Revisited:  Going

from seven wins in the final season under Troy

Walton to ten victories during the 2006-07 campaign under new Head Coach normal">Martin Russ, the Bayside Marlins managed to be competitive more times

than not, even with another losing record.normal">  They beat the likes of

Landstown,

Ocean

Lakes

and

Salem

, and stunned Tallwood 44-38 on the road in January. 

With those quality wins came some bad defeats, including a pair of

three-game losing streaks that saw them lose to Kellam and First Colonial twice

apiece.  Bayside also was beaten by

Maury.  In the last two years the

Marlins have ranked ninth or higher in three-pointers made with 224 combined

during that time frame.

Outlook:  Holding

scholarship offers in football from schools such as Northern Illinois and

Eastern Michigan

among others, two-sport athlete normal">Marquel Thomas, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, keys the Bayside attack. 

Thomas (8PPG, 4RPG, 2APG) is "very versatile," and Russ indicates he

should be the team captain.  Helping

out in the backcourt is 5-foot-10 senior point guard Todd

Manley, who had his best game in the season opener against Kempsville when

he notched 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. 

Constantly hustling, Manley (8PPG, 3APG) is "extremely quick" and can

get from one end of the floor to the basket in a hurry to fuel their fast-break. 

The transfer of C.J. Grissom to

Lakeland in the off-season makes Bayside thinner at the guard spot, though

senior shooting guard Morgan Jefferson gives

them a spot-up shooter off the bench.

Beavers (2PPG, 4RPG), a 6-foot-3 senior

forward, will have a pivotal role, especially if Marcus

Cooper (15PPG, 8RPG over the final five games) cannot play. 

Look for Beavers to raise those numbers significantly because he has a.)

the ability and will b.) see increased playing time. 

At 6-foot-5, senior forward Anthony

Jones is someone Russ expects great things from this coming season. 

He's very active on the boards and that'll be a big help since

Bayside has desperately been yearning for that reliable rebounding presence for

some time now.  That being said,

defensive rebounding remains a minor to medium level concern. 

"I think our overall team defense is going to be our strength," says

Russ.  "Again, getting the

commitment from each player to play within the system will be the key." 

Limiting the number of turnovers they have and finding a way to turn

pressure defense with steals into instant offense (i.e. points off turnovers)

will be crucial as well.

to Circle:  December

4^th vs.

w:st="on">

Granby

.  Bayside's first two games of the

season are against Eastern District schools

Lake

Taylor

(November 30^th) and the Comets. 

Russ, who spent five seasons at Norview and guided the Pilots to an

Eastern District Tournament title in 2003, is fairly familiar with those

teams' style of play.

Final

Thoughts:  If

the Marlins get Cooper eligible in the second semester, then they could be a

force to be reckoned with for the stretch run. 

Another three-win improvement or so and the Marlins will be about a 13-10

team.  Nevertheless, Bayside still

has a ways to go to get back to the days when they won back-to-back state titles

in 1990-91, or even that '94-95 campaign when they won the regular season and

league tournament crown.

Matthew

Hatfield has served as the authority on Eastern Region Hoops since 2004 for

VirginiaPreps.com – the #1 High School Sports Site on the Rivals Network. 

Check out Hatfield's website – www.matthewhatfield.com

– for plenty more on the sports world.  To

contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com.

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