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Coach: Todd Henline, fifth year.
Record: 59-29.
Last year: 8-13 (7-5 SLL).
Key players: Jake Faykosh, 5-10, Sr., PG; Cody Jennings, 6-3, Sr., P; Caleb Vespi, 6-4, Sr., P;
Lincoln Peters, 5-10, Sr., G; Jake Schmeltz, 5-10, So., G.
Forecast: The Eagles have a core of five returning lettermen to go along with good size and
versatility this season, according to Henline.
Faykosh, Jennings, Vespi, Peters and Schmeltz all lettered last season. Faykosh, who led the
Eagles in scoring (13.ppg) and Jennings are two-year lettermen.
“Jake's going to have to score a little bit,” Henline said. “He runs the show at point. What's
going to be nice this year is, because I think Schmeltz can play the point a little bit, we can
move Faykosh to the wing were he can score a little more from the wing.”
Jennings averaged eight points and five rebounds last season.
“Jennings is a pretty solid player in the post,” Henline said. “He's one of those guys who can
shoot the outside shot and can score inside. He's an inside-outside threat for us. We do have
decent size. We will start three guys over 6-3, and we have quite a few guys coming back
who have varsity experience. We can play three guards or three posts. We have a lot of
different options at our disposal.”
Vespi, a second-team All-Ohio soccer player, adds athleticism and rebounding ability, while
Peters is the Eagles' defensive stopper.
“Caleb can put the ball on the floor and go by you,” Henline said, “or he can play with his back
to the basket a little bit. We have quite a few guys who have versatility, who can play inside
and outside. We have some post players who can knock down the 3-point shot. Peters is kind
of our workhorse. He's an extremely hard worker and we're going to put him on the other
team's best offensive player.”
Schmeltz lettered last year as a freshman and made an impact.
“He seemed like he had a knack for wanting the ball in big situations,” Henline said. “He hit
a couple of game winners for us last year and he wanted to take the big shot. He did a great
job as a freshman, and hopefully we can build on it this year.”
Also in the mix for Eastwood will be 6-4 senior post Austin Speck, 6-4 sophomore Nick Vespi
and juniors Ross Bockbrader, Kevin Sweeney and Skylar Dierker .
Henline said the Eagles are excited to compete in the newly formed Northern Buckeye
Conference. Eastwood won back-to-back Suburban Lakes League titles in 2008 and '09.
“From top to bottom, the league is going to be pretty competitive,” Henline said. “The title
is up for grabs and three or four teams have a shot at winning the title. We're preaching to
our kids that winning the league title is one of our goals. This is one of the years it's not
going to be easy.”
Eastwood girls
Coach: Gary Lemle, first year.
Record: 0-0.
Last year: 2-18 (1-11 SLL).
Key players: Courtney Rolf, 5-11, Sr., F; Alanna Heestand, 5-8, Sr., G; Diana Bushman,
5-9, Jr., G/F.
Forecast: Eastwood hasn't been a threat to win Suburban Lakes League for several years,
but first-year coach Gary Lemle is looking to change that now that the Eagles have joined
the newly formed Northern Buckeye Conference.
“Otsego and Lake are the teams to beat in our league,” said Lemle, who is one season
removed from a successful career as Cardinal Stritch's girls basketball coach. “We will
be competitive and we need to improve every day. We need to re-establish Eastwood
as an elite program and the proud tradition one expects.”
Eastwood hasn't won a league title in more than five years, and last year's team lost in
the sectional semifinals against Fostoria. This year's squad returns three starters in
Rolf, Heestand and Bushman.
Bushman, a senior guard, averaged nine points a game in 2010-11, while Rolf, a forward,
and Bushman, a guard/forward, averaged seven points apiece. All three players are
three-year letterwinners.
“We return a lot of players and we have a good balance of guards and forwards,” Lemle
said. “Our seniors will be leaders and re-establish a winning tradition at Eastwood as we
compete in the new NBC this year. They are learning a new system and are working
very hard.
“Our perimeter shooting is strong and our ability to work inside-out with our posts
will be important. We need to improve defensively and handle the ball versus pressure
defenses. Our rebounding and transition game will be very good for us.”
Two assistant coaches, John Morriseey and Dave Martis, followed Lemle to Eastwood
looking to turn the Eagles back into a northwest Ohio power.
“We hope to continue our successful track record,” said Lemle, who coached the
Eagles' junior varsity girls team for one season under former head coach Jim Gracyk.
Lemle led Stritch to an 89-63 record and three Toledo Area Athletic Conference titles
in seven years before resigning at the end of the 2009-10 season. He was named the
Division III Associated Press Co-Coach of the Year in 2004.
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