High school basketball preview: New coach, new scheme for Brookside boys

With a new coach, a fast-paced offense and a talented group of returnees, Brookside hopes now is finally the time to win. Larry Babics took over the Cardinals program this summer after a successful stint at Columbia, where he led the Raiders to Patriot Athletic Conference and Lorain County League titles. He looks to transplant the same winning culture to Brookside. "We've got a lot of good players and we've worked really, really hard since June," Babics said. "Obviously we've got things to clean up and things to fix, but these guys get it. It's not going to be a three-, four-, five-year reclamation project. We expect to win immediately, including this year." Over the last four seasons Brookside has averaged only five wins, but senior forward Zion Young feels something different with this year's Cardinals. "Last year it felt like we were complacent, this year we're trying to get something," he said. "Our intensity is different this year, we practice a lot harder, we're really pushing each other." Babics' teams have always been known for an aggressive full-court defense and willingness to shoot from long range, and those philosophies are taking root at Brookside. "I like the new system, we play a lot faster," senior forward Jaycob Kolleda said. "The culture is different this year, I feel like we attack practice differently than we did last year. We're more intense and we're doing more scrimmaging in practice. I'd rather play this way, you get more shots up." The Cardinals expect to have a varsity roster of 11 players, and Babics is counting on all of them, even the freshmen, to deliver. "We don't have a true star but we have a one through 11 that are all very talented and they are going to be used interchangeably," Babics said. "You're gonna see hockey shift type stuff, five on and five off, two minutes of playing hard and we'll get you a breather." Junior Avery Young, who led the Cardinals last year with 9.9 points and 2.5 assists, thinks a fast pace will help Brookside better compete with the traditional Lorain County League powers. "We went from playing slower to really playing fast now and it's really changed things," he said. "We're getting more shots up now. I think everyone on the team likes this style. It can be tiring but it's fun to be a part of. We have to play hard and maintain good chemistry on the team. Our system's making it easier to build that chemistry because everyone gets to play and put up shots." Everyone in the Brookside program has seen the improvement in the offseason, but one of the biggest challenges for Babics and his staff is how the players will react to the inevitable bumps in the road during the grind of a 22-game schedule. "In the past they've been used to something failing and they weren't able to stop it," Babics said. "Now we're expecting somebody to make a bucket or make a big play. It all comes down to how you handle adversity. What are we gonna do when we have two bad games in a row, say 'Here we go again,' or are we going to fight through it?" Kolleda expects to surprise people. "A lot of teams looked at Brookside last year as an easy win, this year it's going to be different," he said. "After competing against D-I teams like Amherst in our scrimmages, we already feel like we can win the games on our schedule." While the Cardinals had to work hard in the offseason to be physically prepared for the up-tempo style of play, for Zion Young it's the mental parts of the game and being a good teammate that are just as important. "We've worked hard in conditioning but I feel like our communication is even more important," he said "We need to talk on defense and always keep communicating because it's going to need help sometimes. This is the most seniors we've had on the basketball team in a few years, but we also have a great group of freshmen who are really pushing each other." The early part of the schedule, which includes a game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse against Wickliffe and LCL games against Firelands and Keystone, will go a long way toward proving if Brookside has forged a new path to success. "We have to get off to a good start," Babics said. "We're trying to drive home a message. When you put in the work we've put in you want to see success." Contact Todd Shapiro at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.