Rugged defense crucial for success

If the Whitehall varsity boys’ basketball team expects to be competitive in the Adirondack League they will need to rely on a stingy and opportunistic defense.

“One of our strengths will be the ability to mix our defenses to help provide some transition baskets,” said long-time head coach Keith Redmond who enters his 17^th consecutive season (22nd overall) at the helm of the Railroaders basketball program.

That defense will be critical to a young team that Redmond admits will be challenged to put big offensive numbers on the board.

The Railroaders lost nine players from last year’s squad, including Luke Wescott, Tim Cook, Jordan LaCroix and AJ Ricketts.

The only holdovers from last year’s squad are seniors Matt Watson, Troy Nichols, Toran Tracy and junior Josh Hoagland. Filling out rest of the roster are four juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman.

“We are a young team,” Redmond said. “It should be a learning experience for them and me.”

Watson, Tracy and Hoagland are expected to step into the starting lineup and will be joined by juniors Carl Rehm and Justin Hoagland.

Only a freshman, the younger Hoagland will assume the role of floor general for the Railroaders, a big responsibility, but not necessarily an unfamiliar one.

“Justin is the key to leadership on the court. He has gained experience in this role as the starting quarterback on the football team,” Redmond said.

Justin is expected to lead an offense that will look to control the clock and retain possession of the ball.

“We need to have the patience to run our offensive sets for thirty seconds to make other teams play defense for a longer period of time,” Redmond said.

The team will look for Josh Hoagland, who has shown improvement as an outside threat, as well as Tracy and Carl Rehm to provide scoring from the forward position.

Watson and Nichols will man the center position for the team.

“They need to provide the rebounding to limit the other team to one shot,” Redmond said.

The team will be hard pressed to compete for a league championship in what appears to be a very strong Adirondack League this season.
Salem and Fort Ann are poised to be among the top teams in the East Division and Corinth, Hadley Luzerne and Lake George look solid in the West Division. And everyone is looking up at Argyle, who went 15-1 in the league, return their entire team, including Adirondack Player of the year and the area’s leading scorer Joey Lufkin and will be improved with the transfer of a 6’4” player from down state.

But if Whitehall plays hard and the younger players develop quickly, they could be competitive and surprise a few teams.

“I guarantee we play hard every game to give ourselves a chance to win,” Redmond said.

 

Name                      Year     Height       #       Position

 

Matt Watson            12        6’ 2         44       Center

Toran Tracy               12        6’0          34       Forward

Troy Nichols              12        6’3          40       Center

Josh Hoagland           11       5’11         23      Forward

Paxton DeLorme       11       5’ 11        20      Forward

Carl Rehm                  11       5’ 10        10      Guard

Jordan Eggleston      11       5’ 5          24      Guard

Colby LaChapelle      11        6’ 0         14       Forward

Brad Rehm                 10        5’9          30       Forward

Justin Hoagland          9        5’10        12       Guard

 

Wed, December 7^th            Whitehall @ Fort Ann                 6pm

Fri, December 9^th               Whitehall @ Lake George           6pm

Mon, December 12^th           Argyle @ Whitehall                    6pm

Fri, December 16^th              Whitehall @ Warrensburg          6pm

Wed, December 21^st            Hartford @ Whitehall                 6pm

Fri, December 23^rd              Holiday Tournament              7:30pm

Mon, December 26^th           Holiday Tournament                   TBA

Tues, January 3rd               Salem @ Whitehall                      6pm

Fri, January 6^th                   North Warren @ Whitehall          6pm

Wed, January 11^th              Whitehall @ Luzerne                   6pm

Fri, January 13^th                 Bolton @ Whitehall                     6pm

Wed, January 18^th              Whitehall @ Fort Edward            6pm

Fri, January 20^th                 Corinth @ Whitehall                    6pm

Thurs, January 26^th            Fort Ann @ Whitehall                 6pm

Wed, February 1^st              Whitehall @ Argyle                     6pm

Fri, February 3^rd                 Whitehall @ Hartford                 6pm

Wed, February 8^th              Whitehall @ Salem                     6pm

Mon, February 13^th             Crossovers                                  6pm

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Tags: Basketball Program, Boys Basketball Team, Coach Keith, Head Coach, Matt Watson, Rehm, Ricketts, Tim Cook, Time Head, Toran, Troy Nichols, Wescott