RRCC men to feature up-tempo style in coach Humbert’s second year

Year 2 of the Dieter Humbert era began with a 87-78 loss to Fergus Falls, but the style of play has the potential to entertain local fans all winter long.
The season-opener featured 17 lead changes against the Spartans, who finished 16-11 last year, and the emergence of three freshmen — Bentley Hylton, Derek Scully and Dylan Clarke-Knaeble.
Hylton scored a team-high 26 points, Scully — a captain — had 16 points and Clarke-Knaeble chipped in with 14 points for the Voyageurs, who missed the postseason with a 6-16 record last year.
“We put up 78 points, which is enough to win,” Humbert said. “We just have to get better defensively.”
RRCC enters the 2008-09 season with five sophomores leading the charge — Ryan Pierce, Lawrence Pierson, Maurice Patton, who had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds against the Spartans, and captains Cornell Lawson and Michael Davis.
Davis made the All-Northern Division team last year and averaged over 12 points and five rebounds a contest, while Pierson returns after averaging four points, two rebounds and two assists a game.
“When he’s on, nobody can stop him,” Humbert said about Davis.
The biggest glaring weakness for RRCC is a lack of height, but they plan to make up for that with an up-tempo style the players are raving about. One only had to witness a part of Wednesday’s practice when a standard lay-up drill turned into a fast-paced dunk contest full of enthusiasm.
“Everyone likes it. They hate it when we slow down,” Scully said.
Central Lakes is favored to win the Northern Division of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, followed by Vermilion and Mesabi Range, but Humbert likes how his sophomores are adapting to his system.
“Freshmen are better, too,” he added. “That’s the big thing.”
With an eighth team — Fond du Lac — coming into the division, it will only make it harder to finish in the top four and qualify for the postseason. Humbert is hoping his squad can over come its height restraints and make a run, no pun intended.
“Even though we’re small, they can get after it,” he said. “We’ll have to overachieve to have a big year, but we’re capable of it.”
Scully has seen it firsthand, and he fittingly couldn’t answer questions fast enough about his teammates.
“I think we’re real confident if we play together,” he said. “If we play together, we can’t be stopped.”