Men’s Basketball Coach Reflects on Season ‘Highs and Lows’
Courtesy of San Jacinto College Marketing, Public Relations and Government Affairs Department
The San Jacinto College 2015-2016 Ravens Basketball team includes (front row from left): Rafael Silva, Jon Mitchell, Corey Davis, Elroi Butler, Paul Ard II, Donovan Greer, Jorden Duffy. (Back row from left): Assistant Coach Albert Talley, Elton Dyer, Jibreel Faulkner, Josh Huntley, Konstantin Kulikov, Candido Sa, Ilker Er, Jerrell Cooke, Head Coach Scott R. Gernander.
The San Jacinto College Men’s Basketball season ended in crushing defeat at the Regional XIV tournament with an 80-71 loss to Trinity Valley. San Jac finished the season with a 22-10 record.
According to head coach Scott Gernander, now in his fourth year with San Jac, the Ravens battled hard against a fierce opponent.
“Trinity Valley was the number one team in the nation and hadn’t been beat by anyone in our region the entire season,” Gernander said. “I thought our guys fought until the end and left everything on the floor trying to pull off an upset.”
The Ravens came off a 28-6 record last season, which included a conference championship and a trip to the national tournament, as well as Region XIV Coach of the Year honors for Gernander. Although he had high expectations for his team this year, he notes, it was difficult to win consecutive conference championships and appear in the national tournament for a second straight season with just two players returning from last year’s lineup.
Gernander said his goal is always to be a top four contender entering the tournament so his team can earn a first round bye. San Jac was able to secure a top four seed giving them a chance to make a run at playing in the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. Ultimately, their run came up short.
Gernander said sometimes the team seemed to have a spark and at other times it did not.
“I believe that led us to being inconsistent as a unit, but we were still able to remain even keel and make some runs,” he said.
Meanwhile, many team members are returning next year, including two All-Conference players who according to Gernander, took on significant roles this season. He looks for more consistency out of his team next season without so many “highs and lows.”
“Overall, we need to be tougher mentally and defensively,” he said. “Tough teams handle adversity, and we only did that during stretches this past season.”
The coach said he is proud of where his team finished given “how we looked when practice started in October,” but he is looking forward to the challenge and uncertainty of next season.
“There is no formula to go about it, and it’s definitely not easy,” he said. “We will always have some question marks entering a season, but I kind of like that feeling because it seems normal.”
