Boys basketball: Scouting Leyden

By Marty Maciaszek

BEGIN_ATTRIBUTIONmmaciaszek@dailyherald.comEND_ATTRIBUTION

Leyden

Coach: Bill Heisler (fifth year, 40-69)

Last year: 11-17, 5-7 (5th WSC Gold)

Graduated players: Brandon Stinson (10.5 ppg, 40 3s), Eric Palmer (6.5 ppg), John Gulo (2.2 ppg), Carlos Olavarria (5.5 ppg)

Returning players: Seniors Alex Herrera (5-9, all-area G, 11.8 ppg, 2 apg, 58 3s), Patrick Listwan (6-1, F, 7 ppg), Andrei Andreev (6-2, F), Antonio Reyes (5-11, G), Brian MacNamera (6-3, F)

Newcomers: Seniors Sammy Moya (5-9, G), Tony Cruz (5-9, G); juniors Anthony Gonzalez (6-4, C), Anthony Martinez (5-10, G), Danny DiMaso (5-9, G), Gino Rivera (6-0, G), Jay Jackson (5-9, G), Jonny Woolf (6-2, F), Omar Lazoya (6-2, F), Rocco DiMatteo (6-0, G)

Outlook: Having a player back in Herrera to run things is a good place to start for Leyden. "He can play and he's good," Heisler said. "The biggest thing is he's so much more comfortable. He's such a nice kid, almost to a fault, and he was a little passive last year. Now he's so much more aggressive and assertive and we're expecting a huge season out of him." But Herrera should have help as Heisler expects increased scoring from Listwan, who is finishing inside better in his third varsity season. Lazoya was the leading scorer for the sophomores last year and is a good shooter and Woolf, whose brother Mike was an all-area guard, can also score. Moya should help at the point after taking a year off and MacNamera and Gonzalez give the Eagles some much-needed size. "I really like this group," Heisler said. "I keep coming back that I'm a little more optimistic about them than I was a year or two ago." It won't be easy in a year where the WSC Gold will be as tough as ever with Proviso East and new coach Donnie Boyce, Downers Grove South and Morton. "The last couple of years we've improved as the season has gone on but we started out and dug ourselves a real hole," Heisler said. "We've put a lot of emphasis on starting strong."