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Future bright for Nordonia boys basketball

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March 17, 2010

by Devan Matthews

Correspondent

With the 2009-10 campaign at an end, there's plenty of good news for the Nordonia High School boys basketball team heading into next season.

The Knights finished this season recently in the Division I district tournament at Copley High School. They fell to Akron East by the score of 70-36 in the sectional finals.

Ultimately, Nordonia posted an overall record of 7-15. The Knights were also 4-6 in the Lake Division of the Northeast Ohio Conference.

The Knights are graduating three seniors from this year's team. Those three are guard Kory Clark, guard Desmond Coggins and center Kezmei Spencer.

According to Nordonia first-year head coach Matt Cash, all three made significant contributions to the squad.

"Kory Clark was all over the floor," said Cash. "He's a great defender, and Desmond Coggins is a great offensive player. Kezmei Spencer never missed a practice or a game and showed great leadership during the season."

Despite losing three seniors, the Knights will still be returning four of their top five leading scorers.

Postseason honors within the Lake Division were also announced recently. Nordonia had one first-team all-division selection, and that was junior forward Nick Robertson.

In addition, junior guard Brandynn Clark and sophomore guard Jarred Ruffin were named as honorable mention selections in the division.

A number of sophomores received significant playing time at the varsity level. In addition to Ruffin, the others were guards Nick Rodriguez and Patrick Osborne.

All three will be back next season, as will sophomore guard Oliver Jefferson.

Nordonia will have at least five seniors on next year's roster -- Robertson, Brandyn Clark, center Zach Lewis, guard Paul Ward and center Brandon Simon.

For his part, Cash is very optimistic about the 2010-11 season.

"We have Nick Robertson returning, and Brandyn Clark will be back for his senior season with a year of varsity experience under his belt," said Cash. "Zach Lewis will be another senior, and Patrick Osborne, Nick Rodriguez and Jarred Ruffin were only sophomores and will be juniors next year."

With as many underclassmen that received substantial playing time this past season, the Knights won't be short on experience in the future.

"We're expecting great things from next year's team," said Cash. "We established some depth this season, and next year that will pay off for us."

Doug Culler, Ryan Vehar and Shaun Phillips were Cash's varsity assistant coaches.

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113




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