2002-03 SCHEDULE

***Not available*****

By The Herald Sports Staff

The Hubbard High boys basketball team and its new head coach, Tom King, seem to be a perfect fit.

The Eagles have undergone a number of coaching changes the past few seasons. Meanwhile, King, a Western Reserve High graduate, is glad to immerse himself in the blue-collar mentality of the Mahoning Valley after spending time coaching in the Cleveland area.

"I really like how tough everyone is in this area, how hard-nosed the communities are," said King. "That's the style of play I like, a bruising style. When I was a player, I wasn't very flashy. I just went from here to there and got the job done.

"All the kids we have here are great kids and they work really hard. The people in this town are tough, and I think that carries over into athletics. We may not score a lot of points this season, but we're going to be competitive. I think we'll be a scary team to play and I think we might surprise some people."

King will be looking to help the Eagles improve upon last year's 9-12 overall record. According to King, there are nine players who will see the bulk of the playing time at the varsity level this season. Two of those are returning letterwinners: 6-foot-2 senior wing Jason Lenzi and 5-10 senior guard Adam Jablonski. There are also three other seniors on this year's squad. They include 5-11 guard Gabe McKee, 5-11 guard Zach Willis and 6-3 forward Joe O'Hara.

Among Hubbard's juniors are 6-3 forward Jacoby Morris, 5-10 guard Jeff Jablonski and 5-10 guard Matt Yanek. Versatile sophomore Todd Coonce will see time on the varsity team in a reserve role.

King pointed to the Eagles' aforementioned toughness and work ethic when describing their strengths. As far as weaknesses are concerned, he alluded to some of the finer points of the game, which the Eagles have not been able to refine with the nearly constant changes in coaching staffs.

"I wish that our ball skills were a little bit better," said King. "Fundamentally, we're not where we should be, but that's not the kids' fault. There have been a lot of coaches here the past few years. We're also hurting some when it comes to the knowledge of the game."

Although one of King's main objectives is to be competitive, both overall and in the Trumbull Athletic Conference, he doesn't know how feasible it is to set a goal of winning the league crown just yet, especially this season, when nearly every team in the conference is dangerous.

"The league is nasty," said King. "I think that anybody has the chance to beat anyone else. Newton Falls, Liberty and Lakeview are all tough. Newton Falls has a 6-7 foreign-exchange student and a pair of tough guards who can stroke the ball. But all the other teams in the league are right up there with those three, including Champion, Girard and LaBrae. Everybody is saying that Badger is going to have a down year, but I don't believe it. I can see a team with three league losses winning the conference championship."

Notes: King's assistant coaches include his father, Tim, who was head coach at Western Reserve for 20 years. Dave Leskovic is the junior varsity coach, while Jeremy Porter assumes the ninth-grade duties and Brian D'Angelo and Mike Pearce are the eighth-grade coaches. ... No schedule submitted. -- By Matt Deutsch, Hubbard Press sports writer