Fenton JV Learning How To Win Close Ones

The main purpose of any junior varsity sport is to adequately prepare athletes for situations they will face at the varsity level.

Knocking down pressure free throws to hold onto leads in close basketball games is undoubtedly a vital asset at the varsity level, and the JV team did just that in a 58-54 win over Holly Tuesday.

Leading 56-54 with less than 10 seconds remaining, Holly fouled Fenton's Michael Wisniewski, hoping he'd miss at least once, giving the Bronchos a possession to try and tie it.

Wisniewski calmly hit both free throws, which was a trend for the team the entire game. Fenton shot 21-for-29 at the line, including a 15-for-16 from freshman James Clayborn.

"He (Clayborn) has been our leader all season and we were able to draw it up and get the ball in James' hands down the stretch and he knocked his free throws down," said JV coach Nick Gregory, who has been on the Fenton staff since 2001. "We've had a lot of tough, close losses, so I think that experience helped us down the stretch in this game."

Gregory and JV assistant Jim Adams have both been fixtures in the program and have helped guide this year's squad to an 8-6 record. This year's team includes Clayborn, Wisniewski, Brennen Clarke, Ashton Clark, Joshua Muhleck, Noah Rachor, Isaiah Miller, Alec Anderson, Christian Cryer, Scott Lukas, Andrew Olszewski and Alexander Branoff.

Although the team has won some close games and had some go the other way, one thing has been a constant - effort.

"Our number one strength is these guys really play for each other," Gregory said. "They are a tight-knit group and really enjoy being around each other. They're high character, high quality kids, and it's fun to coach them."

Gregory said the staff tries to get across a message of how important a team-first mentality is.

"Part of that is being able to do things that may not get noticed by people outside of the program: everyday good attitude in practice, effort, getting on loose balls, getting rebounds, playing defense, making the extra pass," Gregory said. "We're asking them to do things that don't always translate on the score sheet to really stress that team-first atmosphere."