A sophomore, Plantz in leadership role at Lake Erie

By: 
J. Patrick Eaken

Lake Erie College has run into nationally-ranked competition this year plus the Storm is trying to replace the conference’s top player, who scored more than 20 points per game last year.

To the rescue is 6-foot-4, 205-pound sophomore guard Jacob Plantz (Genoa), who is leading the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game, plus he is averaging 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals. He has started in every game except one, and averages 37 minutes per game on the court.

Lake Erie coach Kyle Conley was expecting Plantz to become a leader, even though he is just a sophomore.

“I think he can be a really good player. This is a really high level of basketball and he has to continue to work, he has to continue to expand his game on the offensive end and work on being able to create his own shot a little bit better. I think he’s got a very high ceiling as long as he continues to work and play with the same effort that he is currently,” Conley told The Press.

“Jake is a winner. He’s a kid we’re glad to have in our program. He’s a tremendous student, he’s a great young man, he’s doing everything we want him to do in college and we’re glad he’s here and we look forward to his continued growth.”

However, the Storm is 1-10 overall, with all their games being played in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Many of those losses have been close — within a possession or two coming down the stretch.

No one was expecting Lake Erie to win the league this year. The Storm was picked to finish seventh in the conference preseason poll voted by the head coaches. Findlay earned the top spot by a slim margin with three first-place votes and 90 points in the polls. 

Conley is in his fourth year leading the Storm. Conley returned ten players, including three starters, from last year’s team that finished with a 14-15 overall record. The Storm will be looking for more opportunities as a team on the offensive end as they will be without the G-MAC’s Player of the Year Gabe Kynard who started 29 games and averaged 20.6 points. 

Plantz said playing alongside Kynard, a Toledoan (St. John’s), was a blessing.

“Gabe is probably the best basketball player I’ve ever been fortunate to play with,” Plantz told The Press. “He’s really unreal. I mean, he does things, and I’m like, ‘Wow, did he just do that?’ Being his teammate, he’s helped me out so much and I think that is one of the biggest reasons why I’m having so much success is because of him helping me out, helping me to see things that I wouldn’t see on my own.” 

Harrison Riggs (7.1 points, 3.1 assists), also a Toledoan (St. John’s), is the floor leader for the Storm entering his senior campaign. Plantz (23 minutes, 9.4 points last year), Kevin Peterson (9.7 points), and Jackson Burdyshaw (4.7 points) are the key role players returning for Lake Erie. The Storm brought in five in-state freshmen this year, too, all of which are looking to earn substantial minutes.  

Last year, Plantz played in 29 games, starting in 21. He averaged 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists, plus he shot 46.2 percent from the field, including 37.7 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

However, defense became Plantz’s specialty as his freshman season wore on.

“My matchups…have been to guard the team’s highest scorer, one of their leading guys, and that’s really helped me to get used to the college level. I look at it as a challenge and a challenge I’m accepting a lot because my teammates are depending on me, my coaches are depending on me and I don’t want to let anyone down,” Plantz told The Press.

Even though Lake Erie is playing a conference-only schedule, Conley is pleased to be on the court.

“Our program is happy to see a conference schedule released for the 2020-21 season,” said Conley. “Throughout this unprecedented time my guys have continued to work and they have done a terrific job following our institutional protocols. I am excited that my team will have a chance to compete in what will be a challenging G-MAC.”

 

Trying to get team over hump

Plantz scored a team high 13 points in the Storm’s only win, which came over Trevecca Nazarene, 69-54.

In that game, the Storm came out from the start looking to score and they did just that jumping to a 20-8 lead with seven minutes to play before halftime. Both teams went into the halftime break shooting just under 30 percent, with the Storm leading 24-20.  Coming out of the locker room Lake Erie continued to build their lead scoring 10 straight points. The Storm lead would grow as large as 19 in the closing minutes of the game. 

“I couldn’t be happier for my team to pick up a road win. Obviously, the start to our season has been challenging for a variety of reasons, but the guys have continued to work and improve,” said Conley. “The execution of our defensive game plan today was outstanding and we found a way to answer any runs Trevecca made.” 

In an 86-72 loss to Kentucky Wesleyan, Plantz led Lake Erie with 17 points and five assists, but Kentucky Wesleyan closed out the game shooting 52.4 percent from three-point range which proved to be the answer to every Storm comeback. Lake Erie continued to struggle to take care of the ball and committed 17 turnovers. The Storm finished the game shooting 43.8 percent from the field compared to the Panthers’ 55.4 percent.   

Against No. 7 ranked Findlay, Plantz led Lake Erie with 20 points and the Storm came out of the gates with high energy on both ends of the court. The impressive first half didn’t hold over well after the intermission en route to a 72-62 loss. In the first half, the Storm shot 48.3 percent and held Findlay to 30.3 percent. Early on it seemed as if Lake Erie was poised for a home upset as the team went on a 9-2 scoring run to take a 35-26 halftime lead. The Storm’s largest lead of 10 points came with 1:35 left to play in half number one. 

After the first half break, it was evident that the Oilers made some rapid adjustments to the aggressive Lake Erie squad. Findlay cranked up the intensity and forced eight second-half turnovers. Findlay would go on to finish the game scoring 24 points off of the Lake Erie season-high 26 turnovers. 

Plantz scored a game-high 17 during an 83-67 loss to Findlay. Early in the first half Lake Erie looked as if they were poised for a road upset and kept the score close at 15-13 with just over nine minutes into the game. The Oilers would quickly regroup offensively and grew the lead to 20 going into the break at 48-28.  (— from a file story by Press Sports Editor J. Patrick Eaken and Lake Erie College press reports).

 

 

Category:

The Press

The Press
1550 Woodville Road
Millbury, OH 43447

(419) 836-2221

Email Us

Facebook Twitter

Ohio News Media Association