By Colin Harris
Record-Courier staff writer
MOGADORE — They may not have been alive when the movie “Spaceballs” premiered, but you have to give the Mogadore student section credit for digging deep for inspiration.
Armed to the teeth with “May the Swartz Be With You” T-shirts, Wildcats fans welcomed the return of Russ Swartz to the boys basketball program in 2008.
Swartz once starred as a player for the Wildcats, then at Hiram College, and represented a fresh start for a program that never would steal the thunder from the football team — but once upon a time nearly did on a regular basis.
Maybe that’s why the Mogadore alum knew his best chance for success would be to tap into the very same mindset that has made the gridiron the place to be in the tiny community.
“I’d say 15 of our 19 players on this team were also members of the football team,” said Swartz. “As soon as I got here, I wanted to find a way to transition the toughness you need on the football field to how we played as a basketball team.”
If you look at nothing but wins and losses, it might be tough to see much in the way of improvement from last year’s eight-win team.
Then again, the eight wins meant the world for a team searching for a reason to believe.
Since the doors opened on the school’s new gymnasium in 2006, Mogadore had not won a game in 20 chances in its new den before Swartz’s arrival.
“Before I got here, I think Mogadore teams tried to just keep up with teams, and it wasn’t successful,” said Swartz. “I’ve always said that you can’t get to and win those big games, those championship-level games, unless you can play defense.
“I stressed that to our kids from the start, and I feel like we made strides throughout the (2008) season,” Swartz said. “Because of that progress, we were able to hit the ground running this year.”
Curiously enough, Swartz’s strategy may have been validated despite losing to Windham and Waterloo earlier this month.
In 2008, Mogadore came no closer than 20 points in losses to either team. This year’s team dropped a pair of three-point nail-biters in back-to-back games.
Then, on Tuesday, the team picked up its first win as they defeated Springfield, 65-56.
The win marked an important turning point for Swartz as he continues to build the foundation of a winning program.
“What we want to do is put our kids in a position to win games, and I feel like we’re getting there,” said Swartz. “Our players are beginning to really play defense, and I feel like, offensively, we’re starting to make strides.
“I think (the victory over Springfield) represented everything coming together for us,” Swartz said. “Getting that first win after a couple of hard-fought losses is important because our kids can get over that mental hump now.”
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Colin Harris can be contacted at charris@recordpub.com or 330-298-1123