OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Players of Interest:
Kosta Koufos
Kosta Koufos
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bucknut11
Defense still wins Championships
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Don’t overlook Koufos, Eagles[/FONT]
Monday, November 28, 2005 <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td>[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By Chris Beaven REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER[/FONT]</td></tr></tbody> </table>
PLAIN TWP. - With a state champion just down the road, it would be easy to overlook the GlenOak Golden Eagles.
It would be a big mistake.
GlenOak enters the season eager to build on last year’s 18-5 season with 7-foot-1 junior Kosta Koufos leading the way.
“We’ve got quite a few kids back from last year,” GlenOak High School head boys coach Jack Greynolds Jr. said. “We’ve got a couple JV kids who moved up, and I feel pretty good about it. We have a good basketball IQ. Our kids play a lot of basketball on their own, and they kind of know the nuances of the game.”
Greynolds knows the game well. He learned it from his father, the late Jack Greynolds Sr., who won a state title at Barberton in 1976. And he has built his own successful career at Rootstown, Tallmadge and Buchtel before coming to GlenOak in 2003.
“I feel like these are my kids now,” Greynolds said. “I’ve been here for most of these kids’ careers. I’ve got real good relationships with them now. I feel comfortable this year.”
His comfort level rises knowing that Koufos enters his second year as a starter having grown 3 inches.
“He had a great summer,” Greynolds said. “He weighs about 240 pounds. He works out every day and has routines, and he does weightlifting.”
Koufos averaged 16.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game last season. He had a great showing at a national camp, which made him one of the most coveted juniors nationally.
Ask Greynolds what schools are recruiting his big man, and the coach answers, “Whoever you can think of.”
That includes Ohio State, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Syracuse and Connecticut.
“They’re all on him pretty hard,” Greynolds said.
What’s even more remarkable is colleges are recruiting him as a forward, not a center, because of his skills.
“He just keeps growing as a player,” Greynolds said.
Koufos needs to continue to get more consistent. His coach believes that will happen.
“He’s a kid that eats, sleeps and breaths it,” Greynolds said. “It’s going to pay off.”
And it will pay off for GlenOak, which has a strong supporting cast around Koufos.
Senior guards Errick McCollum and Nate West return. McCollum averaged 11.8 points and 3.2 assists per game. West was a steady sixth man. Senior guard Mark Moore transfers in from Heritage Christian, where he averaged 15 points per game. Two other varsity newcomers are junior guard Mark Quinn and senior forward Brian Powell.
“You can’t have one stud and think you’re going to beat everyone,” Greynolds said. “You have to have four other starters, and two or three guys off the bench that can serve you. And you have to be focused and consistent every night.”
Greynolds thinks this team can do that. Of course, like the rest of the league, GlenOak must deal with defending state champion McKinley. Greynolds knows the Bulldogs will be outstanding.
“I think our kids look at it as a privilege to play them at least once a year, and possibly three times,” he said.
Last year, three of GlenOak’s five losses came to McKinley. The Bulldogs won easily the first two times, but the Eagles gave them a tough tournament game before losing, 51-42.
“We’ll approach them with confidence and respect, and you might knock them off on a certain night,” Greynolds said. “But it’s going to be hard to do.”
GlenOak will not be preoccupied with McKinley. The Eagles have added Detroit Country Day and Cleveland Heights to their schedule.
“We’re going to take them as they come,” Greynolds said. “... It’s a challenge to see where you are at the end of the year. I kind of look at like an artist working with a block of wood.
“You chip away at it, and it either looks like a beauty or a piece of garbage. You hope when you chip away, you make the right chips and hopefully you’ll have a good product by the end of the year.”
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
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12/7/05
12/7/05
High school boys basketball: ‘Flat’ GlenOak still gets a win
Wednesday, December 7, 2005 [FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Chris Beaven repository sports wRITER [/FONT]
Repository Scott Heckel BLOCK PARTY GlenOak High School junior Kosta Koufos prepares to swat away a shot by Jackson’s Zack Fedorka in Tuesday’s second quarter. The 7-foot-1 Koufos blocked five shots and scored 18 points in leading GlenOak to a 64-50 win.
JACKSON TWP. - When Jack Greynolds heard “overrated” chants shouted at his team Tuesday night, the GlenOak High School boys basketball coach thought one thing.
“They were right,” Greynolds said.
The Golden Eagles also proved good enough to win even when they were far from their best. They improved to 3-0 by winning, 64-50, at Jackson despite their coach thinking they came out emotionally flat.
“It’s a victory,” Greynolds said. “That’s about all you can say. ... Jackson definitely outplayed, outsmarted, outcoached, outhustled and out-everythinged us.”
Still, Greynolds said GlenOak, “did enough to get a win.”
What the Eagles did just enough of was exploit their two biggest advantages — 7-foot-1 Kosta Koufos inside and their quick assortment of guards outside.
Koufos, a junior, finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.
“It seemed like whenever they needed it, Kosta did it for them,” Jackson head coach Mike Fuline said.
