Ronan seventh graders finish great season

<p>Ronan’s Jeramiah North Piegan goes up to the basket on a breakaway at the Ronan AAU Tournament.</p>

by Brandon Hansen & Sports Editor
| April 12, 2012 12:00 PM

RONAN — The Ronan seventh grade boys AAU squad finished up its 2012 season with a home tournament at the Event Center two weeks ago and showed that the future is bright for the Chiefs’ high school team. Ronan finished the season with an AAU mark of 10-5 after traveling to five tournaments.

“The season went well and the kids got better as the season went along,” coach Jack Duffey said. “The kids played a little more open as opposed to the half-court offense.”

Anchored by Kasey Mock at forward and shooter Jackson Duffey, the kids were able to use their fast-paced offense to get by teams — a style of play you may have noticed when watching Ronan Chiefs games during the high school season.

“There are still a lot of fundamentals to work on,” Duffey said. “We focused on ball handling, shooting, passing and making sure the kids have both hands up on defense.”

Ronan finished its season with one win at the home tournament, securing a five-point victory over Hamilton.

“We probably beat the best team we played all day,” Duffey said. “It was a good game and we trailed early and came back on them.”

The coach said that he’s excited to see his players make the next step to eighth grade ball. With the influx of kids coming into the Ronan basketball program, there’s a possibility they could have three basketball teams next season including a mixed seventh and eighth grade squad.

“The influx kind of depends on the specific grade,” Duffey said. “I know that last year the eighth grade team had nine kids and finished with eight. I know this year the sixth grade team had a group of 20 kids. It changes class to class.”

The eighth grade year is going to be an important one for these kids.

“I just look forward to seeing them at the next level,” Duffey said. “It’s a big leap physically, most kids grow a lot when they’re in that 13 to 14-year-old range. They’ll also experience a press and zone defense for the first time. This is going to be a big step for them and I think they’ll do well.”