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Tigers get off to best start in 20 years
(by Steve Novak - January 07, 2009)
Tigers get off to best start in 20 years
By STEVE NOVAK
It took more than four weeks of games for Chagrin Falls' boys basketball team to finally put a loss onto its season record. But before last weekend's 45-43 nonconference loss to Niles McKinley, the team had rolled to seven straight wins.
The start of the season had been going so well that it prompted coach Dave Bargar to do a little bit of research last week regarding other seasons at Chagrin Falls.
"I went back and looked and it's safe to say that a Chagrin Falls team hasn't started the season with that many wins (in a row) in at least 20 years," he said.
Before losing last weekend, Chagrin Falls defeated Independence, Aurora, Perry, West Geauga, Jefferson, Chardon and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.
The Tigers' 7-1 mark is a far cry away from the 10-11 final season record last year. Bargar said that although he lost six members of last season's team to graduation, there were a lot of returnees who already had substantial varsity experience.
An additional advantage for Bargar is that most of the members of the current team have played together before.
"Our chemistry is the main reason we've been successful so far," he said. "If you look at our (Chagrin Valley Conference) league, the teams are pretty evenly matched. But with our kids, the chemistry is outstanding in their way of working together."
Bargar said one example of how his players have the ability to pull together and help each other occurred in the game against Chardon.
In that game, one of Bargar's usual starting five, Brody Smith, was out of town and missed the game. As a result, two other members of the team stepped in to play key roles.
"In the Chardon game, Matt Diles wound up scoring 14 points and grabbing 15 rebounds," Bargar said. "And Billy Caster finished the game with eight points. These are kids who are not usually the high scorers, but they moved into the role in this occasion."
The leading scorer is Sam Schiferl, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, who is averaging 13 points per game. Sean Kuenzig, a 5-foot-11 guard, has been averaging 11 points each game.
On the boards, Connor Clegg is averaging eight rebounds each contest and Matt Diles seven rebounds each game.
Because several of his players are 6-foot or taller, Bargar knows that this is one area of the game that has to emphasized to its full advantage this year.
"We've definitely got size," Bargar said. "We try to emphasize rebounding, especially not getting boxed out, and getting offensive rebounds, too."
The Tigers have early control of the Chagrin Valley Conference with a 3-0 record. After nonconference game with Eastlake North, the Tigers return to league action Saturday night at Orange.
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