High school boys basketball notes: Without a conference, Vermilion sets its goals on other things

When the West Shore Conference disbanded after the 2014-15 season, the Vermilion Sailors were without a home and settled to be an independent for the 2015-16 calendar year.

With the team not playing within a conference, Vermilion boys coach Kurt Habermehl had to establish different goals for the team to conquer compared to prior years.

“Being independent, you have to set specific goals during the year to try to keep the kids going because you really don’t have a conference to shoot for,” Habermehl said. “So staying above .500, keeping our record best as possible, and winning our opening tournament (Liberty-Ford Tip-Off Classic at Brookside) at the beginning of the year and the Wellington tournament (Gossman Holiday Classic), those are small goals we set for ourselves until we get to the end of the year, which is the state tournament.”

Four of Vermilion’s seven wins (7-4) have come from playing in the tournaments – each involving heart-pounding moments.

In the Tip-Off Classic, sophomore Joby Pfeil made the game-winning basket on an acrobatic layup with seconds to spare against Oberlin to advance to the championship game against Hawken. At the Gossman Holiday Classic championship game, Nik Barkdull hit a buzzer-beater in overtime to give Vermilion a 67-65 win over Wellington.

Playing as an independent also created an opportunity for Vermilion to play different teams. The exception is Vermilion will play at Bay after hosting the Rockets on Dec. 1.

“The good part of it is, you play a lot of schools you haven’t faced before and you go to places you’ve never been to before,” Habermehl said.

In the first half of the year, Vermilion’s four losses have been against quality opponents in Bay, Lorain and Norwalk.

“You don’t become a better team by playing teams that aren’t very good, so we feel that playing some of these strong teams it’s only going to get us ready for the tournament and hopefully it’s a growing process for us,” Habermehl said. “We are still a very young team with only four seniors … we don’t have a lot of experience, so playing in these tough games I think it gives our team the experience necessary to hopefully play our best basketball come February.”

Although the roster is young, Habermehl credits the team’s work ethic in practice and their aggressiveness every time they step on the floor.

Another disadvantage Vermilion has compared to the past few seasons is its size. With senior Ryley Miller being the tallest player at 6-foot-3, the Sailors have been dependent on their speed and quickness on the court.

“We’ve run into problems when we face teams that can slow us down a little bit and get us into the halfcourt set and get after us. We have to play fast – we have no choice,” Habermehl said. “If we’re a team that’s going to walk it up the floor, we may only give up 55, 60 points but we’re only going to score about 20 points. It’s a situation where we need as many possessions as possible. We do shoot a lot of 3-pointers. It’s just kind of adjusting to what we have and I think the kids have done a good job of taking the adjustments we have given them and using them to their advantage.”

Vermilion attempts an average of 16 3s per game and is shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc. Their speed and aggressiveness to attack the rim has paid dividends, helping them get to the free-throw line where the Sailors are attempting an average of 18 free throws.

With the youth and undersized roster, Habermehl is proud of the way his team has handled the adversity and has overcome the challenges. The progression of Vermilion is a promising sight as well. Last year, the Sailors won 13 games and are past the halfway point of total wins.

“It’s just kids stepping up. The past two years we graduated two 1,000-point scorers (Kyle Nader and Cameron Kuhn). It’s just a next man up mentality,” Habermehl said. “We lost two great players the past couple of years in two great scorers in Cameron Kuhn and Kyle Nader, along with six other really good seniors. It’s just a situation of next man up. It’s kind of a program-wide thing, so when a kid gets up to varsity they’re prepared to play and know what is expected of them.”

As the second half of the regular season begins the first week of January, Vermilion is aiming for a high winning percentage, trying to surpass the 13-game plateau, targeting something worthwhile since they are an independent. With the confidence boosted after the Gossman Holiday Classic win, Habermehl knows the goals are attainable but it won’t come easy.

“We’re always looking for that consistency. It’s going to be a season-long battle,” Habermehl said. “While we have played some pretty tough teams so far, we have a lot of tough teams left on our schedule, starting with Clearview next Tuesday. We still have to play the likes of an Elyria, Edison, teams like that that are very strong. You’re still going to have your ups and downs a little bit, but as long as things are turning in the right direction come tournament time, we’ll feel pretty good about where we are at.”

And-1

What a year a difference can make. After compiling a record of 8-12 during the 2014-15 season, North Ridgeville is one win away from equaling its win total. The Rangers currently sit at 7-3 and will seek to reach win No. 8 as they host Westlake on Jan. 5.