SJEL boys return with new look

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Dec 05, 20190

The St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse boys basketball team is back on the floor for 2019-20 but something is different. They return three seniors, including T.J. Harder, who missed almost all of last year with a foot injury. New coach Mike Stubbs takes over after being an assistant last year.

But that’s not it.

Kameron Greenhalgh, the Eagles’ 6’7” junior center is not in uniform.

“He will not dress tonight,” said Coach Stubbs before the team’s first game Tuesday against Dayton/Waitsburg. “He has been at practice but he has been limited.”

Recovering from a football injury, how much and when Greenhalgh will be able to contribute is unknown.

“We will look different than most people envisioned us looking,” Stubbs said of his team.

Nonetheless, St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse has two other returning starters; senior forward Owen Swannack and junior point guard Ty Harder (not T.J.) Also back from last year is Dylan Campbell, a senior forward, who will start this year, along with junior Doug Stach, who will also start.

And the fifth starter?

“That fifth one needs to show himself in the next few practices and games,” Stubbs said.

Preparation

The SJEL roster has 13 players total.

“We’re a team where you’ll be going inside whether you’re 5’7” or 6’1”,” said Stubbs.

Over the summer, Stubbs and assistant Tim Stamper – who have long coached together in LaCrosse – took their team to the Oakesdale tournament in June and then concentrated on intersquad scrimmages at home.

“And work on, at that time, what we thought we was gonna be our offense,” Stubbs said.

The team’s co-op area spans from Hooper to Lamont.

“They don’t see a lot of each other, they don’t play together,” Stubbs said of the geography of his team. “So just to get them all together, to develop some type of chemistry.”

Last year, the Eagles finished 2-18 overall.

“We definitely don’t want to repeat that history,” said the coach.

The team will play next at Reardan Friday, tip-off at 6 p.m. League play begins at Pomeroy Dec. 13.

“Our goal is to improve individually every day, and as a team every day,” Stubbs said. “Small bites. Small increments. And we’ll see where we end up in late January.”