Sailors look to regain winning mentality

VERMILION — Confidence has been a missing ingredient for the Vermilion boys basketball team the last few years. Ever since moving up to the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division in 2020, the Sailors have struggled to score, and it has shown in the form of just five division wins over that stretch. "We have kids who are searching to find out how good they can be instead of knowing how good they can be," said Kurt Habermehl, starting his 24th season as coach. "I think they are pretty solid, but they don't give themselves enough credit. Until they start believing in themselves a little more, we're going to be that same 6-16 team." The Sailors kick off the season Saturday at rival Firelands. "We've always been good at being super aggressive, being physical and making the other team play our style," Habermehl said. "If we do that, we have a chance to be successful, but if we have to react to what the other team is doing, then we're going to struggle. "It's a mentality. You can't be afraid, and sometimes we're afraid that we're going to get beat off the dribble or the coach is going to yell. I tell them I'm going to yell regardless." Despite stacking up losses, Vermilion continued to be a solid defensive team, coming less than a point from setting a school defensive record three seasons ago. "It's been the putting-the-ball-in-the-basket thing that we've struggled with," Habermehl said. "We've got to be better at finding ways to score and knock down some shots because we're getting looks. It's just having that confidence." Vermilion did go 6-16 a season ago, and has four veterans back from that team. "It all starts with Andrew Hendershot," Habermehl said. "He's got to be good for us. He's got to be a kid who scores the basketball. I believe he can be a college basketball player and he's gotten some looks from Division III schools, but he just has to have confidence and know that he's a really good player." Hendershot (6-foot-4) and Cam Logue (6-1) are the returning senior lettermen. Jaden Borlaug, Corey Larkins, Keegan Frey, who hasn't played basketball in a couple of years, and MJ McCann, who didn't play last year after moving in from Firelands, round out the seniors on the roster. "Frey is an athlete who is coming along pretty well," Habermehl said. "He's a kid we'll put on the floor, especially defensively, to cause problems for the other team. McCann understands his role, he understands he's a kid who is diving on the floor, playing physical, playing good defense and, if he gets a chance to score, he'll score." Wyatt German and Riley Kearns are veterans from a junior class that includes AJ Gerber, Thomas Ngure, Corey Larkins and Aden Marcum. "Kearns and Hendershot are both 6-4, almost 6-5, and Gerber is 6-2 but actually is a pretty strong kid," Habermehl said. "There will be times when he will guard the post to let our athletes get out on the perimeter a little bit." Wyatt and Ngure are battling for the starting nod at point guard, but both will play plenty. "Neither have the super strong personality to be that guy yet, but I think they can develop into being that leader on the floor," Habermehl said. "Ngure has as much skill as anybody on the team, he just has to figure out how I want him to play." Larkins and Marcum, the biggest guy on the roster, will come off the bench. "Aden is about 6-4, 210 pounds and is a big strong kid," Habermehl said. "He looks the part, we just need to get him to use that body more. He's a really good athlete, but doesn't realize how strong he is. "Of my four letterwinners, only three have a lot of varsity experience. It's going to take awhile, but we don't have awhile. The last couple of years, by the end of the season, we were playing pretty good basketball, but that was in Game 16 or 17. We don't have the luxury of waiting around anymore. We need to win basketball games and start playing well." A very tough task in the scary SBC Lake. "Bellevue has four starters back and Tiffin is going to be loaded," Habermehl said. "Sandusky is going to be Sandusky and cause a lot of anxiety when they play you and Perkins has some really good athletes. They started two freshmen at the end of the year who are good basketball players. And then there's Norwalk and Clyde, and they are super well-coached. "There are just no breaks in this conference." --- No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. 0&emsp;&emsp;Cam Logue&emsp;&emsp;F&emsp;&emsp;5-11&emsp;&emsp;12 3&emsp;&emsp;MJ McCann&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-8&emsp;&emsp;12 2&emsp;&emsp;Dom Difucci&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-8&emsp;&emsp;10 4&emsp;&emsp;Andrew Hendershot&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;6-3&emsp;&emsp;12 5&emsp;&emsp;Keegan Frey&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-8&emsp;&emsp;11 11&emsp;&emsp;Riley Kearns&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;6-2&emsp;&emsp;12 12&emsp;&emsp;Thomas Ngure&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-10&emsp;&emsp;11 13&emsp;&emsp;Jaden Borlaug&emsp;&emsp;F&emsp;&emsp;6-0&emsp;&emsp;12 21&emsp;&emsp;Aden Marcum&emsp;&emsp;C&emsp;&emsp;6-4&emsp;&emsp;11 22&emsp;&emsp;AJ Gerber&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;6-1&emsp;&emsp;11 23&emsp;&emsp;AJ Mathis&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;6-1&emsp;&emsp;10 30&emsp;&emsp;Wyatt German&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-10&emsp;&emsp;11 33&emsp;&emsp;Corey Larkins&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-10&emsp;&emsp;12