Boys basketball: Staying close with defense

• Image

A Rosemount basketball player dribbles the ball down the court.

Talk about it

Before the season started, Rosemount boys basketball coach Bryan Schnettler lauded his team’s size and athleticism.

The Irish were ushering several new players into the rotation for this season.

The increased length and athleticism has served Rosemount well this season, on the defensive end.

Schnettler and the Irish are waiting for it to transfer to the team’s offense.

With the effort matching the team’s size, speed and agility, the defense has stood out for Rosemount this season. While those attributes are present on the offensive side, something else is needed for the Irish to score consistently.

“On offense you need those skill players,” Schnettler said. “We need guys to be tough with the basketball. We haven’t had a lot of that yet. We’ve had bad turnovers, not really forced ones. We need guys to finish plays. We’ve had some guys step up here lately, but we need other guys to join them and finish a few more plays here or there.”

The blue-collar work on defense has kept the Irish alive in every game this season. Schnettler knows that the offensive work will largely determine wins and losses.

Rosemount held each of its three opponents last week under 50 points, but went 1-2 in three very close games. The Irish lost 48-44 at Bloomington Jefferson. They recovered for a 50-48 home win against Prior Lake, but lost 48-45 a day later at home against Shakopee.

“Defensively, we played pretty well,” Schnettler said. “We held those teams to 48 points a game in all three of them. Offensively, we’re still struggling with two big things: turnovers and finishing plays.”

Rosemount (4-5, 1-1 South Suburban) shot 54.3 percent against Shakopee on Saturday, but was undone by 17 turnovers.

“Saturday we shoot the best we have all year and then we get 17 turnovers against their zone,” Schnettler said. “Their zone hurt us a lot.”

Charlie Broback led the Irish with 13 points. Matt Nelson added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Against Prior Lake, Rosemount had 24 turnovers and let a 30-23 halftime lead slip away, but held on for the two-point victory.

Nelson and Brandon Forcier each had 12 points. Nelson added nine rebounds and five blocks. Kevin Larson had eight points and six rebounds. Alex Timmers chipped in with five points, six assists, and three steals.

“We’ve looked solid on defense,” Schnettler said. “We’ve had a few miscues here or there, but I think we’ll continue to get even better on defense. Offensively, we’ve got some guys coming back that will help a lot. I’m really not too worried. We have 16 or 17 games left here. We have a long ways to go.”

Broback had a team-high 10 points in the loss to Jefferson. Nelson had nine points, six rebounds and five steals, but a poor start hurt the Irish, who trailed 30-17 at halftime in the 48-44 game.

Rosemount plays host to Bloomington Kennedy tomorrow and travels to Edina on Saturday for a make-up of a postponed game from earlier this season.

The Irish host No. 3 Eastview on Jan. 18.

Tags: boys basketball, sports, rosemount, prep, irish