None has shone more brightly than 6-foot-2 senior Cole Colvin, who has taken advantage of Lane’s absence to average more than 12 points per game and anchor the interior defense.
Last season as a seldom used member of the varsity, Colvin was often timid about finding and taking his shot in the post or on the perimeter. He put all that behind him in Wednesday night’s 52-49 win over tough Class 4A foe Vail Cienega when he scored 21 points including the game-winning basket with 31 seconds to play.
 Buena senior Cole Colvin awaits a free throw shot by a Salpointe player at Saturday’s Tip-Off Classic. (Liz Manring-Herald/Review) |
“I’m pretty versatile inside/out,” Colvin said. “So whatever coach needs from me — I’m willing to go down low.”
Colvin attributes the newfound confidence in his game to a busy summer.
“I put in a lot of hard work over the off-season,” Colvin said. “I don’t think I missed a day over the summer shooting with the machine.”
Head coach Dave Glasgow agreed.
“He put in a lot of time in and he’s got a diverse scoring ability,” Glasgow said. “It’s not a surprise to us, but we have seen him play 48 times this summer.”
Glasgow said the 6-foot-3 Lane may be ready to begin practicing by early next week. That means the Colts will have to go through three tough tests without him. Tonight they play their home opener against Tucson Amphi and Thursday hit the road to take on Gilbert Mesquite and return home Friday to play Chandler, which beat them 64-61 in last week’s Salpointe Tip-off Classic.
Buena closed the Classic on Saturday by rallying from 20 points down to rival Salpointe to win 59-58.
“I don’t think we’re at 100 percent right now; that Salpointe game took a lot out of us,” Colvin said.
“Saturday was exhausting but I think it showed a lot of heart on our part. It showed we’re not going to go down without a fight.”
Colvin said playing the early part of the season without Lane could wind up being a blessing in disguise.
“I think we’re building more chemistry and not depending so much on (Lane),” Colvin said. “Everybody has to pick up the slack.”
Sports editor Matt Hickman can be reached at 515-4612 or by e-mail at sports@svherald.com.
