BOYS BASKETBALL: North Shore Raises Expectations After Historic 2011 Season

There weren’t many words spoken among ’s players after they walked off the court following their 58-56 loss to Latin School on Tuesday night.

It was the Raiders’ second straight defeat – they lost to Northridge Prep 48-46 in overtime on Saturday – and another game they felt should’ve been theirs.

“These past two games feel terrible when you lose these kinds of games,” junior point guard Jamie Swimmer said. “Every loss really hurts at this point.”

RELATED:

After winning the school’s first regional championship last season, the standards and expectations at North Shore (1-2) have been raised. No longer are early-season contests solely learning experiences. The players expect to win, and win right away.

With a majority of last year’s team returning, including leading scorer Austin Curren, there’s reason to believe the Raiders could repeat and improve on last year’s results. Swimmer will be the starting point guard for the second straight season and is aided on the wings by forwards Riley Hall and Jake Bruce.

“He sees the floor well, but he’s got to learn to create some passing angles for himself a little better,” North Shore coach Rashid Smith said about Swimmer, who struggled at times against Latin’s zone defense. “He’s a good player; he’s capable.”

Even though there was little roster turnover, this year’s team will play a different style than last year. Without Ryan Nolan and Erik Anderson in the middle, the Raiders will look to get out in transition and run.

“All five guys can shoot from the perimeter, drive, penetrate and kick,” Swimmer said. “We’re really looking to run on teams because we’re a lot more athletic than last year.”

Swimmer and Smith both noted that North Shore hasn’t had much practice against zone defenses, and it showed on Tuesday. Latin did a good job of limiting North Shore’s open-court opportunities and slowing the tempo by making shots and mixing up different defenses.

Curren led the Raiders with 18 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Hall and Bruce chipped in 12 each. While Smith is happy with the number of scoring options that North Shore possesses, he wants to see his team be smarter, identifying shooters on defense and taking care of the ball on offense. North Shore had 16 turnovers against Latin, including six in the fourth quarter.

While the early losses are disappointing, North Shore knows that seasons are made in March, not in December.

“Expectations are set higher than last year,” Swimmer said. “The ultimate goal is to repeat regionals and win some games in sectional this year.”

"Like" us on Facebook!