News

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC Sportswriter

If there is one new feature that stands out with this year’s Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s basketball team in Year 2, it’s depth. 

After finishing with a 12-17 overall record in its inaugural season last year, the Centurions return eight players — including its leading scorer from last season, point guard Taylen Carver (Louisville, Ky.), and have added another nine, with eight freshmen, including one from Serbia — Vlada Djordjijevic — one sophomore transfer — Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Ga.) — and two key members of Greenville High School’s 22-win varsity team from last season — Zeke Robinet (Greenville, Mich.) and Jaxon Ingles (Greenville, Mich.). 

The loaded roster — which went from 11 last year to 17 this year — was intentional, said Zach Ingles, whose returning coaching staff includes Lenny Starck and Asher Vissman. 

“We did this on purpose because we got a little thin last year,” Ingles said. “These seasons are long, and we already have one player down, so we wanted to pad our roster.” 

Currently, Imlay City, Mich. sophomore guard Andrew Badder is out with an injury. 

According to Ingles, a junior community college team can have as many players as it wants but, he said, the biggest challenge with so many players is getting each of them minutes on the floor. And though MCC is only in its second year as a program, it’s in “win now” mode, which Ingles believes his team is talented enough to win the MCCAA Northern Conference, meaning the players proving themselves in practice will get more of the spotlight during game time. 

“We don’t bring in anyone who can’t play. I tell my guys every day that each one of them can play,” Ingles said. “Everyone wants to play but not everyone can. So, it’s a tricky scenario.” 

What Ingles has set up is a competitive roster, not just against the rest of the conference but within his own team, where each player is trying to carve out a role on the team, be it a starter or playing a vital role coming off the bench. With the new players he has on hand, Ingles’ team has plenty of new firepower to add to his offense, which is why he said depth may be the team’s biggest asset this season. Having a plethora of firepower coming off the bench, he said, is a game changer. 

Last year’s team relied heavily on the scoring output of Carver, who, many times, produced. However, if opponents were able to shut him down, the Centurions oftentimes struggled. MCC's offense still intends to goes through Carver this season, however, Ingles is hoping he has more teammates stepping up offensively, giving the team multiple sources of scorers and providing more support for Carver on offense. 

“We’re going to have firepower coming off the bench that we didn’t have last year,” he said. “With a deep bench, it provides an overall strength that is significantly advanced compared to a year ago. I think, because of our depth and with other players being able to score other than just Taylen, we’re going to be a very difficult matchup for many opponents.” 

So far, Carver was the leading scorer in two of MCC’s first four games, scoring 16 points in its loss to Owens Community College and scoring 24 points in the Centurions’ most recent home game, a win against Kuyper College, Nov. 11. Sophomore Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) and freshman Trevor Zamarron (Greenville, Mich.) were the leading scorers in the other two games for MCC, scoring 14 and 21 points, respectively. 

Ingles said Carver’s role stays pretty much the same as last year, however, he will be expected to be more of a vocal leader now that he is a sophomore with plenty of experience both on the court and off the court, now in his third year of being on MCC’s campus. 

“He has to guide with his voice now,” Ingles said. “The players look up to him. He’s had to grow into a vocal role because it’s not natural for him. But you have a lot of kids who are away from home, even one from Serbia, and Tay has been here for three years, so he knows how to settle in here. His role on the court doesn’t change, but off the court, he has to do a little more. He has to start doing the little things to help guide his teammates, on the court and just living away from home.” 

Ingles said the players have been impressive on and off the court, bonding well with each other quickly, and now it is about gelling together on the court, which, early in the season, it seems they are, posting a 3-2 record in the month of November, so far. The Centurions won their season opener rather convincingly, beating Washtenaw Community College, 103-49, Nov. 1, but then fell short against Owens Community College, losing 81-77, Nov. 3.  

“They shot 37 free throws to our 11, so that’s all I have to say about that,” Ingles said. “We were still figuring things out and I’d rather be doing that now than during conference play. We’ll see them again (Nov. 29) and we’re looking forward to it.” 

The Centurions rebounded, however, clinching two home wins back-to-back, an 87-54 win against Alma College (junior varsity), Nov. 5, and, most recently, an impressive 105-59 win over Kuyper College (junior varsity), Nov. 11. MCC lost a close road game, with Lake Michigan College squeaking out an 82-79 win, Saturday, Nov. 15. 

For the next 10 games, MCC will be more challenged as Ingles and company will face several ranked teams, including No. 4-ranked Macomb Community College (at home, Nov. 30), which, he said, “is both exciting and terrifying.” 

“We take things game by game,” he said. “At the end of the year, we’re capable of winning the North, I’ll buy that. But we could also end in the middle. It’s a brutal schedule. We’ll see how we progress, especially early in the season. We’ll see what we take in and what we don’t and go from there.” 

UP NEXT: The Centurions will take on Jackson College (0-4 overall) at the Raider Showcase, hosted by Grand Rapids Community College on Saturday, Nov. 22. Game time is 2 p.m.