Kassam Saleh is ready to set the tone for Argo.
“As time goes on you gain the most experience on the team and become that leader for everyone else,” said Saleh, a senior guard. “They follow you.”
The Argonauts finished runner-up in the John McBride Classic at Stagg, falling 50-44 to Plainfield South on Nov. 27 in the de facto title game of the four-team, round-robin event.
Argo started 2-0 for the first time in coach Pat Maietta’s tenure, edging Nazareth 67-64 and Stagg 54-50.
Argo was down 10 entering the fourth quarter against Plainfield South before taking a brief lead late. But the Cougars answered back with some quick baskets in the final minute to earn the win.
Saleh is hopeful for this Argonauts team even after falling in the championship.
“Down by 10, down by 20, we will be coming for y’all,” he said.
Saleh and Darron Greer earned all-tournament honors. Saleh was the leading scorer against Nazareth and Stagg, and Greer led the Argonauts with 19 points against Plainfield South.
Like his players, Maietta would have liked another win. Despite falling short, he’s liking what he’s seen so far especially since the Argonauts have seven holdovers.
“Last year we went 1-3 here, so to go 2-1 is progress in my book,” Maietta said. “Just need to work together in key situations and make sure the right guy is shooting and getting the stops we need.
Chargers have new look
Stagg went 0-3 with losses to Plainfield South (53-43), Argo and Nazareth (49-34). But coach Marty Strus is not feeling too discouraged.
The Chargers are coming off a 20-12 season that ended with a regional-final loss to eventual Class 4A champ Homewood-Flossmoor.
“We played a lot of seniors last year and now those guys are gone,” Strus said. “We can look at that and feel sorry for ourselves or see it as a great opportunity to get guys in and get experience.”
Strus said six of the eight players in the opening-night loss to Plainfield South were playing in a varsity game for the first time.
“To lose three games is hard,” Strus said. “But I felt a lot of our guys did some really good things. Hopefully … we can and build on it and keep getting better throughout the year.”
Senior forward Domas Narcevicius and sophomore Mohammad Farhan earned all-tournament honors.
Narcevicius brings multiple years of varsity experience for the Chargers.
“We have a lot of young guys on the team so I am trying my best to get them ready for future years,” he said.
Watching Narcevicius take the lead has eased some the path for his younger teammates. This varsity opportunity for Farhan is “a dream come true” but did not come without a little bit of nerves.
“The nervousness from the first game to the third game has gone way down while my confidence has gone way up,” he said.
Stagg was upbeat after the first week of action.
“We are going to get in the gym together, talk things over, and move on,” Narcevicius said. “We are going to learn from our mistakes, put it under our belt, and keep going.”
Strus wants the Chargers to take that approach for the whole season.
“I want them to learn and keep getting better,” he said.