Zach Hahn knows what winning basketball teams look and feel like. A state champ in high school at New Castle and a member of the two Butler teams that reached NCAA title games in 2010 and 2011, he’s been around enough successful teams to know what one looks like.
As he enters his third season as the head coach at Center Grove, Hahn is starting to feel like he might be on to something.
“I feel like we’ve been building, building, building,” he said. “This should be the best team that I’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve got a lot of interchangeable pieces.”
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The biggest of those pieces is sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis, who at 6-foot-8 is starting to blossom into the same type of body that his father, Dale Davis, rode to a 16-year NBA career.
Jackson-Davis averaged 9.5 points and 6.1 rebounds as a freshman, but his mental and physical growth over the past few months has Hahn thinking big.
“He’s matured a lot in the last year,” the coach said, “and I think he’s grown as a basketball player, not just from a knowledge standpoint but from a work ethic standpoint. He’s taking the game more serious.”
Jackson-Davis figures to have some help — even if Hahn won’t be sure exactly how much help that is until football season ends and he has his full complement of players.
Forward Joey Klaasen and guard Nate McLain, the only two seniors on the roster, figure to have expanded roles this season, and they’ll get help from a promising group of youngsters that includes sophomore forward Lucas Doyle, who saw action in 22 varsity games a year ago.
Among the others who might crack the rotation are sophomores Ben Greller, Cameron Petty and Spencer Piercefield. Senior Parker Ferguson, a talented athlete who hasn’t gotten much experience thanks largely to a seemingly endless string of injuries, could also factor in once his football season wraps up.
Such is life for Hahn at a school with a football powerhouse — basketball is put on hold. (The scheduled season opener against Franklin, originally planned for next Tuesday, has been postponed.)
“We want them to win,” Hahn said of the football program, “but it prolongs our season at the same time — and there are some key pieces to our varsity team that are out there playing still.”
Regardless of how long it takes to get all of his pieces in place, Hahn is eager to get to it — because he said he believes he just might have a winner on his hands.
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Date;Opponent;Time
Nov. 26;at Franklin Central;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 2;Southport;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 3;at Bloomington North;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 9;at Pike;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 10;Martinsville;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 16;at Whiteland;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 17;Avon;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 20;at Perry Meridian;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 30;Greenwood;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 6;Carmel;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 10-14;Johnson County tournament at Whiteland;TBA
Jan. 20;at Ben Davis;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 21;Roncalli;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 27;Lawrence North;7:30 p.m.
Feb. 2;at Warren Central;7:30 p.m.
Feb. 10;at Lawrence Central;7:30 p.m.
Feb. 14;Mooresville;7:30 p.m.
Feb. 17;at North Central;7:30 p.m.
Feb. 21;at Brownsburg;7:30 p.m.
Feb. 23;Columbus North;7:30 p.m.
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Coach: Zach Hahn
Last year: 10-16, 0-7 MIC; lost to Franklin in Martinsville Sectional semifinal
Who’s back: Lucas Doyle, So. F (2.4 ppg); Trayce Jackson-Davis, So. F (9.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 23 blocks); Joey Klaasen, Sr. F (3.0 ppg); Nate McLain, Sr. G (8.2 ppg)
Who’s gone: Bailey Barrett, Bryce Brown, Drew Conrad, Trevor Harrell
New kids on the block: Ben Greller, So.; Cameron Petty, So.; Spencer Piercefield, So. G
Outlook: As has become customary at Center Grove, football season will delay things a bit, but Hahn is excited about what he has returning as well as the new blood he’s adding. The Trojans will build around Jackson-Davis, who has continued to grow both physically and mentally as he heads into what could be a breakout season. Other players will need to take on larger roles as well following the departure of several seniors, but the arrow is pointing upward. Contending with the juggernauts of the MIC will again be a tall order, but the Trojans are hopeful that county and sectional titles might be within reach.
Hahn says: "This group has done the best job since I’ve been here of just being competitive daily. Whether it’s a shooting drill or open gym or now in practice, that loose-ball drill, they’ve really embraced that. But more than anything, I think that just passion for playing — with this group, I don’t feel like they want practice to end. They want to keep going, and they want to dig a little deeper."
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