Hawks' puzzle coming together

Bartlett boys basketball coach Jim Wolfsmith is hurrying to complete a puzzle.

How well the pieces fit together when he's finished -- not to mention when he finishes -- will go a long way to determining which team goes on to win the Upstate Eight Conference title this season.

The pieces Wolfsmith is interconnecting are of distinct styles and shapes.

Some are big, like 6-foot-9 center Kamil Janton and 6-5 forward Cory Hrynyk (pronounced Huh-rin-ik), both named to the Daily Herald All-Area team last season as juniors.

Some pieces are smaller, like junior point guard Marc Little (5-10), a transfer from Driscoll, sophomore backups Mike Banks (6-0) and Frankie Cleope (5-10) and junior Kevin Gates (5-10).

And some of the pieces are mid-sized, like senior forward Mike Selvaggi (6-4), strong sophomore scoring guard Luke Labedzki (6-0), senior guard Jacques Smith (6-1), senior forward Marcell Randell (6-3) and broad-chested, senior backup center Derrick Coleman (6-3).

Because former coach Tom Lamberti resigned over the summer and wasn't officially replaced by Wolfsmith until Aug. 29, the Hawks have been rushing to digest their new coach's schemes and philosophy since practice began in October.

"That's what the summer would have been for, but we didn't have a summer together," Wolfsmith said. "We're doing it in the middle of the season.

"The learning curve is really steep for us. The kids have worked exceptionally hard since the beginning of the year to assimilate all the information that I'm throwing at them, the new offenses, the new defenses. There are an awful lot of things they've learned since we've been together.

"Now you start refining things, but you still hit bumps in the road."

Though not yet up to speed on Wolfsmith's schemes, the Hawks (10-5) nevertheless have been able to win twice as many games as they've lost this season because they possess an abundance of natural talent, led by the "big three" of Janton, Hrynyk and Labedzki.

Janton, an Eastern Michigan signee, is averaging 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds with 29 blocks in 15 games.

Hrynyk, immersed off the court in the throes of the recruiting process, is averaging 13 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. He's deadly from the outside, as evidenced by a 48.9-percent success rate this season from 3-point range (22 of 45).

Labedzki, the sophomore, is a tough-as-nails baller, a player used to being the best player on his teams growing up. He didn't lose a game in seventh or eighth grade and started as a freshman last year for the Bartlett varsity. Just as capable of shooting from anywhere on the court as he is driving the lane for a tough layup, Labedzki is averaging 13.2 points and 3.6 rebounds a game.

"It's a lot of fun because if one person's off, someone else will be on," Hrynyk said. "It really doesn't matter who scores or anything like that. This team is awesome."

The Hawks were already expected to play well this season, but the roster addition of Little has made them a more formidable team.

In the seven games since the transfer student from Driscoll was ruled eligible in early December, he has used his quickness and natural basketball instincts to average 9.4 points per game with 20 assists, 20 rebounds and 12 steals.

"We were prepared for the rest of the team, but we weren't ready for (Little) and it showed," said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle, whose team barely held off visiting Bartlett to win by 3 points over the holidays. "He broke us down pretty well. I liked him a lot.

"We thought we were just going to have to deal with size and inside stuff against Bartlett, but he made us have to deal with quickness that we really hadn't counted on and that came as a surprise to us. He makes them a far better team."

Bartlett led Jacobs on the Golden Eagles' home court by 5 points in the fourth quarter of that tournament game on Dec. 27, but eventually lost 58-56, mainly because Jacobs used 17 offensive rebounds to take 67 shots.

Getting out-rebounded is a common theme in Bartlett's five losses. In fact, though the Hawks entered last Friday's nonconference game at Fenton with momentum from a 4-1 showing at the Jacobs tournament, they were outscored 17-9 at the end of the game and lost a 58-57 decision. The Hawks allowed Fenton to collect 15 offensive rebounds.

"I don't care who you are playing, if you give them extra shots, it's going to hurt you," Wolfsmith said. "That's something we definitely need to concentrate on in the coming weeks.

"In our 5 losses we've given up an average of 14 offensive rebounds. If there's one particular item we need to control game-in and game-out, it's rebounding. We can box our guy out, we can not go flying by a guy who's shooting the ball instead of closing out low to box him out after the shot, we can rotate to the right spot and we can find a guy, even if it's not our guy, and box him out. Those are the things we can control."

The Hawks can also control their intensity level. To a man, the players said after a practice this week that their effort at Fenton was subpar.

"The difference between us and championship teams is that we have lulls, these peaks and valleys," Hrynyk said. "We'll have one amazing night, then the next night have lulls and be a little slow."

"I guess we get a little lazy now and then," Little confirmed. "But I think it's going to change. After that loss to Fenton, I think it's going to change."

Change, in fact, is almost guaranteed since this team hasn't fully jelled yet by its own admission. The players are still blending their natural talent and instincts into Wolfsmith's system.

The results are improving generally. Moments of hesitation due to unfamiliarity with the offense occur with less frequency now and players are figuring out how to find their points within the system as opposed to freelancing for baskets.

"We're getting a lot closer," Labedzki said. "Two more weeks and I think we'll be there. We could be at the top of our game."

The Hawks need to be fully polished in two weeks if they expect to make a bona fide run at an Upstate Eight title. Bartlett is 2-1 in the conference with a loss already to Waubonsie Valley. Bartlett hosts Larkin tonight and travels to East Aurora Saturday night. A pair of wins would make next Thursday's showdown at league-leading Neuqua Valley a big one.

"I think we can compete for the title and the Neuqua game is going to be a humongous test for us," Labedzki said. "But we have to take it step by step and beat Larkin and East Aurora first."

Said Janton: "If we can get past Larkin and East Aurora, we'll be pretty fired up."

Will the Bartlett puzzle be far enough along by then for Bartlett fans to begin recognizing the final image Wolfsmith is piecing together? In a word: maybe.

"When we start using our athletic ability and our intelligence together, I think we'll be a really good team," Wolfsmith said. "My hope is to get us to that point before the postseason hits.

"I hope when we're done it looks like a sectional championship."