Schools
Westminster Boys Basketball Continues to Improve Under New Leadership
Last year a new head coach took the reigns of the boys basketball program at Westminster, two seasons later, the program is gradually adding more and more games to the win column.
Urbana downed the Owls, 76-62, but the Urbana coach had seen enough improvement to worry about the future. Urbana head coach John Cooper had a comment for Owl coach Steve Byrnes following the game, which speaks volumes about the Owl's program.
"You're ahead of schedule. I used to like coming up here for an easy win. It’s a different world, ’’ Cooper said.
Opposing coaches aren't the only ones noticing the change. Owl athletic director Terry Molloy said, "They have made some great strides over the past few years. Our talent pool wasn’t as deep the last couple of years. Coach Byrnes has instilled a different work ethic. The talent pool is back up a little bit.’’
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The change has come in Byrnes' second year at Westminster. Last year the Owls were 5-16 and this year they have improved to 10-11. According to Byrnes, the goals for this year were simple.
"Our goals were to improve and develop the young talent and that’s what we have been doing throughout the year. It was no different tonight. We had a lot of young guys on the floor that had to learn on the job tonight. They have to take those opportunities and see if they can adjust and be a better basketball player the next day,’’ said Byrnes.
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Westminster has three seniors on the roster that will need to be replaced next year. In moving in that direction, Byrnes has promoted two players from the junior varsity over the last two weeks.
"One of them played significant time tonight, a few games at the varsity level and the other guy got in several times. We were trying to infuse some youth and take advantage of their skills. They did a good job for being first time varsity guys. None of the kids quit tonight and that was a key part of it,’’ said Byrnes.
Getting playing time for the Owls was Dalton Myers and Daryk Kern, who played most of the season on the junior varsity team (last night the team suffered their second loss of the season to Urbana).
With the playoffs starting next week, Byrnes was asked how he balances mixing in the youth and playing to win.
"At this point the young guys have been up enough and practicing with us, we are expecting them to come in and be contributors to the game. As we are making a push for the playoffs, we are looking to steal some games and move forward. We are past the point where we are hoping to play well. We are at the point where we are expecting to win games.’’
Molloy has enjoyed watching the program unfold from the scorers table this season and believes there is a big reason for the turnaround.
"It’s no great mystery. A lot of times, you can only run as far as the horses you have. We have some horses now, we didn’t have horses for a while. So I think they have done a bang up job. Our kids have a great work ethic and are looking forward to winning games and thinking that they are supposed to win games,’’ said Molloy.
Asked if the goals will be set higher next year, Byrnes said, "Absolutely, we have already doubled the wins from last year and we hope to continue that trend. All the playing time these young guys are getting is going to pay off next year. Sometimes they are frustrated, but they have to realize they are young and they have to work hard in the off-season, we have high expectations for next year.’’