5th grade boys basketball season preview

It's rare, even in a small school like St. Mary's, that the best shooter from grades 3-8 is in 5th grade.

That shooter is Jonathan.

As most people know, Jonathan is arguably the best shooter in the sports program. Give him an open shot and more often than not he'll knock it down. From the free throw line, he's as good as it gets.

But for the 5th grade boys to return to the playoffs, they'll need a better team effort as well as a more well rounded game from Jonathan.

In their heartbreaking sudden death overtime loss in February, Jonathan scored 22 of the team's 26 points and didn't get much help from his supporting cast on the offensive end.

This year already appears to be different.

At the top of the list is the improvement of Ryan, who took only three games to sink his first shot of the year. The way he caught the ball, shot it, and made it, it looked like he had been doing that for years.

"From what many people have told me, Ryan has made strides in his game from last season to this season," said first year head coach Leslie Truong.

A season ago, the team had only five players, and nobody had a chance to breathe. This year, there's a little more flexibility with seven players on the team, three new.

Allen, Jason L. and Michael are the newest additions.

Michael has already opened some eyes with his quickness, but he will need to develop a little more in the ball handling department to round out his game.

"This kid is fast," Leslie said of Michael. "If he is in a good ready position on defense, he is very capable of getting a steal and beating everyone down the court for a fast break layup."

In the back-court, the 5th grade looks pretty strong. But the games will probably be won in the trenches, and that's where the team needs to play better the most.

Rebounding was a huge issue last year and will continue to be this year. In their two tournament losses, they were unable to box out and grab rebounds. Without that, they can't transition into the fast break as easily.

They are definitely not the biggest team, as Jonathan actually plays down in the post on the 2-3 defense. But size only goes so far when it comes to rebounding.

"Even though other teams may be taller than us, it is not impossible to utilize effective post moves against those taller teams," Leslie said.

After making the playoffs, the 5th graders move up a division, so it will be a challenge, even with the talented players they have, to get back to the post-season, and a shot to go further than the year before.

"I want this team this year to be at the very least playoff contenders since they made it to the playoffs last year," Leslie said.

"To set the bar even higher, I want us to aim for the championship."

Jason H. and Justin, returning from last year, round out the seven man team.