miss.

“It’s a learning thing for them and for me right now,’’ said Fisher, in his 28th year at West Side and 35th overall.

“We’re still a work in progress. We’re just so limited in what we can do. We just spend so much time on fundamentals. We have an undersized post player. We’ve got a slasher that’s left-handed and has no right hand. We’ve got an inexperienced point guard. We’ve got a freshman that’s our best 3-point shooter, but doesn’t like contact, so all she wants to do is shoot from the outside.’’

Talk about a rebuilding project. This one happens to be an arduous one for any coach to undertake — especially the 61-year-old Fisher, who has a penchant for extracting the most from his players.

Graduation didn’t just take a toll on Fisher’s roster after last year’s 19-5 season — that ended with a 57-35 loss to Lake Central in the championship game of the Munster Sectional — it ripped it apart like a tornado. The top eight players, including all five starters, are gone.

Fisher currently starts four of the five freshmen on his roster, along with junior Mariah Hopkins, the only returning player with even a smidgen of experience.

Besides the five freshmen, West Side has five juniors, a sophomore and only one senior.

While inexperience is plentiful, the Cougars (6-1) have managed to win all but one game — a 62-60 loss to North Lawndale (Ill.)

“When they started pressing us, the kids panicked,’’ Fisher said. “That’s expected, I guess. We have a couple of months to fix that. I hope we play other teams that press us between now and February.’’

In a win over Munster, Fisher said the Cougars didn’t play well in the first half, but turned things around after the break.

“We’re behind in learning our offense and defense, and we’re limited in what we can do,’’ Fisher said. “In game experience, we’re limited. With game speed, we’re limited. Blocking out is non-existent and we work on that daily — but it’s a mental thing.’’

How have these Cougars managed to win so far?

“Either they (freshmen) have just always been able to use their raw talent and beat teams, or because of their inexperience, it’s because they don’t know...We’ve got all that,’’ Fisher said.

The main reason is Fisher’s four freshmen aren’t just freshmen.

All of them are part of a mix of players from the RC-DC Youth Foundation’s team, which placed fourth overall in the Division II category at an AAU tournament in Orlando last summer.

Freshman point guard Amari Ferguson averages eight points and is a fearless penetrator, despite being only 5-foot-2.

Fellow freshman Lexus Fox averages 9.4 points, while Ashely Danzy (11) and center Tinon Hunter (9.6) are the other two freshmen starters. Add a 12.4 average from Hopkins and the team’s balance is evident.

While the freshmen are talented, they’re still extremely raw, inexperienced, unpolished, and have a lot to learn.

“I’ve told them: ‘This is remedial basketball,’ Fisher said. ‘I’m here to teach and you’re here to learn. You don’t know as much as you think you do. I’ve forgotten more about the game then you know, so just zip it, listen, and maybe you’ll learn something.’

“I ride them pretty hard. They’re not the fastest, strongest or tallest anymore. They’re 14 or 15 years old and playing against kids who are 18 and 19. In order for us to do anything this year, the starting five has got to step up. If they could just learn to listen to what I’m saying as opposed to how I say it....A big thing with them, is volume. I’ll tell them at times: ‘Dear, I’ve told you four times what I want done, so evidently, you’re not listening to me. Maybe if I talk a little louder, you’ll listen.’ They don’t like the loudness — it hurts their feelings. But I can’t worry about hurt feelings.’’

Hopkins, who moved from wing to forward this season, likes the way the freshmen are performing.

“They don’t play like freshmen,’’ she said. “Seeing them play is like playing with upperclassmen, almost. Yeah, they make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. They listen to me, hustle, and play with effort and energy.’’

Hunter said the ninth-graders are trying to overcome their inexperience.

“We try and help each other out,’’ she said. “We panic a lot. We have to learn to stay calm and just play our game.’’

Hunter realizes there will be growing pains.

“During our freshmen, and probably half of our sophomore year, there’s going to be ups and downs like a roller coaster,’’ she said. “We have to learn how to overcome those times and not get mad at each other.’’

Ferguson admits she’s pleased with the team’s start.

“I’m a little surprised so far, because I thought when we first came out here, we weren’t going to play as hard as we did,’’ she said. “Others are more experienced than we were, but once we started playing, we realized we can do it as long as we play hard and put in effort and energy. I’m aggressive on the court more than anybody else. People tend to overlook me, because I’m small, so I try and play that way. People think I’m kind of weak, so I use my quickness and try to be more aggressive.’’

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