High School Basketball Feature: Urbana playing well early

High School Basketball Feature: Urbana playing well early

Urbana senior center Zach Stillings (right) works the ball against
an opponent in a game last season. Stillings averages 15.5 points
per game this season for Urbana. Contributed Photo by Bart deNijs

Hillclimbers off to 2-0 start after losing four-year starting point guard.

By BRYANT BILLING

Sports Editor

SPRINGFIELD — Urbana head coach Jeremy Dixon told the Hillclimbers after their 68-40 win over Northwestern last Friday that he was proud of their effort and the way they played.

“Then I proceeded to name about five negatives that I could think of,” Dixon said with a laugh after the game.

Urbana (2-0, 1-0 CBC Mad River Division) was able to laugh after the game, as its win over the Warriors was their first conference win of the season and brought it one step closer to its goal of the league title. The Hillclimbers have played well through their first couple of games this season, as they previously beat Northeastern 54-40 on Dec. 2.

“I’m happy with the way they’ve played,” Dixon said. “We’ve had some really, really good quarters so far and some really, really bad quarters so far, so we need to work on our consistency. But we’ve done what we’ve needed to do to win.”

Urbana has performed very well on the boards. The Hillclimbers are averaging 38.5 rebounds per game, and they out-rebounded Northwestern by a 43-12 margin.

“We’ve done a great job on the offensive boards through the first two games and have been able to create second-shot opportunities,” Dixon said. “But, we haven’t done quite as well as I would like on the defensive boards, so that’s something we’ll have to address. The offensive boards have been a weapon for us so far.”

Leading the way so far for Urbana have been Zach Stillings and Karl Singer. Stillings, a 6-6 senior forward, is averaging 15.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game. Stillings led Urbana with 19 points and 9 rebounds against Northwestern. He added eight of his 19 points in the third quarter alone.

“He’s done a good job of staying patient and getting his points when he can get them,” Dixon said. “He’s been getting double- and triple-teamed so far this year, and he’s going to get a lot of attention from (opponents) this season. Hopefully we can be well rounded so that if teams double-team him, we’ll be able to make them pay for that.”

Singer, a 6-2 senior guard, is averaging 12.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game.

“He’s one of those guys who are functionally strong,” Dixon said. “When there’s a crowd (under the basket), he does a good job of coming away with the ball. About three scrimmages in (during the preseason), he wasn’t rebounding at all. That was one of things we asked him to do. We need him, because we’re not very big and we need him to rebound. Ever since we told him that (in the preseason), he’s just been a beast on the boards.”

Dixon also said he’s been pleased with the way Tristan Singer and Joe Wright have played thus far. Tristan Singer is Urbana’s second-leading scorer with 13.5 points per game, and he’s also averaging 3.5 rebounds per game. Wright leads Urbana with six assists per game and averages seven points per game.

Wright is in his first season as point guard, and he’s had to work to replace Anthony Marino, who was a four-year starter for Urbana.

“Both of those guys have done well,” Dixon said. “We’re going to need them to continue to contribute too. We really need to be more well-rounded than we have been in the past.”

Dixon said the Hillclimbers are focused on competing for a league title this season. Urbana is currently in a three-way tie for first place with Graham and Greenon. The Knights and the Falcons play each other this Friday at Graham.

“We only play ten league games, so every one of them is important,” Dixon said. “That was a focus for us to get off to a good start in the league. It’s no secret that it’s our goal to win the CBC, as I’m sure it is for everyone else in our division. I think it’s going to be pretty wide open, so each game is going to count.”

Dixon thinks that if Urbana continues to improve and grows more consistent that it will be in the hunt for the title.

“I think consistency will be our biggest thing to work on going forward,” Dixon said. “I know that’s cliché for a coach, but we’ve been too inconsistent so far. We’ve given up some things at times that, while it hasn’t prevented us from winning, other teams would take advantage of. If we grow more consistent, I think we’re going to be tough to beat.”

The Hillclimbers hosts Tecumseh tonight and then travels to Ben Logan this Friday and Greenon next Tuesday in back-to-back Mad River Division games.