Thanks to some unselfish seniors, the Bulldogs are undefeated this season.

Thanks to some unselfish seniors, the Bulldogs are undefeated this season.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

POLAND — Howland High boys basketball coach Don Andres stomped on his chair. He slapped the top of the water cooler. He undid his tie, waved his arms, yelled a little (OK, a lot) and wore a path in the hardwood from the scorers table to the end of the sideline bench.

Didn’t matter. He was missing his most athletic player, senior guard Nathan Cope, at the worst time imaginable — on the road, against Poland.

No Cope. No hope.

“It was the worst possible time,” said Andres, who has won more than 300 games, yet suffered the worst defeat of his career in Tuesday’s 91-41 loss to the second-ranked (Division II) Bulldogs. “I need three or four more games. We’re not ready to play against them yet.”

Poland coach Ken Grisdale knows the feeling. He became the winningest coach in school history by relying on a terrific defense, a mistake-free offense and a small rotation. But when his team came up against Upper Sandusky in last year’s Division II state semifinals, he felt a lot like Andres did Tuesday: hopeless.

“I’d never felt anything like that,” said Grisdale, whose team lost 89-58 last March.

So, last summer, as Grisdale and his family was vacationing in Florida with assistant coach Tom Fender and his family, the coaches huddled together and devised a plan, a bit of a takeoff from the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you don’t want them to do to you.

With a ridiculously talented sophomore class on the way, and with a couple three-year starters returning at guard, Grisdale and Fender changed their philosophy, emphasizing speed, depth and a 32-minute dose of suffocating pressure.

“When we put it in this summer, we saw how good we could be,” said Grisdale. “We developed a lot of depth. It’s fun and we’ve had a lot of success with it.”

Of course, for it to work, a couple things had to happen. First, Grisdale’s senior class, particularly guards Ben Umbel and Anthony DeFelice, had to buy into the change and be willing to play fewer minutes — and pile up lesser stats.

Second, Grisdale had to relinquish some control. He could no longer call every offensive play and defensive set. And he had to live with giving up a few layups on the other end.

Neither has been a problem.

“These seniors don’t care who gets the credit,” said Grisdale, who brings two other seniors — Bryan Kosec and David White — off the bench. “That’s why we’re so good. Those sophomores will have their day in the sun. If it wasn’t for the seniors accepting this, we wouldn’t be nearly as good.”

It wasn’t a hard sell, either. When Grisdale approached DeFelice in the summer with the idea, his eyes lit up.

“I was very excited,” DeFelice said. “I actually like to play more fast-paced.

“I was pretty surprised, too, because [Grisdale] doesn’t change that much. I wasn’t expecting it at all.”

Poland (9-0, 4-0 Metro Athletic Conference) has scored at least 80 points in every game this season and has won by 50 or more in its past two games. Its top three scorers Tuesday were all sophomores: Ben Donlow (17 points, including a two-handed dunk), Niko Fatimus (16) and David Baker (14). DeFelice added 10 and Umbel had nine points, nine assists and nine steals (which happens to be his season average). The Bulldogs scored 49 points in the first 11 1/2 minutes of the game.

“We’re doing to people what was done to us last year,” Grisdale said.

Kyle Spence was the lone bright spot for Howland (7-3, 2-2), scoring 20 points. With Cope nursing an ankle injury — he’ll miss at least a week — and Nathan Whaley out with a knee injury, the Tigers were no match for Poland. But, Andres said, they’ll be ready next time.

“I guarantee we’ll give them a better game in Howland,” he said.

scalzo@vindy.com