Defense key for Urbana boys basketball team

Junior forward Stillings leads Central Buckeye Conference in blocks per game.

URBANA — Going 5-0 is great, but it’s the way the Hillclimbers have done it that is impressive.

The Urbana High School boys basketball team has allowed more than 50 points in a game only once this season (against Tecumseh). Using mostly a straight man-to-man defense, the Hillclimbers allow 41.6 points per game.

Zach Stillings, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, leads the Central Buckeye Conference with 4.3 blocks per game. He’s second in the league with 9.3 rebounds, and second with 3.0 steals.

Anthony Marino, a 6-1 senior, is a physical point guard and averages 5.0 rebounds per game. Royce Lucas-Taylor, a 6-5 junior, adds a big presence off the bench with 6.0 rebounds per game.

Even with good numbers and five wins, head coach Jeremy Dixon sees some areas where the team can improve.

“I feel like we’ve been pretty good defensively, but we’ve been pretty inconsistent,” said Dixon, noting Tecumseh scored 23 points in the fourth quarter against them. “It seems like we’ll have one quarter per game with inconsistencies and letdowns. ... We’ve been focusing on every single possession. We’ll go through stretches where we’ll lose that focus.”

Urbana is tied for first in the CBC Mad River Division with a 4-0 record and is 5-0 for the second time in Dixon’s six seasons (2008). Before that, 1982 was the last time the basketball team had such a great start.

Dixon said the Hillclimbers continue to work hard.

“I really like the way they think about the start,” he said. “I think they’re excited that we’re 5-0, but they know we can play better.”

The Hillclimbers have a difficult schedule during the next month: They travel to Springfield (1-4) on Tuesday, then host Bellefontaine (5-1) on Thursday. On Jan. 7, Urbana travels to Graham (5-0) for the first of five straight road games.

“It’s going to be a big-time step up (in the schedule),” Dixon said.

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