Ever seen the loud guy on the ShamWow commercials?
He's good. I don't much care about cleaning supplies, but when I watch the ultra-energetic man cleaning soda and coffee stains without putting pressure on the ShamWow, I'm impressed.
And that's saying something because, generally speaking, cleaning is not in my contract.
Well, the girls basketball coaches for Oneonta High and Davenport had similar jobs to the ShamWow salesman this season. They had to get their teams excited about defense.
That's because neither the Yellowjackets' Bob Zeh nor the Wildcats' Ray Preston had offensive juggernauts that would hit the opposition up for 60 points a night this season.
The veteran coaches had to make their players believe that defense could take them to places not many around their programs thought they could go.
After all, OHS had to replace probably one of the top five players this area has produced over the last 10 years in 2009 Daily Star Player of the Year Madie Harlem. She averaged better than 18 points last season. It also had to overcome the departure of Meredith Ridgway, who averaged nearly a double-double last season in helping the Jackets to a 25-1 season.
"(Harlem and Ridgway) were a huge part of our team," Yellowjackets junior Sienna Wisse said after the Yellowjackets' 41-33 Class B state quarterfinal victory over South Jefferson on Saturday at a jam-packed Hartwick College. "To lose them, we knew we were going to have to work three times as hard as last year. We knew other girls were going to have to step up and we all did that."
The same is true for Davenport, which graduated three starters off last season's 21-1 squad.
Gone was point guard Chelsea Haight, three-point shooter Amanda Toombs and forward Lauren Rider.
"I was a little nervous playing summer league," two-time first-team all-state forward Sam Meyerhoff said following her team's 34-24 Class D state quarterfinal win against Hamilton at SUNYIT on Saturday. "I said I don't want my senior year to be a dud. But our girls have stepped up. They know how important this is to me and (fellow seniors) Jackie (Gilley), Becca (Hotaling) and Emily (Marsh)."
Though Wisse and Meyerhoff talked of their teammates stepping up, it's how it manifested itself that's most impressive.
If you play basketball, it's easy to get excited about scoring in transition, curling off a screen and hitting a jumper, or executing a pick-and-roll.
Those are easy sells.
But sprinting back on defense, making continuous slides in a zone or playing ball denial against a high scorer as a chaser in a junk defense, now that's work. There's nothing glamorous about diving on the floor after a teammate has deflected a pass and then balancing on one knee while avoiding a traveling violation and trying to find an outlet.
Nor are any novice fans going to take notice of the player who picks up a guard in a zone press in the backcourt and beats the offensive player to a spot, allowing a trap to develop near midcourt.
There were so many examples of all of that going on Saturday by OHS and Davenport defenders.
Wildcats senior Jackie Gilley probably covered five miles against Hamilton. The girl just never stops and is proof that there's still room in basketball for undersized players as long as they realize the game is played primarily with one's legs.
Want a player who sacrificed her body?
How about Davenport's Brittany Chase, who was sent sprawling to the floor by Hamilton's Jordan Peterson with 2 minutes, 22 seconds left in the second quarter. Peterson, arguably the most athletic player on the floor, had a full head of steam on a right-handed drive, but Chase stood her ground and drew a charge.
Katie Brown spent a good deal of time chasing Peterson on Saturday and contributed to the Hamilton standout's 5-for-16 shooting performance.
"We missed some shots," Gilley said of her team's 10-for-51 shooting performance, "so that meant we had to work even harder on defense."
It looks as if the Wildcats will need to bring that same effort at 10:45 a.m. Saturday in their state semifinal against Section 10's Harrisville (18-3). The Pirates advanced to the semifinals with a 55-51 victory over Section Two's Argyle on Saturday.
As for OHS' 2-3 zone, well, no one has figured it out this postseason. Twenty-nine points scored by Windsor, 28 for Watkins Glen, 27 in overtime for Lansing and 33 for South Jefferson. That's four teams with a combined record of 64-13 before playing OHS that have averaged 29.3 points against the Jackets.
Even as a lifelong fan of Syracuse, I've always been a big believer that zones are played to hide weaknesses. If you have five good defenders and can match up with your opponent size-wise, there should be no reason to play zone.
These Jackets have made me re-think that opinion.
Though I think they're athletic enough to play man-to-man, I can't imagine them being more stingy than they've been this postseason if they had.
Even in comparison to last year's defense, which helped OHS advance to the Class B state final, Zeh said this year's version is every bit as good.
"We're a little more athletic," said Zeh, in his 45th year of coaching. "We don't have the same rebounding power without Meredith, but we're a little longer and quicker."
Senior Katie Bredin, like Gilley an undersized guard, is the poster girl for the zone. She's constantly on the move, always sliding her feet and getting into passing lanes. Bredin's the type of kid who'd be entirely content going a game without attempting a shot as long as the team won, and that's not always easy to find.
Classmate Lesley Harlem, at 5-10, provides length out front.
The wings on the back of the zone _ juniors Wisse and Erin Wolstenholme _ are excellent athletes who passed a big test Saturday. Zeh moves wings on his zone way out to contest three-pointers. Not only did Wisse and Wolstenholme help limit SJ to four threes _ one after halftime _ they still protected the baseline and helped on the defensive glass, and both of them did all of it very well.
"We knew our wings had to get to shooters," Bredin said. "We knew they had great shooters and we had to drop and help Val (Ridgway) in the post, because they have good inside players, too."
Ridway, a physical 6-footer, contained counterpart Maddy Wetterhahn. And even when Ridgway went to the bench with four fouls early in the fourth quarter, Kasondra Hughes gave the Jackets key minutes at center.
"It all comes down to who plays the hardest and who wants it more," Wolstenholme said. "(On Saturday), we wanted it more."
It appears OHS (19-3) will play an equally defensive Watervliet squad at 11:45 a.m. Friday in the semifinals. The Cannoneers (19-4) beat Section 10's Ogdensburg, 31-25, in their quarterfinal Saturday.
"Our defense is our entire game," Wisse said. "Teams are scared to play against us."
So Zeh and Preston, with a combined 76 years of coaching experience, are two wins from their first state championships. They've succeeded in making their respective teams buy into defense in a big way. It's taken the Jackets and Wildcats a long way.
Zeh and Preston have bright futures as salesmen, if they ever decide to go that way.
Rob Centorani covers high school basketball for The Daily Star. E-mail him at rcentorani@thedailystar.com.
