Worsening season leaves Maisel in search of solutions
By Brian Gomez
Joe Maisel has endured some tough times in the past few years as head coach of the Corona del Sol High School boys varsity basketball team. But he has never suffered through anything this bad.
After starting the season with six consecutive wins, the Aztecs have lost 13 of their last 14 games, including 10 in a row. Their last win--a 75-66 victory against Class 4A Tempe High--came Dec. 26 in the opening round of the McClintock Holiday Shootout.
With a second wave of Central Region teams licking their chops at a chance to again face Corona in the coming weeks, Maisel has exhausted nearly all the tools in his bag of tricks to keep his team’s morale from dropping below the Mendoza Line.
"That’s where I’m a magician right now," Maisel said."They know they’re going into games almost every night as underdogs. They lay it out on the court. I can’t ask for anything more than that."
With less than a handful of games remaining before the start of the Central Region Tournament, Corona (7-13, 0-3 Central Region) desperately needs some wins to generate even the slightest bit of momentum.The prospect for success does not look too promising, however, given the fact that the Aztecs have to travel down the same road that left them battered and beaten last week.
Corona will continue the treacherous journey at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 with a game against cross-town rival Marcos de Niza.Led by senior shooting guard Jon Ziri, junior swingman Dubois Williams and freshman point guard Kal Bay, the No. 8-ranked Padres (19-3, 3-1) are one of the state’s most balanced teams.
"What’s scary is that we have a lot of room for improvement," said Marcos head coach Dave Stark, whose team got 39 points from its three primary offensive threats Jan. 14 in a 62-57 victory against the Aztecs at Sammy Duane Gymnasium.
Corona is scheduled to host Scottsdale Desert Mountain at 7 p.m. Feb. 4, before closing out the season at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 versus archrival Mountain Pointe.‘Buoyed by big contributions from senior forward Brett Collins, the Pride (9-6, 1-2) are eyeing a trip to the state tournament, while the Wolves (14-7, 1-2) are a vastly improved team.
"We have to click on all cylinders in order to beat a top team right now," Maisel said. "We’re not doing a lot of the little things we need to do to win. We’re in every game, but we’ve got to knock down shots."
Regardless of what happens to the Aztecs down the stretch, they will have an opportunity to secure a postseason berth in the Central Region Tournament.Even as the probable fifth seed, Corona merely has to win one game to advance to the state tournament. But the task is a lot easier said than done since the Aztecs will be forced to go on the road and their opponent will likely be No. 4 Marcos or No. 3 Desert Vista (18-3, 3-0), which is in the driver’s seat of the region.
"We’re not focusing on the wins and losses, we’re focusing on getting better," Maisel said."We know that in our league, everyone gets in the region tournament. That’s when we want to peak."
One thing that is for certain is that Corona will have a hard time trying to improve without a healthy lineup. Senior forward Josh Kinnaman finally returned to action last week against Desert Mountain after missing a majority of the season with a sprained right ankle.
In the absence of Kinnaman, many of the offensive responsibilities were placed on the shoulders of senior point guard Steven Koehnemann, who is averaging 11.7 points in three region games despite playing with a sprained right wrist that has never fully healed.Junior swingman Dan Winterbottom, junior center Craig Borengasser and junior guard T.J. Benson also helped carry the load for a team that has often looked out of rhythm.
Junior center Josh Spence is no longer bothered by the lingering effects of an injured ankle, but he has seen limited action in recent games after getting into early foul trouble.
Borengasser has received increased playing time as of late to fill the void and junior center Allen Smith also has gotten a few minutes.
"I’m playing a lot of juniors," Maisel said. "A lot of kids are getting a lot of quality minutes."
New postseason format adopted
The 5A Conference has approved a measure to double the number of boys and girls basketball teams admitted into next year’s state tournament.The conference also decided to use a power points-rating system to determine postseason seeds.
The state tournament will now include 32 schools--the top four teams from the Desert Valley, East Valley, Northwest and Southern regions, the top three teams from the Central, Fiesta, Metro and Southwest regions and four teams that earn at-large bids.The power points-rating system, which takes into account a team’s record and strength of schedule, will not include games against 4A teams and out-of-state schools.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@wranglernews.com.