Rossford boys aim to continue improvement

ROSSFORD — The Rossford’s boys basketball program has made important strides under coach Brian Vorst.
The Bulldogs are hoping that trend continues this season.
“We’re really excited about the upcoming year. We feel like we’re going to be in a position to compete
every night,” said Vorst, who is in his fifth season. “Last year, we had a couple nights where we were
just not very competitive.”
“This year, we have a chance to get over that hump and be competitive every night and hopefully win those
games,” he added.
Rossford returns six letter winners from last year’s team, which was 11-11.
The Bulldogs finished tied for fourth (6-8) in the Northern Lakes League and won their first sectional
game against Wauseon (59-48) before being eliminated by Napoleon (44-41) in the Division II sectional
finals.
Rossford will have to replace one of the leading scorers in the NLL last season, Tommy Kralovic, who
scored an average of 19.2 points per game in earning first-team All-NLL honors. He shot 38 percent
(60-of-156) from beyond the 3-point line and 82 percent (86-of-105) from the free-throw line.
And more than his numbers, Kralovic was a leader on the floor.
“He was a big part of us last year. That’s something that we’re trying to develop, is that identity,”
said Vorst of Kralovic. “He was such a tremendous leader for us that’s another part of the game we’re
working on.”
Rossford does return another of the league’s top scorers from a year ago, senior guard Zach Leahy
(6-foot-2), who earned second-team All-NLL.
Leahy averaged 18.0 points per game while making 48 percent (117-of-245) of his two-point field goal
attempts. The shifty guard is able to create his own shot off the dribble and can get to the foul line,
where he shot 72 percent (81-of-112) last season.
Along with Leahy, Rossford returns another senior guard in Tyler Kralovic (5-11). He averaged 2.7 assists
per game and shot 37 percent from 3-point range in earning honorable mention All-NLL.
Vorst will look to his two senior guards to be leaders.
“Tyler and Zach have been around, it seems like forever,” Vorst said. “Naturally, we think those kids
will step into those roles. It’s just a matter of time and asserting themselves and being the leaders we
know they can be.”
Fellow seniors Tyler Kanary (6-4) and Ollie Goss (6-21?2) also return. Vorst pointed to those two
forwards as hard workers who will be counted on to increase their production from last season.
“They’re real leaders for us in terms of they always play hard,” Vorst said. “They force the loose ball
and they get on the floor after it. They do everything we ask of them.”
Rounding out the returning letter winners are juniors Josh Perry and Mitchell Stewart.
Vorst said Perry, a 6-2 guard, is probably the most improved player on the roster.
“We’re expecting a lot out of him this year,” Vorst said.
Stewart, at 6-5, will be key to the Bulldogs post play.
“He got a lot better over the course of last year and continued to improve over the summer,” Vorst said.
“If he can anchor the post for us we can win some games.”
As for the NLL, Vorst said it’s as balanced as ever.
“It seems like it’s going to be real competitive this year … We’re just hoping to be in the top half
this year and try to separate ourselves from the bottom half,” Vorst said. “We’ve always been kind of in
that middle and we’re hoping this year we can take a step and be a definite member of the upper half of
the league.”
ROSSFORD
BOYS SCHEDULE
Dec. 5 — SPRINGFIELD#
Dec. 8 — at Anthony Wayne#
Dec. 12 — at Swanton
Dec. 15 — MAUMEE#
Dec. 19 — at Springfield#
Dec. 22 — at Bowling Green#
Dec. 30 — EASTWOOD
Jan. 5 — SOUTHVIEW#
Jan. 9 — FOSTORIA
Jan. 12 — NORTHVIEW#
Jan. 16 — PERRYSBURG#
Jan. 22 — at Southview#
Jan. 23 — at Clay
Jan. 29 — ANTHONY WAYNE#
Jan. 30 — LAKE
Feb. 5 — at Maumee#
Feb. 12 — at Perrysburg#
Feb. 19 — BOWLING GREEN#
Feb. 20 — at Defiance
Feb. 26 — at Northview#
#—Northern Lakes League games