IAC BOYS BASKETBALL: WAVERLY FEATURES GOOD NUMBERS, GOOD HEALTH AS 2019-20 SEASON APPROACHES (13 PHOTOS) (2019-11-20)
Valley Sports ReportWAVERLY "” Longtime Waverly boys basketball coach Lou Judson is happy to be back on the court with good numbers in tow, and a return to health heading into the 2019-20 campaign.
"It's great to be back on the court," he said. "This time of year is one of my favorite times of the year.
"We have a full week of practice in, and so far I've liked what I've seen.
"Our numbers are great. We have 13 on the JV team, and 11 on the varsity team," noted Judson. "That's about where we are every year.
"We have a nice mix with three seniors, six juniors, a sophomore, and an 8th-grader - the first one in my tenure here," added Judson, who is entering his 17th season as head coach.
The big question surrounding the Wolverines is the health of 6-8 senior Scott Woodring, who was averaging 32.7 points and 16.9 rebounds per game through seven games before suffering a season-ending knee injury during practice last December.
Woodring re-habbed his knee and was on the Wolverine football roster this fall, but re-injured his knee during warm-ups, and needed another surgery.
"His knee is healthy," said Judson. "It gets a little sore now and then, (but) after a couple knee surgeries in a nine-month span that's to be expected.
"He's not 100 percent, and he's not in the shape he needs to be, but he's progressing nicely.
"I'm pleased with where he's at right now," added Judson. "We need him healthy, but we need all of our guys healthy."
Judson said one of the main focuses of the preseason is creating team chemistry.
"We have some new faces on the team this year.
"We have Aidan Westbrook transferring in from Athens, Griffin Stein moving into our district, an 8th-grader (Joey Tomasso) up on varsity, and some JV kids coming up," said Judson.
"A lot of these played together this summer in AAUs, summer league, or team camp, so they're familiar with one another, but it's a little bit different in the summer than now.
"So, team chemistry and putting our playbook in are big in the preseason," noted Judson.
"We're also trying to figure out what kind of basketball team we're going to be identity-wise - offensively and defensively," added Judson. "I have an idea, but I'm starting to see some things out of some guys I didn't think I was going to see this early on in the season. I've been very pleased with some of the personnel on the team right now."
Waverly will scrimmage Thursday at Elmira at 4 p.m., and will host Horseheads on Nov. 26 at 5:30 p.m.
The Wolverines also added a game to their schedule, and will open the 2019-20 season at U-E on Dec. 3.
"”"”"”"”"”"”
IN PHOTO 1: Waverly coach Lou Judson. .... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
