There’s a new feel in the air at Benedictine.
Coach Winston Grays returns to the sideline he once called his own.
The Bengals’ alum finished his playing days at James Madison and on the international scene and has had coaching stops at Benedictine as an assistant, along with Euclid and SPIRE. He was most recently an assistant at St. Ignatius for its 2024 state championship team.
Grays is also the assistant director of the Ohio Basketball Club and has been a mainstay in the Northeast Ohio basketball scene for years. He has seen the potential of the Bengals over the seasons and is excited to take over the program.
“The biggest thing was first creating a culture that we wanted,” Grays said. “We created that this summer. I can tell that has been a culture shock for some kids. But I think everybody has started to buy in. It’s tough having seven transfers, so we kind of implemented them with the younger talent that we have and some really good seniors. Mixing them all in is really just seeing how they jell together and play together. But the culture we wanted to set was the tone.”
The biggest difference between this season’s Bengals’ team is the youth of the program. They feature just one senior in Jonathan Spikes with a plethora of sophomores and juniors in key parts of the rotation.
Juniors such as Stephon Bohannon, Bryant Duffy and Xander Smith will be key pieces all around the floor as they all bring different skill sets to the table. A number of players can shoot from beyond the arc, others can work in the post, others are stronger on the drive while others can handle the ball.
The work in the paint will be handled by 6-foot-6 sophomore Ashton Afzal.
Bohannon has been enjoying seeing the team come together as one and develop as a unit.
“It’s been tough just initially adjusting to a new team,” Bohannon said. “We’re young, but building that chemistry has gone well so far. There are times it’s tough on the court, but we’ve started to get to it and getting better a day at a time. It’s been really fun learning everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. We’ve been picking it up as a team.”
The bench depth for the Bengals sees juniors Alex Ritchie and Amare Afzal and sophomores Ford Schneider and Juelz Bryant.
The inexperience at the varsity level isn’t what Bohannon is concerned about, rather continuing the development as the season progresses. It is the first time players other than he and Spikes will see significant minutes on the floor.
“We’re young, and it can be easy for us to get off track at times,” Bohannon said. “We get a big win and we come back the next day lazy or something like that. I think it’s going to help us make a nice stretch down the season. Just us being more focused as the team and locked in together. We’re not losing the sight of the goals that we’re trying to accomplish.”
The Bengals will have a challenging road this season, especially away from home. On their road slate, they take on teams such as Bedford, Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Fairview and Padua, all of which have regional aspirations and further.
Add in the conference slate of the North Coast Conference with the likes of Holy Name, Lake Catholic and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, it’s going to be a challenge night in and night out for the Bengals. But Grays likes that for his team.
The Bengals are among a very top-heavy Division IV district pool with Glenville, Canfield, Cleveland Central Catholic, Akron Buchtel, West Geauga and NDCL.
Grays understands if the Bengals want to make it to the regional round for the first time since 2016, they are going to have to find a way to handle those big-game atmospheres as a younger squad.
“The biggest thing is not just being predictable with anything,” Grays said. “We have a bunch of guys that can do different things. We have slashers, we can shoot — everything that you’re looking for out of our offense to where it’s every game you can expect to see different things out of us. But still also understanding we’re going to be disciplined, run our plays right and also see the extra shooters and extra passes.”
The Bengals are flying straight into the fire, taking on three-time defending state champion Lutheran East as a part of the Great Lakes Showcase at Cleveland Heights on Nov. 30.