John Bryan has had a lot of fun working with his players during his first season as head coach at Northwood, but he would like to start winning more games.

The Rangers, who haven’t won since January 6 against Cardinal Stritch, are in the midst of a five-game losing streak. The Rangers sit at 3-10 (2-5 TAAC) overall and find themselves in fifth place in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference.

Bryan’s club has suffered difficult losses to league powers Ottawa Hills, Toledo Christian, and Maumee Valley, but he knows, with seven games remaining on the schedule his team has the ability to start winning when it matters most — down the stretch.

Beginning on Tuesday, Northwood’s schedule may begin to ease up as they will play a three-game stretch against Danbury, Genoa, and Stritch — teams that have combined 9-26 records.

The one team Bryan has not seen this season is Jeff Overmyer’s Comets. Although the Comets have struggled in league play this season, they have had success against non-league opponents, amassing a 3-1 record.

Genoa (4-6, 1-5 SLL) finds itself in a similar situation. With four nonconference games remaining, the Comets would like to pick up some wins outside of the SLL and look forward to the Northwood game to do so.

Northwood 6'3" senior Zack Wielinski puts one down in the Ranger's 91-73 non- league loss to Lake at Owens Community College. (Press photo by Scott Grau)

“Non-league teams,” says Overmyer, “play different styles of basketball than you are accustomed to during the regular season which will help us in the tournament when we see similar non-league teams.”

The Comets have been outscored on by an average by nine points in five Suburban Lakes League losses, but have been able to outscore non-league opponents (Lakota, Oak Harbor, and Cardinal Stritch) by an average of 21 points a game.

Genoa has struggled shooting from beyond the arc this season which should play into the Rangers’ hands.  Northwood has struggled on the defensive end this season, allowing opponents to shoot a high percentage from the field. The Rangers have been focused on controlling the boards, but at times have left the perimeter wide open.

Says Bryan, “We are evidently leaving too many people open because opponents are shooting high percentages against us. We evidently aren’t putting enough pressure on the outside. It takes hard work to be good on defense. You can always have a lucky night offensively but you can’t have a lucky night on defense. Defense is hard work and you have to come ready to play it.”

Overmyer knows because of Northwood’s struggles if his guys can have a breakout night shooting, it could be a fun rest of the season for the Comets.

“We’re one breakout game from turning the corner. Once our shooters gain confidence in their abilities to shoot the ball, we will gain more confidence as a team and it will begin to show on the court. Right now, our goal is to begin playing our best basketball in February as we head into the tournament,” Overmyer said.

Overmyer will have to rely on his leading scorer and rebounder Luke Sutter to stop Northwood’s leading scorer David Green, a tough inside presence for the Rangers.

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