Role players, bench key for Camanche boys hoops
Mar. 6—CAMANCHE — A strength of the Camanche boys basketball team this season has been its depth.
The Indians will need it on Tuesday.
As the Indians gear up for their state matchup with Western Christian next week, Camanche coach Josh Davis will be looking for his role players to step up against a tough Wolfpack team.
"I think those guys are really unsung heroes for our team," Davis said. "I think we're much deeper than Western. We'll see if we're able to get through that depth with all the media timeouts — it's hard to get into all the depth when you have all the stoppages in play."
Senior Mike Delzell has started 14 of 16 games played and averages 7.3 points per game with 4.6 rebounds per game.
"Mike battling the foot injury all year, hasn't really been himself until lately and he's really shown himself to be one of the best 3-point shooters in the state," Davis said. "I think if teams are sleeping on him, they're doing themselves a disservice. He's been great."
Delzell said after the team was knocked out of the state tournament last season, it put them on a mission for revenge.
"There's definitely a chip on our shoulder," Delzell said. "We were all on the team, so we just want to get back there and get some revenge."
Senior Logan Shaw and junior Tucker Dickherber give the Indians a spark every time they get in the game. Shaw's already had a few big moments this postseason.
"Tucker Dickherber, defensively, gets some hustle plays and same thing with Logan — Logan's just an Energizer Bunny out there and goes four-for-four from the free thrown line (against West Burlington)," Davis said. "Against Mid-Prairie, he hits a big 3, big momentum changer."
Shaw said it's the role players' job to bring the energy.
"It brings a lot of energy because when the starting five is out on the court and they can't get anything going, you bring guys off the bench, that really brings them up and then we start rolling from there," Shaw said.
Senior starter Jordan Lawrence said it's a huge contribution.
"It gives us depth, gives us a chance to stay fresh a little bit," Lawrence said. "We have a lot of guys that can make plays, so I think that will really help us out a lot."
Sophomore Zane Witt has been another player who's been a big help for the Indians. He averages 5.7 points per game, two blocks per game and standing at six-foot-seven, he'll be a huge advantage against a Western Christian team that plays more of a small-ball style of play.
"Contributions out of Zane Witt as a sophomore, being able to block shots and do some things with his length — that's one thing Western does not have, they don't have a lot of size, so maybe he can get going," Davis said.
Witt said each player on the team has come a long way since the start of the year.
"Every week was like a new change of roles," Witt said. "We had to make adaptations to everything, step up and do our jobs."
With the experience the Indians have now, an upset may be in the cards on Tuesday.
"We've got a lot of chemistry," Delzell said. "Everybody knows their role, what we need to do when we go out there. We don't play selfish basketball or anything. Everybody knows what we need to do to win."
