Romanus back on Pioneer boys bench
The West Greene boys basketball program has had some hard times the last couple of seasons, but in the 2011-12, the Pioneers will be coached by a familiar face in Jim Romanus.
Romanus started his coaching career as an assistant on the girls basketball team at Bishop Cavenin, followed by five years as an assistant for the Pioneers boys team and then four years as head coach for West Greene.
After his first coaching stint with the Pioneers, Romanus then coached the boys team at Jefferson-Morgan for the next two decades. The last four seasons, Romanus has been the head coach for the girls’ basketball team at West Greene.
The veteran coach knows the task at hand and knows what his team has to do in order to turn the corner this year.
“It’s all about fundamentals,” Romanus said. “Fundamentals are critical for any young team trying to reach their goal of being a better basketball team. Our fundamentals and general court awareness must improve.”
Currently the Pioneers are on a 27-game losing skid after going winless in 20 games last year. West Greene has only won one game the last three seasons and this year they must rebuild and set the program back up in the right way for the future.
Romanus pointed out that it’s going to take a total team effort game in and game out and that the Pioneers must rely on their whole roster for scoring and playing defense.
“We are small in numbers,” Romanus said. “We have to have all eight or nine of our guys come together during the season. We must play well as a team in order to be competitive and successful.”
Some of those players that garnered valuable experience from last year’s team and are looking to make an impact this season are senior center Jordan Rode, junior guard Chris Gillin Jr. and senior guard Peter Coote.
The Pioneers will start the season at the EQT Invitational at Canon-Mac High School on Dec. 9-11. West Greene will start its home schedule with three straight games, hosting Cameron (W.Va.) on Dec. 12, Waynesburg on Dec. 14 and Hundred (W.Va.) on Dec. 15.
West Greene begins section play on the road against Bentworth on Jan. 6.