The Triad boys varsity basketball team is pictured from left, front row, Jalen Nott, Nico Hernandez, Derek Bails, Ayden Sanford, Drew Campbell, Carson Manley and Ayden Sprigss; second row, head coach Jason Malone, Wyatt Cave, Batai Lease, Jacob Warner, Maison Johnson, coach John Millice and coach Eric Welty. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The Triad boys basketball team is hoping that hard lessons learned will be the difference for this season.
Head coach Jason Malone said his team has “taken some lumps” over the last several seasons, but this year will be the turnaround point for his program.
“We have some guys who have come back after taking their lumps as sophomores and juniors,” he said. “I think they are ready to step up and be more competitive.”
Those lumps were in the form of losses.
Triad has only scrapped together a pair of wins in the last two seasons, both coming during last year’s campaign.
Even though the Cardinal coach is hopeful, he is moving forward with caution.
“I can’t promise how many games we are going to win because our side of the league is really tough,” said Malone. “However, I think we are going to sneak out some wins that people don’t expect from us.”
Malone said the Ohio Heritage Conference North Division is stacked with a lot of talent and his team has a tough schedule.
“We have talked about giving ourselves a chance at a league title,” he said. “We have to have a quick start and I know that some early games are going to be difficult.
“We are going to find out quickly how competitive we can be.”
Malone hopes to improve on the Cardinals’ record using experience and athleticism.
Triad has four returning players in Batai Lease, Drew Campbell, Ayden Spriggs and Jacob Warner.
What Triad lacks is height, but Malone is OK with that.
“We are going to have to play fast and that’s the style I like to coach,” he said. “We’ve got five guards we can start.
“We’re going to have some match-up problems in that set some times, but I think our athleticism will make up for it.”
The only true post player is Warner, but Wyatt Cave and Maison Johnson are both moving up to the post after playing at the JV level.
The coach also said the team has more depth this season.
“The thing that stands out with this group is we can go six, seven or eight down the line and still have a fairly athletic group,” he said.
The one area Malone said his team will have to get better is defense.
“We are going to have to improve defensively from last year,” Malone said. “I’m a man-to-man guy. I want to play aggressively and for lack of a better term, last year we didn’t always have the horses to match up with teams as well as we would have liked.”
Malone is still looking for one of his players to come to the forefront and lead his team.
Over the last few seasons, Malone said consistency has been a real issue for the offense.
“We’ve got athletes, but as far as having pure shooters and scorers, we are not very consistent,” he said.
The 2020 Triad boys junior varsity basketball team is pictured from left, front row, Devin Bradley, Hunter Thompson, Tyler Perry, Blake Thornhill, Kane Bailey and Cameron Thomas; second row, coach John Millice, Evan Culp. Camden Hess, Makayle Gaston, Diego Hernandez, coach Jason Malone and coach Eric Welty. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Triad’s boys freshmen basketball team is pictured from left, front row, Owen Veith, Spencer Huffman, Gage Heitman, Griffin Ross, Wyatt Robison and Matthew Yocom; second row, coaches Eric Welty, Jim Pond, John Millice and Jason Malone. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)