Boys Hoops: Affton's Spirits High Despite Tough Start

The Affton Cougars boys varsity basketball team still has high expectations for improving on last season's 8-17 record, despite a frustrating 1-5 start this season.

The Cougars won their first game of the 2010-11 season, defeating Valmeyer, 77-48. But they've lost five straight since then, the last a 64-50 loss at Herculaneum on Thursday.

Team captain and senior point guard Christian Moreno believes this could still be the year all the pieces finally come together for Affton.

"When we play together everything just flows," Moreno said. "We need to get better at doing that consistently."

Moreno is second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.5 points per game. He also leads the Cougars with 4.7 assists and 2.8 steals per game.

Senior forward Sean Benedict considers the team's strong suit to be its fast break.

"We get up and down the court pretty quick," said Benedict, who leads Affton with 13.3 points per game this season. He also leads the Cougars with 9.5 rebounds per game and 16 blocked shots. Benedict averaged more than eight points and six rebounds last season.

Although Affton graduated four seniors from last year,, its game strategy hasn't changed. The Cougars still try to depend on their inside game, which now features 6-foot-5 co-captain senior Martez Roberts, one of the team's five seniors.

Roberts is off to a slow start offensively, averaging 6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Senior forward Jefferson Lindor is third in scoring for Affton, averaging 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Head coach Mike Fitzgerald feels like the team is struggling to fill the void left by the powerful inside presence and leadership of Markus Golden, who graduated after last season. Golden averaged 15.6 points and 13.6 rebounds last season, and was one of the top rebounders in the entire metro area.

"The kids listened to him more than they did me," said Fitzgerald, who has been coaching this group of seniors since they were sophomores. "Nothing's really changed. We still run the same offense, same defense and same calls."

The Cougars, he said, have not allowed this losing streak to get them down. Fitzgerald has seen this team really get along well this season and said they are committed to playing for each other.

"They all want to win," he said. "We do need to work on communicating on defense, and execution as far as offensive and defensive plays, and our basketball IQ."

Fitzgerald feels very confident in using all 11 players in every game. He wants to reward his bench players for their hard work in practice, and said they often play as good or sometimes better in the game as they do in practice.

"Our practices are very, very competitive," said Fitzgerald. "This team's depth should help us win some games."