Monroeville off to best start in 46 years
Dec. 9—MONROEVILLE — How much history can there be in the first week?
In the case of the Monroeville boys basketball program, the first seven days of the regular season carried a ton of significance.
How significant? With a pair of wins in each of the first two weekends, the Eagles are 4-0 for the first time in 46 years. That Monroeville team went 22-2 and lost by a point in a regional championship — and featured current head coach Paul Roeder and assistant coach Ken Leber as players.
With a win on Thursday vs. New London (0-3, 0-1), Monroeville (4-0, 2-0) can match the first 5-0 start since the 1969-70 season. The best start to a season by Monroeville over the past 70 years came when the Eagles were 7-0 to start the 1966-67 season.
And while it may only be four games, the overall struggles of the Monroeville basketball program since it won the Class A state championship in 1983-84 — also when it claimed its last Firelands Conference title — has been well-documented.
Just once in the 36 years since the state title have the Eagles won 14 games in a season (2000-01). Monroeville was 13-10 in 2019-20 and 12-10 last season.
"The potential is there," said senior standout Isaac Roeder, who also added more history during the host start. "We feel like we can do anything if we put our minds to it. We have the potential, Coach Roeder always says that, but we just have to go out and do it.
"If we continue to play defense like we did (last) weekend and make shots, we think we can do good things."
Monroeville's 78-56 win at St. Paul on Dec. 3 was the first time it beat the Flyers since the 2010-11 season. It was the first time they won at St. Paul since 2002-03.
Of note, the Eagles last defeated top-tier FC programs South Central and Western Reserve in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, respectively.
"It was a big game coming over here," senior guard Jimmy Clingman said of the win in Norwalk. "We haven't beat St. Paul in 10 years, so we had to bring an attitude and some energy to how we played. It helps us a lot."
Monroeville made nine of its first 13 shot attempts in the win at St. Paul, which included six 3-pointers. Through the four games against the Flyers, Seneca East, Mapleton and Danbury, the Eagles are averaging 68.7 points and allowing 55.7 per game.
"You get confidence in everyone," Isaac Roeder said of the hot shooting. "You're hitting shots, playing good at both ends of the floor — it's more just the confidence that is so good for our team right now."
Monroeville is led by the senior trio of Roeder, Clingman and Aidan Goodwin. The three returning starters combine to average 56.5 of the team's 68.7 points so far.
"It started two years ago with this group. When those three get going, the momentum for the team gets going," Paul Roeder said. "Isaac, Jimmy and Aidan really set a tone for this team.
"We had not won (at St. Paul) in a long time, but our guys were amped up to do that," he added. "It was a great sign, and a great team win."
Roeder, who surpassed Liz Tyler for all-time career points (1,324) by a boy or girl at Monroeville last weekend, is averaging 23.5 points per game. Clingman adds 17.7 points and Goodwin enters Thursday at 13.3 per game.
"Mapleton really gave us a good game and we had been struggling with our new defense," Isaac Roeder said. "But overall we're really happy with how we played defense, which we know will be important moving forward."
All the history aside, the Eagles know the quick start is just that.
"It's a lot of confidence," Clingman said. "But we still have a lot to prove. There is a lot of work to do still."
