Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Gibsonburg boys basketball program is on the rise, and with this year’s team returning six of its top seven scorers from last year, the Golden Bears are expecting championship-level competition this season.
“I'm excited,” fourth-year head coach Tony Egbert said. “I always say our goal is that I want our kids to be able to play in front of good crowds. It's got nothing to do with wins or losses, but I think if our kids play hard and play the right way, which we're going to, people will start to show up, and the wins will come. Hopefully, at the end, we're sitting here in February with a chance to have a say at who wins the league.”
Egbert helped guide Gibsonburg to 15 wins last season, which was one more than the previous year, and it was considerably better than the three wins he experienced his first season.
The program is on the rise, and Egbert said it’s because of the buy-in from his players.
“We have a good group of kids coming through who have really bought into working in the offseason, coming in before school to get shots up,” he said. “Really the junior and senior groups kind of push each other to make sure they’re all at open gym, workouts, morning shootarounds. It’s more so that kind of policing each other and holding each other accountable that’s been a big key.
“Those kids when I came in were freshmen and eighth graders and some of the guys that are seniors now were kind of thrown into the fire as freshmen. I think that experience and some of those growing pains are starting to pay off.”
Reece Walby, a junior guard who averaged a team-best 15.3 points, along with 6.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.6 steals per contest, is back. So is the team’s second-leading scorer, Aiden Morant, a senior guard who averaged 11.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and two steals per game.
Both players have started since their freshmen campaigns. Walby was the team’s top three-point shooter last year, and Morant finished third with a career-best 33 percent.
“Both those guys, they’re very skilled,” Egbert said. “They can score at every level. Both of them have really worked hard. Aiden shot 30-35 percent from three last year. As a freshman he was in the teens. Reece has deep range, and he’s strong finishing inside.”
Camden Mooney, who finished third on the team with 9.4 points per game last year, graduated, but Hunter Wasserman, Aiden Senters, and Luke Foster return as last year’s fourth, fifth, and sixth-leading scorers.
Wasserman, a junior forward, led the team with 7.2 rebounds per game while adding 7.2 points. He’s also been playing varsity since his freshman year.
“He's a big guy,” Egbert said. “For his size, he's got great feet and athleticism, and a good shooting touch. I'm looking forward to him taking a big leap this year.”
Senters, a senior guard who added 6.1 points per game, and Foster, a senior post who scored 6.1 points per game, round out the group. Foster came off the bench last year, and Senters brings defensive versatility and energy.
Kayden Havens, a senior wing, and Chuy Rodriguez, a senior post, are also back. Havens is a defensive presence similar to Senters, Egbert said, and Rodriguez is in his first full-time year on varsity after a stat-stuffing JV career.
“Chuy had some JV games where you’d look at the box score and he he'd have like eight points, 12 rebounds, and nine steals. He’d stuff the stat sheet. He’s going to give his best effort all the time.”
Xander Zimmerman, a junior wing, and Zach Fruth, a junior post, are also expected to contribute. As is a potential wild card in Grant Smith, a 5-11 junior guard who missed his first two seasons due to injury.
Egbert believes Zimmerman and Foster could see considerable improvement from last year.
“Xander watches a lot of basketball,” he said. “He's got good basketball IQ, and he’s become a pretty good knockdown shooter. Luke has taken a leap, extending his range a little bit, and he’s just got strong footwork inside where he can finish in some unorthodox ways that may not look the prettiest, but it gets the job done.”
Most of the team played large roles in the football team’s regional quarterfinal appearance this fall, including Smith, who rushed for over 1,800 yards.
“They're athletes, and they're competitive,” Egbert said.
Overall, Egbert loves his team’s competitiveness and small-town pride.
“We're lucky. This is a small town. These kids have grown up together,” he said. “They've been playing flag football. They've been playing basketball in the driveway, and baseball. They've been doing all that stuff together for really their whole lives.
“I think being in a small town is a big benefit because you can see when kids stick it out all the way through. It gets overused a lot, but they look at each other like they're like family members. They hold each other accountable. If someone's not doing their job, they'll call each other out and fix it. That’s a big strength for us, their accountability toward each other.”
