Lansingburgh looking to adjust to youth, new coach

LANSINGBURGH, N.Y. » Lansingburgh boys basketball team made history last season.

The Knights were one of the top teams in the Colonial council and won its first sectional title in decades. This year they are going to have to adjust to not just being a younger team, but also to a new coach.

Fruscio took a teaching job elsewhere and has been replaced by former Schenectady high school boys basketball coach Eric Loudis.

Loudis said that taking over the team has been about learning, both for him and the players.

“Just getting the kids adjusted to a new system and stuff like that, different schemes and different defenses and stuff like that,” Loudis said. “Going from the Suburban to the Colonial Council will be a change, so for me it is a little bit of an adjustment. It is especially an adjustment for the kids because I wasn’t hired until a week into September, so we had not a lot of time to put in a lot of stuff.

“I think the two leagues are different with going from the big Suburban to the Colonial Council, but I think the kids here can play at that level, so I don’t see it as being a huge transition because in any other league, any league can compete. I think it will be very good for them to see how I did things in the Suburban and getting over to the Colonial and getting some success. So far the kids have been working hard, listening to everything I have had to say and it has been a pleasure working with them in the gym.”

This season, Loudis will have to work with a youthful team that has few seniors. His top players will be guys who are juniors this season.

“We got a junior Trevor Green, who played on the varsity last year as a 10th grader, he is a guard, a very good shooter, and passer and will help us make the transition,” Loudis said. “We have another junior, Mason Little; he can play a bunch of positions on the floor. A kid from last year is a big boy, who hit a couple of key three pointers against Mohonasen, junior Justin VanNess as well. It is about getting guys to assume their new roles and understand what they need to do and I hope we can be pretty successful.”

Loudis knows he has work to do with a young team that’s eager to prove itself.

“I have a very coachable group,” Loudis said. “We are pretty young, the team lost some key guys from last season, so we have some guys who were 10th graders and stuff on the team last year, who weren’t playing a ton of minutes, who this year will be looking to step up and be the head guys in charge. A lot of guys are still learning their roles, so they are getting adjusted to that type of scheme in their game plan.”

Last Thursday, Loudis had his team competed in their first scrimmage against Shenendehowa.

Loudis said he purposely had them face a tough opponent to help the team learn what they need to do this season.

“It was just getting guys to learn their roles and building a family,” Loudis said. “There is a lot of youth with this team and the kids are learning what they need to do and where they need to go. I wanted to show them what a showdown with the Suburban was like and if they don’t come and bring it every night they could lose basketball games. They did some good things, but we also have a lot to learn and a lot of the kids need some time on the court to get adjusted to the game’s speed.”

Loudis said he knows this season will be about adjusting, but if his team can continue to work hard and grow they can be a strong team.

“We got a great group of kids,” Loudis said. “For the most part we are pretty young, a lot of the guys will be younger and we will be set for the next couple of years, but guys are going to make mistakes. They have been awesome to coach; it has been a pleasure being on the team with them. They work really hard and I guarantee you if they keep working hard like this they will have some good things in their season.”