As the only returning starter from last year’s team that finished the season 20-3, Powers Catholic senior Andrew Caldwell knew he’d have to plan for a different role this season.
“I’ve worked on just expanding my game more from last year,” Caldwell said. “I was mainly just a catch and shoot guy. There’s still a lot of that in my game now, but I’ve worked on being able to do more off the dribble and create for others. And also just having a loud voice in the locker room and being a leader.”
Among the players Powers is replacing in its lineup is Javontae Ross, who led the team in scoring at more than 20 points per game a season ago. Ross is now at Saginaw Valley State. Through the first two games of the season, the team has shown it still has a lot of offensive firepower, even if that scoring doesn’t occur in exactly the same way as it did with last season’s personnel.
“What we’ve done as a program is our strengths have kind of been able to stay the same every year because of what we emphasize,” said Zach Collins, who is beginning his fifth season leading the team. “We’re always gonna be a fast-paced team. We’re always gonna be a team that likes to shoot the ball. This year we’re scoring a little more inside (so far) off post-ups than we have in the past. That’s probably the one change. We’ve gone away from a little bit of a heavy ball screen actions from last year to playing more open on offense. Even though the players change every year, the core concepts of how we play stay the same.”
Through two games, the Chargers have had two impressive wins, beating Bendle by 22 and Caro by 23 and averaging nearly 80 points per game through those two victories. In their win over Caro on December 5, Powers showed how their ability to push the pace and get quick three-pointers provides fast scoring bursts to rapidly extend leads.
The team jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first two minutes of the game. Then, early in the third quarter, Caro quickly cut a 17-point deficit to 11. Powers regrouped and three quick 3-pointers, two by junior Eli Sturgess and one by Caldwell, erased any attempts at momentum Caro was trying to build.
“We shoot a lot in practice, that’s one of the most important skills in basketball,” Caldwell said. “To really be able to stretch the floor with that and put up some points in a hurry is a really special weapon that we have.”
Much of the Powers offense starts with defense, though. The team has a good mix of length on the perimeter with tall wings like Caldwell and Drew Simmons getting in passing lanes and creating deflections. Tyler Wood, a 6-foot-7 center, is an athletic rim protector. And point guard Breckin Cicalo is a focal point of that defense with his ability to pick up opposing players in the backcourt and pressure the ball the full length of the court.
Against Caro, in addition to coming up with steals and deflections, his simple presence also created two additional turnovers when Caro guards traveled anticipating his pressure before he’d even applied it.
“One thing I really pride myself on is just energy,” Cicalo said. “I like to pick up 94 feet on my man, whoever I’m guarding and giving them a tough time. I really think it just brings the intensity up, it’s like our identity. It definitely requires a lot of conditioning, doing my sprints and all that stuff. Our coaches got me right though.”
That defensive pressure often leads to quick scoring opportunities, and Collins has been happy through two games with how fast Powers is turning those defensive stops or turnovers into easy baskets.
“Our pace of play is awesome,” Collins said. “We’re pushing the ball in transition at every opportunity. Guys are getting out and running, we’re really controlling tempo out there. Overall we’re just playing really hard and that’s really important in the beginning of the year as you still work out some of the kinks with shot-making and other offensive stuff and defensive stuff. Playing hard can go a long way toward covering some of those early mistakes, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Cicalo is new to the starting lineup this year, but does have significant varsity experience. Although Powers has four new starters, Collins points out that several returning players did have important roles on last year’s team.
“Eli and Breckin, those are two guys that have been three-year varsity players,” Collins said. “We have some guys who in the past were more role players, but they’ve worked hard and are ready to take on more advanced roles. That’s the great thing about our program, we have such great leadership. Every year, guys are able to help the younger guys get better. So when it is their time, they’re ready to step right in.”
Caldwell is especially excited about that element of this year’s team, noting that they play well together and have a supportive environment.
“We get along really well as a group,” Caldwell said. “It feels like a family. So we just all really enjoy playing with each other out there and that helps us with our chemistry, obviously. And then we like to play fast. We got a lot of people who can shoot and we got a lot of people who are just bought in to get better. So I think we have the makings of what could be a good team or a very special team.”
That bond is especially important playing in the Saginaw Valley League, one of the toughest basketball conferences in the state. Last season, six teams finished .500 or better in the conference and the top four teams in the standings were all separated by just three losses. Powers finished second in the conference to Grand Blanc by one game, losing by two in their only matchup. Their only other league loss was to third-place Carman-Ainsworth, also by two points, in triple overtime.
Rematches with both teams are back-to-back. They play Carman-Ainsworth on the road at 7 p.m. on December 16 and have Grand Blanc at home at 7:30 p.m. on December 19.
“Obviously every team in our league is very athletic, very physical,” Collins said. “So we gotta do a better job of rebounding. And then, we always emphasize taking care of the ball, especially with teams creating pressure. We’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”
The standard for Powers basketball is always high. Last season, the team advanced to the district title game but was upset by a Goodrich team they’d beaten earlier in the season.
“Our goal is to win championships here,” Collins said. “And I think we have a team that is capable of doing that. I wouldn’t say we’re at that point yet, but that’s pretty normal early in the season, especially with all that we had to replace. But that’s our goal, and the guys are gonna keep pushing for it, that’s the attitude they come out with. They think they’re going to win every night and we just gotta keep pushing them.”
The players have been happy to start off the season strong with two wins, but they also know how long the season is and how difficult the schedule gets when league play starts.
“I think we just gotta stay focused on our main goal, which is just winning games and stacking them,” Cicalo said. “And just continuing to have our identity of just outworking everyone and staying true to each other.”
“We just have to stay consistent in practice with the intensity and just make sure we’re executing,” Caldwell said. “Sometimes, it’s a long season, so you can start to get sidetracked and maybe take a few days off, but we can’t really afford that. There’s some really good teams in our league, there are gonna be battles every night. So we just have to stick to what our coaches teach us and really just execute those things to be able to pull off some of those games.”
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