Saints boys look to build depth, change culture under new coach

Basketball teams get better in the offseason, so says an axiomatic claim that coaches utter everywhere. For Tuscarawas Central Catholic’s boys team, it just got a lot bigger in the offseason, which first-year coach Christopher Debo hopes translates into better.

“We are very young but also very hungry,” Debo said, referring to an influx of youngsters that gave his roster a major influx bodies.

The Saints were coming off a 5-16 season a year ago, which included a 2-12 mark in the Inter-Valley Conference, which was 14th overall. They moved into this year with three letter-winners gone from that squad.

Jace McCollins, Nate Wright and Brysen Grimes moved on from the 2024-25 version. Debo should not be having any trouble locating replacements. The Saints’ roster this week expanded from 11 players to 20. 

That includes a returning core of Dylan Dumermuth (6-0 senior, shooting guard), Gavin Rankin (6-7, senior forward/guard), Christian Taralla (6-1 senior), Ethan Rothrock (6-4 junior forward), Ellis Jackson (5-foot-9, sophomore point guard/shooting guard), Joe Moss (6-3 sophomore forward) and Matthew Olson (6-foot sophomore).

In the early going, Rothrock is leading the way with 11 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. 

Newcomers include senior Cal Stewart (6-0); juniors Malaki Barker (5-11), Anthony Bollon (6-1), Mario Gonzalez (6-7) and Solomon Abrams (6-7); sophomores Nicholas Lesiecski (6-2), Joey Bachman (6-4), Lluc Castellano-Rebelledo and Edward Bachman (6-1); and freshmen Blake McQullan (6-2), Anthony Love (6-1), Clayton Coolman (5-8) and Nick Civiello (5-7).

Obviously, not all those names will show up in varsity scorebooks – 14 players have appeared on most games thus far – but it gives Debo a chance to start building some depth and developing some talent at the junior varsity level. Stewart (4 points) and Gonzalez (3.5) were among the team scoring leaders in the early going.

One thing Debo noticed about his team right away was “how motivated they are to change the culture.”

That won’t happen right away, though. Which means the Saints have to stay focused on making small gains. The early portion of the season has been a bit of a struggle, with Central Catholic starting the year with six consecutive losses before stopping the streak with a 48-44 win at Lucas Dec. 27. That win was significant because it was a game the Saints likely would have lost last year, when they went 2-8 in contests decided by 3 or fewer points.

Now the challenge is starting to get in more of those types of games. TCC lost its first six games by an average of 34 points. 

That calls for everyone to stay committed to the same direction, which Debo believes his team is doing, As he put it, his team has “lots of positive energy and the boys have bought in.”

Eventually, that should translate into wins or at least gains on the scoreboard. 

For now, the coach wants to see his team “believe in each other and get better every game. We play the right way on the court and do good in the classroom.”