New London counting on depth

NEW LONDON — All the way back? Not quite. But things are looking up for the New London boys basketball team. Head coach Tom Howell is back in his second year of his second stint as the coach of his alma mater. Howell won 185 games in 14 seasons (2006-19) at New London with a pair of Firelands Conference championships and one district title. "We're able to do things a little faster right now in terms of getting stuff in and knowing what to expect about effort, first and foremost," Howell said. "It's been better. They are picking up on things a bit faster, and I give them a lot of credit for coming in and working hard." And even though NL is coming off a 2-21 record last season, including just 1-13 in the FC, Howell said the team's strength entering the season may be overall team depth. "I think I can go nine or 10 deep, and I think that's going to help us out a lot," he said. "We're going to try and press a little bit more and try and do some things more in the full and three-quarter court on defense. "We want to run up and down the floor on the offensive side to try and get easy shots and limit our turnovers." Senior Aiden Ruggles returns to the backcourt for the Wildcats. The junior quartet of guards Brady Heileman, Brody Sword, Jaxson Schaffer and Garret Carruthers all lettered as sophomores. Seniors Gavin Clouse and Weston Risner, a pair of forwards, are also expected to see time. Same goes for sophomore guards Jarrett Mencl and Matthew Miller. "The hope is to keep rotating guys in and out," Howell said. On top of competing better on the scoreboard — none of the 21 losses last season were by single-digits — Howell said his team needs to vastly improve at rebounding. "Rebounding sticks in my mind," he said. "We focus on it every day. We have to rebound better. We can't get out and do what we want to do offensively if we don't get the basketball. Being able to rebound is going to be imperative to what we want to do." New London opens the season with a pair of non-league games against Wellington (Nov. 27) and at Buckeye Central (Dec. 7). Its reward in the FC opener is hosting Ashland Crestview, which shared the title with St. Paul a year ago and will be favored to do so again this winter. After that, the Wildcats get Western Reserve and St. Paul on the road in FC games before Christmas. It won't be an easy climb back. "If we want to accomplish the things we want to accomplish, I'm going to focus on the offensive side and say we have to shoot the ball," Howell said. "I know that sounds cliché, but we can't come down with one or two passes and try and throw up a tough shot and hope it goes in. "We have some guys who can do some things with it, but we have to get the ball moving and put pressure on the defense so we can get good, open looks." RosterNo. Name Pos. Ht. Yr.1 Robert Hall F 6-1 112 Aidan Ruggles G 6-1 124 Grady Heileman G 5-9 115 Presley Ferguson G 5-10 1110 Gavin Clouse F 6-3 1211 Garret Carruthers G 6-3 1112 Jackson Mitchell G 6-2 914 Weston Risner F 6-2 1215 Jaxson Schaffer G 6-2 1120 Brody Sword G 5-11 1121 Matthew Miller G 5-10 1022 Jarrett Mencl G 5-10 1023 Tytin Osterland F 6-3 1124 Landon Harrison G 5-11 10