2017 Belfast Basketball Preview

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Dan Geyer

It’s a new season of Belfast Basketball as JV and Varsity practice enters its second week and modified started Monday. There have been coaching changes in the offseason, so let’s go over some of the changes:

Girls Varsity Basketball

After leading the girls to a 12-9 record, a county championship, and a trip to the quarterfinals last season, Coach Lintz Bliven departed to take over the boys head coach position at Genesee Valley. His replacement: his assistant coach from last year, Doug Walsh. Walsh returns four players from last year’s team and welcomes five newcomers as his goal remains the same this year as Lintz’s was last year: add another number to the county champions banner. The schedule is different from what they are used to. The Lady Bulldogs face new teams like Finney, Lima-Christian, and Prattsburgh while only playing Hinsdale once, and not playing Andover or Canaseraga, who is playing in the Steuben County League due to its sports merger with Arkport. The girls will scrimmage at Scio the 21st of November before officially beginning the season on December 4th at Genesee Valley.

Boys Varsity Basketball

This year, Joe Hennessy takes the reigns as Boys Varsity coach. Hennessy inherits a team who finished 17-4 last season and also brought home a county championship. He returns most of last year’s team with the exception of the graduates and his goal is to bring home the program’s second ever Section V title in basketball (we have not won it in 78 years). Joe has previous coaching experience, spending fourteen years as coach of a D3 school in Minnesota and the last three seasons under coach Raymie Auman at Wellsville, bringing home two sectional titles. The schedule looks a little different this season, as the Bulldogs face new opponents such as Arkport, Keshequa, and Avoca in the Barkley Showcase at AU and a tournament at Allegany-Limestone and their usual league opponents including the Andover Lions Club Tourney for the 29th year.  Joe has preached in practice that they will be a running team this year, running plays, crashing the boards, etc. BCS fans will get a preview of this new look the 18th as they scrimmage Wellsville at 2:00 and then travel to Campbell Savona the 21st for a scrimmage before beginning the season December 5th at Hinsdale.

Boys JV Basketball

The third coaching change of the year involves the Boys JV team. Coach Will stepped down after last season in order to watch his kids play this year. His replacement is new Belfast math teacher Christopher Enlow. Enlow spent four years playing basketball at Houghton College and hopes to lead this team to victory. Most of his team is new players who moved up from modified and are learning what it’s like to be on the upper level. Coach Enlow’s schedule is similar to coach Hennessy’s.  Enlow’s team will scrimmage at Campbell Savona the 21st of November before officially kicking off the season December 11th vs Fillmore.

Boys Modified Basketball

We welcome Jordin Fuller to the BCS coaching squad as he takes over for Joe Dahill, who finished 6-6 in his only season coaching basketball. He inherits almost an entirely new team with the exception of two returners. Jordin is no stranger to the basketball program, as he played on the varsity team and holds a BCS record for consecutive free throws made, 151, and is a 2008 graduate. The mod squad will practice for a few weeks before beginning the season December 14th vs Scio.

Girls Modified Basketball

The only basketball team at BCS not undergoing a coaching change is the girls modified basketball team as first grade teacher Sandy Miller returns for her eleventh season. Miller returns most of her team from last year and her goal this season is the same every year: a winning record. Her team starts the same day as Fuller’s: December 14th vs Scio.