Stop No. 13 on preseason boys basketball tour: Easton is making transition to Childs play

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

On Black Friday, I traveled down to Easton where I caught the end of a Rovers basketball practice.

It was a feel-good day for Easton coming off the Thanksgiving win over Phillipsburg.

Ben Childs, the new Red Rovers basketball coach, was at the Thanksgiving win and was excited about it.

"Made the turkey taste better," he said.

He's hoping to experience many big wins himself as he takes over for Jim Hutnik, who had a successful eight-year run that included 157 victories and LVC and District 11 titles, plus a trip to the state quarters two years ago.

Childs, a 1996 Easton grad who played baseball at Lafayette College, will have five football players on his team, including Shane Simpson. How quickly they blend with the basketball-only guys will go a long way in determining how well the Rovers do this season.

EASTON

Coach: Ben Childs (first season).

Last year: 16-8, 8-6 LVC.

Postseason: Beat Allen 55-50, lost to Freedom 40-32 in the District 11 4A tournament.

The new staff: Mike Palos, head JV coach; Pat Gorsky, assistant varsity coach; Brent Williams, assistant JV and varsity coach; Bill Quinn, freshman coach; Jason Felton, assistant freshman coach; Paul Altimare, 7th and 8th grade coach; Kelvin Meyers, assistant 7th and 8th grade coach.\

Scrimmages: Played Southern Lehigh on Saturday; 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, a tri-scrimmage at Saucon Valley with Pius X.

Openers: Friday, at Pocono Mountain West; play Dieruff at 3:30 Saturday at Becahi in the Christmas City Classic.

Key date: At Reading on Friday, Jan. 3, which is one night after Easton hosts Parkland.

Players to watch: Sr. C Erik Oakley; Sr. G Steve Maciejczyk; Sr. G Tyler Jean-Baptist; Sr. G Jake Lisinicchia; Jr. F Rodney Arrington; Sr. G Joey Ford; Jr. G Shane Simpson; Sr. F Justin Best; Jr. F Mike Fleming; Jr. F Hassan Greenfield

Photo: That's Oakley (No. 13) and Maciejczyk (back) closing in on Freedom's seated Derike Chiclana last year).

What's to like:Childs said the kids are "really buying into" what the new coaching staff is telling them. Childs said that Easton is "not re-inventing the wheel" and will implement a lot of what Hutnik used, but there will be plenty of new faces and terminology. And there will be new expectations. "As a teacher here, I know a lot of the guys and they know me," Childs said. "It's not like everything will be new to them."

What's to worry about: Childs said he was a late hire and could have used more time to get everything in sync. And the football players just joining the team on Friday will also require an adjustment as they mesh with 10 guys who have been practicing all along.

Quotable: "There's not going to be too many easy nights in the league," Childs said. "Central and Parkland are the favorites because you have to look at what they have coming back. I know Tyler Kohl is a big addition for Dieruff. We'll play them in their first game. There's not an easy game in the league, even at Northampton where I coached last year. Even the lower-tier teams are going to battle. There's a lot of parity.

"We're hitting the ground running. The football players are a little rusty, but they'll get their basketball legs and we expect some of those guys to be big-time contributors for us. The 10 non-football players have been working real hard trying to pick up a new system. I'm very thankful for the opportunity and very excited about the season."

Four months from now: It will be April Fool's Day and Easton will be looking back on a good season that ended with a district playoff berth, but an early exit.