Heckadon teaches 'early offense,' full-court pressure at Crest Ridge
Nov 16, 2009, 10:05 AM
By GALE L. O'DELL
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CENTERVIEW, Mo. -- The Crest Ridge Cougars basketball team will be getting a new look this year with new coach Heath Heckadon.
Heckadon succeeds Marlon Dyer as boys head coach, as Dyer is focusing on his roles as assistant principal and athletic director at Crest Ridge.
Heckadon said there will be some changes on the team as the Cougars prepare for the upcoming season.
“We are going to run a lot of early offense,” Heckadon said. “Everything we do will be run through an early set. We’ll have anywhere from 15 to 20 different early sets that we’re going to run.
“Defensively, they did a little bit last year, but we are going to get up and pressure the ball at full court, so we are going to have to be in shape. I don’t know how deep we are, as far as I can tell right now. Somebody may step up, and may prove that they’re ready to play as far as depth is to be concerned.”
Crest Ridge finished last season with a 12-14 record. So far, Heckadon said he is impressed with everyone on the team, and how they are progressing in practice.
“Right now, all the kids, they’re just coming in, and they’re working hard,” Heckadon said. “Their intensity in practice is where I want it to be.”
This year will be Heckadon’s eighth year coaching a high school team. In previous years he has coached for Chilhowee, Windsor, and Grain Valley (as top assistant). He still teaches at Grain Valley.
Heckadon thinks he will have to make some adjustments with his new job as head coach of a smaller school.
“It’s a little bit of adjusting,” Heckadon said. “You start out at a small school, and then you go to a little bigger school, and then you jump up to a 4A school, and it has taken some adjustments from me not to lower my expectations. I never do that, but some of the things that you would expect may not work here. But, the kids are doing a great job, they pick up everything, and I think it is going to be a successful season.”
There will be seven returning faces to the team this year, including junior center Alex Everheart, senior forward Ben Owens, senior guard Nathan Francy, sophomore guard Jordan Eisman, and senior guard/forward Kyle Shull. Other players include freshmen Hayden Stringer, a guard, forward Taylor Nagel, and forward Jake Brokshier.
Heckadon thinks the veterans seem to be picking up the new system.
“Most of them are picking it up fairly well,” Heckadon said. “I mean it’s not that difficult. I mean, I don’t think it is. … Each motion has a counter action of what they are going to do, and we just have to learn that if someone is going to do this, then we are going to do this. We just need to learn the counter action of the offense, and that is just going to take time.”
The Cougars will continue practicing this week as they get ready for their first game Dec. 1 at Kingsville.
