Wreckers’ versatility will be their key for success

In any sport, a one-dimensional team has little chance to have continued success.

In basketball, a proven high scorer can have an off night and if his teammates can’t pick up the slack, then a loss will most likely be the result.

Weatherly head coach Corey Gerhart, who begins his fourth year at the helm, believes this year’s edition of Wrecker basketball can improve upon last year’s 7-16 record.

“We have the ability to be a good team in transition because we are fast and run from one end of the court to the other,” Gerhart said. “We can penetrate and get to the rim, too, so we could be very tough to defend. I think on any night, [Mason] Gerhart, [Antonio] Colecio, or [Elijah] Deer can put up 20 points if they try to lock down [Scott] Zocsin.

“We lost only one player to graduation, so we should step up a level with our game this year.”

Weatherly’s leading scorer returns in Zocsin, a junior shooting guard.

“Scott scored in double figures most games and he’s our team leader,” said Gerhart.

Senior Mason Gerhart can hit the bull’s eye from the three-point range.

“He’s quick with the ball, hustles, and plays very good defense,” Corey Gerhart said.

Colecio will play point guard for the Wreckers. Along with contributions from Zocsin and Mason Gerhart last season, Colecio added to Weatherly’s more than 100 three-pointers in the team’s 56-point average per game.

Deer will be another guard and what coach Gerhart likes about his 5-foot-10 senior is that he players bigger than his size.

“Elijah is very aggressive and even when he played the point, he still led us in rebounds last year,” said Corey Gerhart.

The Wreckers will not live or die by the three-point shot this season as coach Gerhart contends that there is good opportunity for baseline and post players to score inside the paint.

Chad Obert, a six-foot senior, will be counted on to put the ball in the hole from close range.

“He really hustles in the open floor,” said Corey Gerhart. “He’ll help us on both sides of the court with rebounds and can score when the defense moves out to guard the three.”

At 6-foot-4, Ethan Broskoskie can man the post on offense and box out for his share of rebounds.

Trevor Lowman moves up from junior varsity and will see a fair share of playing time. He’s a left-handed shot and can drain the trey.

Three freshmen have shown potential. Jacob Parker, Jaden Eubanks, and Ian Mclaurin could be late season help from off the bench.

Corey Gerhart knows that opposing teams will try to isolate Zocsin, but he feels the Wreckers have plenty of other weapons to not be one-dimensional.

Weatherly will employ what coach Gerhart calls an “in your face” man-to-man defense.

The Wreckers have qualified for postseason play the past two seasons and that will be the minimum goal for this year’s team after a first-round loss in districts last winter.

“We should be better than a seven-win team this year,” he said, “To be honest, a District 11 Class A title is not out of our reach. That would be something for our school that has a senior class of just 53 students.”