GlenOak guards Errick McCollum, Mark Quinn and Mark Moore each came up with three steals apiece. McCollum also scored 15 points. Quinn, Moore and Nate West combined for another 23 points. Eight points also came from Brian Powell off the bench.
“We did play hard,” Greynolds said.
The Polar Bears (1-1) led by as much as 24-18 midway through the second quarter. They did everything their first-year coach wanted, but make enough plays to pull off the upset.
“What we’re really concentrating on is our effort,” Fuline said. “We want to play hard and intense on both sides of the floor. I think we did that for 32 minutes, but we lost it mentally for about four minutes. And against a great team and a well-coached team, that’s the result.”
GlenOak took charge with a 10-0 run over the final 4 1/2 minutes of the first half. A 3-pointer by Moore started the run, and three other Eagles scored. They never trailed again.
The Eagles pushed their lead to 44-36 after three quarters, and to double-digits early in the fourth. Jackson got as close as 57-50 entering the final two minutes before GlenOak closed on a 7-0 run.
“Our guys wanted it,” Fuline said. “They played with a lot of desire. ... We’re going to keep getting better every day, and hopefully the scoreboard will take care of itself.”
Curtis Murphy led Jackson with 16 points. Mark Young added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bears play again Friday when Walsh Jesuit visits them. GlenOak is off until a trip to Indiana next week to play Mishawaka Penn, a well-regarded team in that state.
Greynolds does not want to see another flat performance.
“If we do that next Saturday we’re going to get drilled,” he said. “... We’ve got to get a lot better because we’ve got a long ways to go.” Reach Repository sports writer Chris Beaven at (330) 580-8345 or e-mail: [email protected]
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
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12/21/05
12/21/05
High school boys basketball: McKinley 59, Glenoak 46
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Chris Beaven Repository sports writer [/FONT]
Repository RAY STEWART BIG BLOCKER GlenOak’s 7-foot-1 junior Kosta Koufos (right) attempts to block McKinley guard Todd Brown’s path to the basket during Tuesday’s game at Canton Memorial Civic Center. Brown and the Bulldogs won, 59-46.
CANTON - The bright lights of another big arena flashed on.
Another big crowd showed up.
And when Raymar Morgan stepped on the floor at Memorial Civic Center, the McKinley High School senior did his best to treat it like another game Tuesday.
That meant another season-high scoring output, another double-double and another McKinley win — 59-46 over GlenOak.
A near-sellout crowd of more than 4,100 watched Morgan score 30 points and grab 10 rebounds in leading the Bulldogs to their fourth straight win. It also was Morgan’s fourth straight double-double for McKinley (4-1), which is ranked No. 16 nationally by USA Today.
“Every time I step on the floor, I try to take it up another notch,” Morgan said.
This game, though, did hold some special significance with GlenOak being a neighborhood rival for McKinley. The Golden Eagles also feature one of the nation’s top juniors, 7-foot-1 Kosta Koufos.
“They’re right next door,” Morgan said, “and there’s a lot of trash talking between the two schools.”
Morgan didn’t talk much; he rarely does. But his performance said plenty. He shot 9-for-10 from the field in the first half, scoring 22 points to help the Bulldogs take control. They led by 10 late in the half, settling for a 33-26 halftime lead.
“I thought what (Morgan) did was he came out and did a real good job of working to his strength, getting out on the floor and using his mobility,” McKinley head coach Dave Hoover said.
Morgan led fast breaks, crashed the offensive boards, hit three 3-pointers and scored off drives to the hoop.
“He’s a great player, and he had a super game,” GlenOak head coach Jack Greynolds Jr. said. “ ... He’s their main ingredient. They’ve got other guys that hurt you, but he’s the one that puts them over the top.”
Morgan hit two 3-pointers early in the second quarter, scoring 14 of McKinley’s 17 points.
“I’ve been working on it and it just really started falling,” Morgan said of his jumper. “It really got me going and it opened up things for my teammates.”
Morgan’s teammates got more involved in the second half, as he also battled foul trouble.
Eight of Todd Brown’s 10 points came in the second half. Sedelle Broyles, David White and Marcus Parker also contributed big shots.
“I would consider this an average game at best for us,” Hoover said. “Tonight was one of those nights where we had to battle. And that’s good. ... I don’t want things to come easily.”
GlenOak (3-2) came out determined to control tempo and get the ball in to Koufos.
“They got the ball to Koufos in the spots he wanted,” Hoover said.
Koufos scored 14 first-half points on 6-for-6 shooting from the floor, keeping the Eagles within striking distance.
“I just love that kid,” Greynolds said. “And he keeps getting better and better.”
GlenOak, though, went away from its game plan in the second half, as McKinley turned up its pressure.
“We got them out of some things they wanted to do and they started taking shots on the run,” Hoover said.
Koufos went four-plus minutes before attempting a shot in the second half, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds. Nate West added 14 points.
“Nobody else (in Ohio) has played them this well,” Greynolds said. “If our guys get a little tougher mentally maybe we’ll get them one of these times. Hopefully we’ll take care of business and meet them again.” Reach Repository sports writer Chris Beaven at (330) 580-8345 or e-mail: [email protected]
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