Eric Long Hard Quotations

Brandon is as quick a guard as I have seen or played with. He is very tough to guard, not just because of his quickness, but his ability to handle the ball. Friday when he got comfortable going to the hoop, you could just see it and Stark County had a hard time containing him.

It was nothing but hard work. People don't understand the amount of hours these guys spent this summer shooting the basketball. All 15 of these kids were in the gym all day working hard. They gave up a lot of their personal opportunities to build their skills and help the team. That is why we went from six wins last year to 16 now.

These four (along with seniors Tyler Russell and Cody Hagerman) have set a tone for our program, now and in the future, with how hard they worked. When I think of Brandon and Chad, I think of all the hours they put in the gym improving their skills.

I can't be any prouder of our effort and I thought Princeville played great basketball. If they shoot one percentage lower then they don't win. We executed everything we wanted to, we played hard defense and I thought we rebounded pretty well considering their size advantage. I couldn't ask for a better effort.

I couldn't be prouder of four guys. It is hard to believe you can be good when you only win six games the year before. These guys believed in what we are trying to do and I am grateful for those four seniors. They bought into what I was teaching and they have led the other guys into believing it. It is because of that leadership we turned things around this year.