GALION — The Galion boys basketball team wrapped up their summer work for the month of June, which new head coach Tyler Sanders believes was a success.

According to OHSAA rules, high school coaches can get their teams together for 13 days between May 15 and the end of June. While many programs struggle to have a good turnout at times during the month of June, due to various reasons, Sanders was happy with the turnout.

“They did a pretty good job of staying committed. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the turnout,” said Sanders.

Multiple boys on the team also play football, while some play travel baseball and had to miss days.

“Coach (Matt) Dick has really been awesome, kind of letting us do our basketball stuff here in the month of June. As July comes it’s football month. They’re getting ready for their season and stuff.”

Sanders pointed out that there won’t be a whole lot going on for basketball in July, and those multi-sport athletes should be getting ready for the fall sports they participate in.

Last season, it wasn’t the offense that was a problem for Galion. It was stopping the other teams from outscoring them that was a substantial problem all season. That’s why the defensive side of the ball was where much of the focus was on in June.

“We didn’t talk a whole lot about the offense side of the ball because that’s not where they struggled last year,” explained Sanders. “We did talk about the defensive side of the ball. I think what the boys saw was when we’re really good on defense, we’re a really good basketball team.”

Galion had a pretty busy month. The team scrimmaged at one of the University of Findlay camps, where they were able to come away with a silver bracket title. The team also took part in multiple scrimmages with area schools. Galion fared well in a five-team scrimmage with Lucas, Bucyrus, Waynesfield-Goshen and Crestline.

“When we don’t put much effort into that end and focused on other things, we are a very average basketball team. Our guys are good scorers and that’s going to come naturally. Getting them to think about rebounding and playing defense, getting them to buy in on the other end of the floor is going to make or break this team.”

Cooper Kent and Elijha Chafin will be back once again to lead the team as seniors come the winter. But there were others that stood out, too. Steven Glew and Coen Fuson are two other seniors that had a nice month of June.

“No pun intended, he is the glue of the team and kind of holds things together,” Sanders said of Glew. “He’s a silent leader, does everything the right way, and works really hard.”

Sanders pointed to Fuson as another experienced athlete. Overall, the juniors had a good showing, too, and there is an upside to be had in the underclass grades.

“I was really impressed with some of our juniors on how they picked up some of our defense stuff,” Sanders said. “I thought they did a pretty good job of being committed.

I like the upside of the freshman and sophomore classes. Kind of what we just talked about, it’s being consistent, getting in the weight room.”

It’s not even July yet, so there’s a bit of time until the season rolls around at the end of November. But it’s the defense of the Tigers that will dictate what they are able to accomplish next season. The offense will be there and is likely often going to start at the defensive end.

“We’re going to get out and run a lot this year, that’s not news to anyone,” explained Sanders. “When we’re really good, when the offense is really good, it starts on the defensive end.”

Galion will look to improve on a 9-14 record that saw the Tigers end their season in a sectional semifinal matchup with Willard.