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By LOU HATTER
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
As sports fans are all too often painfully .aware, returning from a championship season can tax even the most seasoned and experienced veterans. Professional and amateur record books are strewn with the statistical trails of teams which plummeted from the championship to the basement in one short season.
So Coach Gary Leake may be forgiven for his careful predictions about the Rappahannock Panthers’ upcoming basketball season.
Interviewed before the Panthers’ final preseason practice Monday, Coach Leake said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the team’s chances this season in the Bull Run District.
With only one starter and three lettermen returning from last year’s district champion team, Coach Leake said “we’ve got a different kind of year coming up.” Julian Groves, a senior and team co-captain, will lead the Panthers this season.
“Every team is different,” Coach Leake said, and every year brings a new set of abilities and personalities. “It adds a new challenge. Before tryouts I didn’t know what to expect.”
He admitted to some real insecurities as he pondered the upcoming season. “I thought, how can we replace Eric Dunn’s 22 points each game, and Anthony Porter’s average of 14 rebounds, or the consistency of Doug Smith and Danny Ellis?” His returning lettermen, he added, had contributed just 15 points and 15 rebounds during last year’s effort.
The coach said the first day of tryouts quickly gave him a taste of his young team’s enthusiasm. That first day, practice was scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. “I got there at five minutes ’til, and I was the last one there. The sidewalk outside the gym was filled with kids. They yelled, ‘Hey coach, where ya been?’ ” Coach Leake remembered, smiling.
And he admitted that, although last year’s team featured a strong starting five, the team lacked depth off the bench. That hurt the Panthers late in the game, Coach Leake explained, because his starters didn’t get a chance for adequate rest.“This year, I’ll be much more comfortable with playing 10, 12 or 15 people each game.”
And the nearly clean break from last year’s team has also created a new spirit for this year's squad. “They are a whole new team. They want to be different, and that’s good. But they want nothing less than to return to the championship.”
With only one returning starter, he added, most of the team has not had a lot of playing time. “Eighty percent watched, and only 20 percent played.” This year, the team set its goal early when it was discovered that the entire regional tournament will be played at U.Va.’s University Hall.
“That’s our goal, to play in University Hall,” the coach said. That means either capturing the district title again, winning the district tournament or finishing in the top-two during the regular season.
Of his young team, which features only five seniors, nine juniors and one sophomore. Coach Leake predicts their enthusiasm will be their strongest asset this year. “It has carried through in their practices with their work habits. There’s no walking at practice at all — it's just 100 percent constant hustle. ”
He cited tfh£ team’s quickness, as well as the aforementioned depth in all positions, as additi. - nal strong points for the squad.
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