Tue Feb 09 2010
by Frank Aceto
Associate Sports Editor
He has been around the Tallmadge basketball program for years.
And that’s why everything seems to be running so smoothly for first-year head coach Darrell Ayres.
Ayres, who has been a coach at the middle school and high school levels for 26 years, takes over as head coach of the high school boys hoops team from Jon Karnuth, who resigned during the off-season.
Ayres spent the last eight years as the Blue Devils head junior varsity coach. He is a 1983 Tallmadge graduate who played for the late James O. Maddox. Ayres guided the junior varsity team to a 13-6 record last season.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m working with a great group of kids. They have put in a lot of time and effort. All you want from your kids is to work hard. They have a great attitude.”
Ayres will guide a team that finished 17-6 after losing a 75-43 decision to Cleveland Benedictine in a Division II district semifinal contest.
The Blue Devils also finished second in the Suburban League with a 10-4 record. Barberton won the league title last season.
Tallmadge will have a new look.
The Blue Devils lost 10 seniors, including its top two scorers, Ed Householder and Jake Mays.
Ayres knows his current players will need some time to adjust to each other.
“Because of the fact that we’re so young, we probably won’t hit our stride until seven, eight games into the season,” he said. “None of our guys played more than five minutes on the varsity level last season.”
Six-foot-4 senior Brian Kilway is expected to be Tallmadge’s starting center. Chris West, a 6-2 senior forward, also is expected to start after leading the junior varsity squad in scoring.
“Chris is an outstanding defensive player,” Ayres said.
Senior James Paulus is expected to start at shooting guard and senior Thomas Linder and his younger brother, sophomore Tucker Linder, are competing for the starting power-forward spot.
Freshman Anthony Gotto and sophomore Mike Strand are competing for the starting point-guard job.
Rounding out the squad are juniors Jamie Lowry (6-4 center) and Scott Karnuth (shooting guard), sophomore Eli Baker (shooting guard) and freshman Jacob Wood (center).
The assistant coaches are Rich Johnson, who will work with the both the varsity and JV teams, and Dick Bratt, who is the head JV coach.
The Blue Devils don’t plan to change too much. They plan on turning games into a track meet.
“I’ve always tried to push the ball down the floor and score on our fast break,” Ayres said. “We also want to pressure the ball as much as we can for as long as we can.”
Tallmadge probably won’t win the Suburban League title. But the Blue Devils won’t be pushovers, either.
“Revere is the hands-down favorite to win the league,” Ayres said. “Barberton has the best player in the league in Jacob North. I’m very optimistic about our chances.
“We have a large group of players who put a lot of time over the summer. They are passionate about basketball. It makes it fun to go the gym every day.”
Tallmadge is scheduled to open the season at Norwayne Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3914
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