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WHEELING -- The way Michael Jebbia sees it, there are upwards of seven or so teams that have a legitimate chance to win or make a good run at the West Virginia Class AAA state championship.
Fortunately, Jebbia believes his Wheeling Park Patriots are among that group, but as he begins his 17th season at the helm of his alma mater, he also knows there's a long way to go until March rolls around.
"Our kids have the talent and experience to be in the mix," Jebbia said. "It took us a while last season to hit our stride because we had so many guys getting their first real varsity action, but I think we'll be able to really hit the ground running this year."
The Patriots opened last season with three consecutive losses and entered February at 6-7. From there, however, they reeled off wins in 10 of their final 13, which included a loss to Parkersburg South in the state quarterfinals in Charleston.
"I knew we'd have some ups and downs (last season), but part of it was my fault because I didn't do a great job of scheduling," Jebbia admitted. "Give the kids credit, though. They kept plugging away and we really got it going in February."
The Patriots return four starters and 77% of their scoring from a club that averaged 64 points a game and set a school record for 3-point goals with 160.
Some of the principles of where the Patriots will hang their hat -- such as defensively and rebounding -- will not change. However, on the offensive end, Jebbia thinks his team will play "a little bit faster" than it did last season.
"We think we can try to get more possessions," Jebbia said. "Obviously, that could change based on the opponent, but we have the type of kids who can get out and run. But, they're also capable of taking care of the ball and taking good shots when we're leading a game."
One area that Jebbia wants to see his team improve on, offensively, is being more balanced in the scoring column.
"Sometimes we found ourselves really relying last year on Brett (Phillips) and Aiden (Davis), but we've had some guys make huge jumps in the offseason," Jebbia said. "I think we'll be able to spread the scoring out a little bit, which is good because if either Brett or Aiden were off last year, we struggled to score."
Finding some additional depth and solidifying the bench has also been areas in which the Patriots' coaching staff has spent a lot of time in November.
"We're still feeling out our bench," Jebbia admitted. "There is some unknown there. We have a good idea on our top six, but we're still trying to find those seventh and eighth guys, who often times make the difference. Our bench was a strength last year, so we need to find out who those guys are and who is going to step up."
Leading the list of returnees is the talented and impressive back-court duo of senior Brett Phillips and sophomore Aiden Davis.
Phillips is embarking on his third season as a member of the Park starting lineup. He poured in 17 points a night last winter and pulled down 7.3 rebounds, while shooting almost 58% from the floor.
"Brett is a leader for us," Jebbia said. "He's a great competitor who only cares about winning. He doesn't back down and he's added some weight and has really looked good."
Sophomore Aiden Davis became the first freshman to start in Wheeling Park's illustrious history last season. Davis answered the bell, scoring 15.2 points a night and hitting 65 bonus goals.
"Aiden's basketball IQ is off the charts," Jebbia said. "He makes the right basketball play every time. He's going to handle the ball for us. He's grown and gotten stronger."
Senior Cole Wilkinson is a returning starter and is also one of the guys Jebbia mentioned that has really improved his game in the offseason. He's coming off a campaign in which he scored 6.6 points and yanked down 5.7 rebounds a night.
"Cole has grown almost two inches and is now 6-5," Jebbia said. "His body has changed and he's grown, so he's made a jump."
Senior Xander Gibson will transition to the starting lineup after serving as the team's sixth-man a season ago. He shot an impressive 45.2% from behind the arc.
"Xander has lifted, worked out and gotten a lot of shots up," Jebbia said. "He shot a great percentage from three last year and will have more attempts this season."
Junior Mykel Davis is expected to take the fifth starting spot. He lettered a season ago off the bench.
Others expected to work in the varsity rotation are senior Ryan Doyle, junior Keohn Stephens and senior Jacob Huffman.
Additional varsity depth is being supplied by K.J. Demko, Landon Lewis, Kaiden Davis, Ryan Linder and Isaiah Zelaski.
The Patriots will once again face a rugged schedule, including heavyweights on both sides of the river. Newcomers to the schedule are Zanesville and Meadowbrook. They take place of Union Local and Brooke, which will only play the Patriots once this season.
"The schedule is challenging, but we welcome that," Jebbia said.
The Park coaching staff returns basically intact. Ohio Hall of Fame coach Gene Ammirante is the chief assistant. Jerry Ammirante and Shaun Black are also at the varsity level. Zach Phillips and Michael Thomas are the freshman coaches.