Boys basketball notebook: Armada gets its swagger back; Almont is 'learning to walk'
ARMADA — It's hard not to notice the differences between the Armada and Almont boys basketball teams.
Nine seniors have led the Tigers to a 10-5 record. As for the Raiders, they're 5-10 with just two seniors on the roster.
Here's where each BWAC team stands with a month remaining in the regular season.
Armada gets its swagger back
The Tigers hit a speed bump last week with losses to Richmond and Croswell-Lexington.
"They gave us problems," Armada coach Chris Haller said. "So we knew we had to take a step back and rebuild ourselves. So, this week has been that ... we know we have the talent and skill, but we needed to change our intensity and our tempo."
This week, wins over Kingston and Armada have put Almont back on track. The Tigers are 5-3 in the BWAC and still alive in the conference championship race.
"The credit goes to (our players)," Haller said. "They responded."
"The past couple games, we've been hustling a lot more and running the floor," senior forward Andrew Sniesak said. "That's been helping a lot. Everyone has been crashing for the rebounds, we've still been shooting well and everything has been more and more consistent."
The up-tempo style of play favors Armada, which has a unique blend of size and speed.
"I feel like we've got to run the floor a lot more," senior guard Riley Andrews said. "We've done that for the (last two games). Having that high pace is really clicking for us."
It's also helped solidify the team's confidence. The Tigers know they're right where they belong in the thick of the BWAC.
"We needed experience (to get that confidence)," senior forward Preston Hill said. "Because last year, a lot of us were new to the varsity level. But after a season of getting used to the groove, we're ready to roll."
Their practices this week have been the "most aggressive" and "fastest" ones they've had all year, according to Haller.
"They've stepped up," Haller said. "They've come back to (their identity)."
Almont is "learning to walk"
It hasn't been the easiest season for the Raiders.
"We're trying to close out games," Almont coach Ross Gauthier said. "Because we've been right there and it sucks being on the other side of it. We're going through growing pains, but we're competing. You've got to crawl before you can walk and you've got to walk before you can run. Right now, we're crawling and learning to walk."
While Almont is 1-7 in conference play, that record is a bit misleading. Four of those losses have been by less than 10 points.
"It's promising to see a bunch of our games being so close," senior forward Clay Roszczewski said. "They all boil down to just a few little things that aren't too hard to fix. But we've just got to get work to fix them."
The Raiders have identified the most important adjustment.
"We've just got to execute for all four quarters," junior guard Marko Radisavljevic said. "Every day, we work to get better as a team and try to get over this hump. I know it sucks losing, but we're just trying to stick together."
"That's our biggest deal," Gauthier said of playing a complete game. "As we get more experience, we'll be alright. We're trying to play our best basketball at the end of the month going into March. So we're right there."
Almont is also looking for another crack at its conference rivals. The Raiders have pushed teams like Armada and Imlay City to the brink, only to fall short in the final minutes.
"I'd like to make a run in the BWAC," Roszczewski said. "Just go after everybody as hard as we can to finish out. Then once we get to the district tournament, (I want us to) show up as a new team and not what everybody else is expecting. Hopefully, we finish with way more wins than we have right now."
Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Boys hoops: Armada gets its swagger back; Almont is 'learning to walk'
