Thunderwolves basketball squads hunt for another postseason

The expectations are high at the Thunderdome this fall.

Faced with tough acts to follow, Lakehead’s men’s and women’s basketball teams are looking to build on last year’s success, that saw the former reach the Final 8 for the first time in three decades and the latter finally win a playoff round after years of trying.

Having taken Cinderella to the ball once, the two sides are looking for a second date, and have a little more on their minds than a peck on the cheek to end the night.

Fifth-year guard Jamie Searle, who averaged 13.1 points in OUA play a year ago to help vault the men’s team in the OUA stratosphere, said every player knows last season was special, but while the memories are nice they’ve got a job to do in the weeks and months ahead.

"Nobody thought we would even come close to what we did. We’ve got to make sure we’re doing the same small things so we’re back there again this year," said the Belleville, Ont. native.

"We’ve probably got a target on our back more this year than last year. Teams didn’t respect us as much, but after what they saw us do last year, teams are coming head-hunting for us this year."

The men’s team had an up-and-down preseason, finishing 4-4 in exhibition play, which included a trip to the east coast, familiar territory for P.E.I. native Scott Morrison, the LU coach.

Morrison didn’t sit still in the offseason, bringing in a trio of recruits led by Detroit’s Venzal Russell, who led the team in pre-season scoring, averaging 14 points an outing.

Once again it will be a scoring-by-committee attack, though Morrison is trying not to put too much pressure on his troops to recreate the magic of a 17-5 2009-10 – not that he doesn’t fully expect to be back in Ottawa for nationals when springtime rolls around.

"It makes for a tough year when you start out with those expectations. But I think we have to have higher expectations than we have in the past. But at the same time I think it’s possible to have a good year without making the nationals," Morrison said.

"It usually comes down to one game against a good opponent. But that being said, it’s going to be our goal and this weekend we’re starting with our first games, trying to win one at a time. Hopefully if we win enough one at a time it will add up to a good conference seeding for the playoffs."

Lindsay Druery, who like Searle was named her team’s athlete of the month for October, thinks there plenty of room for improvement on a season that saw them finish 13-9, starting with Toronto and Ryerson on the road this weekend.

With newcomers Darcy Zinck and former NCAA forward Lacey McNulty – who Kreiner called his most consistent player in preseason play – joining the starting squad, things are looking up, Druery said.

"We’ve got a lot of dynamics to offer. It’s just going to be interesting to see how things go playing two competitive teams this weekend."

Coach Jon Kreiner said he used the exhibition season to build up to the start of OUA play, culminating in winning a four-team tournament they hosted in mid-October with a 2-1 record against impressive competition.

"Our bench really developed. But we also learned to play against some of the top teams," he said guessing they’ve competed against three or four teams who could find themselves in the inaugural top 10 rankings.

"Overall it gave us a lot of information and we’ve been able to take that information and really break down what we were going to practice for basically the last three weeks. Now we’re getting ready for Toronto and Ryerson."

The Wolves make their home-court debuts next weekend when York and Laurentian make their way to Thunder Bay.