Dryden boys basketball gets fresh start

The 2019 season was not one to remember for Dryden boys basketball. The Lions went 1-19, which was the worst record out of the IAC’s 19 teams. Many players on this year’s team have no memories of that, as only three of the nine players on the roster were members of the 2019-20 team.

Just four games into the season (at the time this article was written), Dryden is 2-2, already surpassing last year’s win total with victories over Trumansburg and IAC runner-up Whitney Point. It will be an abbreviated season, but one that will be very important for the development of the young team that does not feature any seniors.

The roster consists of seven juniors and two sophomores, so it is assumed that all nine players will be back and even better next season. For now, head coach Zach LeViere is simplifying things for his young roster.

“This year is such an interesting year,” LeViere said. “We did not have much time to prepare for the season. So, to prepare for this year, it was a lot of, ‘Hey, we’re going to put in the basics.’ We’re not going to do a bunch of fancy defensive or offensive plays. We’re going to put in the basics and just play basketball.”

Given that there was very little varsity experience on his roster going into the season, LeViere understandably had high hopes that basketball would get approved by New York state and Tompkins County.

“This year is so important for them to get that varsity experience,” he said. “Even with it being a shortened season, you can’t replace that experience. Each level that you go up in the game — whether it’s from modified to JV, JV to varsity, varsity to college — it is a huge jump in the speed of the game, the physicality of the game, and everyone has to go through that adjustment period. For us to be able to get this season in and give all these guys experience, it’s going to be a huge advantage going into next year for sure.”

While building those skills is very important going into next season, when postseason play will presumably return, team chemistry is the focal point of the season for Dryden.

“I want them to build a sense of teamwork, a sense of camaraderie, because they’re all going to be back together next year,” LeViere said. “We’ve already started to see that in our first week of practice and in our first game. Really, that’s number one for me is to just build a team that enjoys playing together — and they do enjoy playing together — so continuing to build on that.”

The two youngest on the team, sophomores Colton Dow and Xavier Scott, are two of the most productive players on offense. Dow is a team captain due to his previous varsity experience, and Scott is the tallest player on the team, using his height effectively on both ends of the court. LeViere discussed their development together.

“Colton and Xavier are awesome kids,” he said. “They come into practice and work hard and they’ve played together for years. They played together on modified and they play together in the spring as well. So, they’re kind of still building that connection together. That’ll be a fun thing to watch as they have two more years of varsity basketball after this.”

At the end of the day, wins and losses matter very little in comparison to just being able to step on the court this year. It had nearly been a year between games for Dryden, and they’ve hit the ground running.

“They’re just so excited to be back playing again,” LeViere said. “All throughout the fall, and throughout the winter, I was constantly getting messages and constantly being asked, ‘Hey, have you heard anything? When do you think this season’s going to start?’ When we finally got that announcement from the governor and then from the Tompkins County Health Department that the high-risk winter sports would be able to play, I got multiple messages. The guys were excited to be able to come back and play.”

Very few teams are in the position that Dryden is in this season. Many players around Section IV and beyond will be suiting up for their high schools for the final time this year without a postseason run available to them. For Dryden, though, they’re using this season as a fresh start to build toward a successful full season next year.