Bobcats open summer league with a perfect record
<p>Tucker Smith was instrumental in setting up his fellow Bobcats with clutch passes this weekend.</p>
Summer league started with a bang for the Superior Bobcat basketball squad.
Over the weekend the varsity team played six games and won all six in convincing fashion. However for Head Coach Chris Toivonen the highlight of the weekend was not the undefeated record – but the amount of improvement each of his players showed throughout the course of the six games.
“The kids did a great job of improving from Saturday to Sunday,” Coach Toivonen said. “They listened well and played together, making some spectacular passes. I was particularly impressed with their defensive intensity over the last two games of the tournament.”
Coach Toivonen mentioned the play of incoming senior Clint Voll, who averaged a double double over the course of the weekend and had a standout game on Sunday against the Plains Horsemen.
“(Voll) had his best weekend of high school basketball,” Coach Toivonen said. “He possibly played the best game of his career versus Plains, delivering several big shots and passes, to go with solid defense.”
Two other incoming seniors, Tucker Smith and Jarrod Tippens were also singled out by Coach Toivonen for their defensive efforts throughout the tournament and also highlighted their individual strengths on the weekend.
“Smith did an outstanding job passing the basketball,” Coach Toivonen said. “He also made several big three pointers throughout the weekend. Tippens played the best defense of his career and did an excellent job on the glass while controlling the paint on both ends.”
Smith, Tippens and Voll were common names when the successes of last season were brought up however with the loss of three graduating seniors, new Bobcats will be expected to fill those roles. Coach Toivonen mentioned three in particular, who all improved over the course of the games.
“Tanner Smith ran the team expertly on Sunday and did an outstanding job with his defense and rebounding,” Coach Toivonen said. “His improvement over the two days was great to see. Vicente Guerrero delivered in a big way as well in his first varsity action, with great defense and solid overall play.”
Coach Toivonen also mentioned Alex Billet, who over the six games was a “monster rebounder” and took a charge against Seeley Sunday that was “instrumental” in the Bobcats victory.
The junior varsity squad also played two games and Coach Toivonen said he was pleased with their performance.
“Aaron Kelly and Alex Billet both had double doubles, Luke Boyce had 16 rebounds versus Seeley, and Vicente Guererro did an excellent job overall,” Coach Toivonen said. “Cody Krussow, Connor Voll, Kaleb Ververis and Taryn Ververis all performed exceptionally well.”
The Bobcats head to Ronan on Friday and Saturday to continue their summer league campaign and Coach Toivonen said the boys will face “extremely tough competition” there from around the state.