BOYS' BASKETBALL PREVIEW: YOUTHFUL PARACLETE TAKING LUMPS EARLY : SPIRITS TOUGHENING UP FOR LEAGUE PLAY.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer The Paraclete High boys' basketball team is young. A little younger than coach Andy Gavel gavel small mallet used by judge or presiding officer to signal order. [Western Culture: Misc.] See : Authority prefers. The Spirits feature five sophomores - varsity football player Joe Martin just joined the team - and there are just four returning veterans. And one member of that group, football quarterback Rob Fockaert, was unsure if he'd play basketball as of Wednesday. The Spirits have struggled early, losing 85-36 to nonleague opponent Quartz Hill of the Golden League last Friday. But the Spirits figured to take some lumps with aspirations aspirations npl → aspiraciones fpl (= ambition); ambición f aspirations npl (= hopes, ambition) → aspirations fpl of being ready for Alpha League play Jan. 7. ``I think we'll do all right by the time we get to league. I just need to start getting used to playing basketball again,'' said senior center Brian Whisler, the starting tight end on Paraclete's Southern Section Division XII championship team. Whisler and fellow seniors Justin Cramer and Nick Borgardt will be counted on to provide the young Spirits some guidance. While the 6-foot-7 Whisler matches up well against any most opponents' big men, Borgardt gets his chance to be a marquee scorer in the backcourt back·court n. 1. Sports a. The part of a court between the service line and the base line in tennis and other net games. b. . Borgardt has waited patiently, having backed up departed senior and scoring leader Glenn Jones For the rock musician of the same name, see . Glenn Jones, (born in 1962 in Jacksonville, FL), is an American R&B/soul singer. Career He started his career as a gospel singer and has since, managed a successful move into the R&B field. . ``He's taken over the leadership role for this team in November and December,'' Gavel said of Borgardt. Gavel calls Cramer, a 5-9 point guard, ``Mr. Hustle hus·tle v. hus·tled, hus·tling, hus·tles v.tr. 1. To jostle or shove roughly. 2. To convey in a hurried or rough manner: hustled the prisoner into a van. .'' Cramer will be counted on to play strong defense. The rest of the roster is still a mystery given the team's inexperience Inexperience See also Innocence, Naïveté. Bowes, Major Edward (1874–1946) originator and master of ceremonies of the Amateur Hour on radio. [Am. . Sophomore Drew Gill gill, in weights and measures gill, in weights and measures: see English units of measurement. did average almost 11 points in Paraclete's first four games. ``Hey, when you're a farmer you have to plow plow or plough, agricultural implement used to cut furrows in and turn up the soil, preparing it for planting. The plow is generally considered the most important tillage tool. with what you have,'' Gavel said. ``We want to be ready for Jan. 7. If we don't beat (defending Alpha League champion) Marshall we want to at least come back and make the playoffs. Marshall is the best team in our league and we have to worry about beating L.A. Baptist, Village Christian and Kilpatrick.'' Gavel is just happy to be in a position to take his team back to the postseason again. Paraclete went 10-14 in the regular season, finished in a second-place tie in league play and advanced to the Southern Section Division IV-AA playoffs. After upsetting LaSalle in the first round, Paraclete was preparing to host eventual finalist 29 Palms when on game day Gavel fell Gavel Fell is a hill in the English Lake District. Centremost of the five Loweswater Fells in the western part of the District, it stands between Hen Comb and Blake Fell. Of moderate altitude it can be climbed from Loweswater village, or from Croasdale to the west. seriously ill A patient is seriously ill when his or her illness is of such severity that there is cause for immediate concern but there is no imminent danger to life. See also very seriously ill. . He checked himself into the hospital where he was suffering from a dangerously low blood sugar count and diagnosed with diabetes. For obvious reasons, Gavel couldn't be on the bench that night as the Spirits were eliminated. Gavel, a tireless worker who has always dedicated himself to his team during basketball season, was unsure how'd he'd react to a new year. ``I still want to do this because I love to coach and love to teach,'' he said. ``It's been about 10 months now. And you start learning what you have to do to stay healthy. You have a meal and you start wondering if you ate too much. Then you're working and you start to think you're not getting enough exercise.'' PARACLETE AT A GLANCE Coach: Andy Gavel 1998-99 record: 11-15; 5-3, tied for second in Alpha League. Key returning players: Senior G Justin Cramer, senior F Nick Borgardt, senior C Brian Whisler. Top newcomers: Sophomore G Drew Gill, sophomore F Jayson Hall. CAPTION(S): Box Box: Paraclete at a Glance (see text) |
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