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Columbia Heights' Lofton balancing passion with patience

By David La Vaque, Star Tribune, 01/11/11, 11:01AM CST

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Senior posted three 40-point games during Hylanders' 6-0 start


Zach Lofton

Frustrated by a motion offense that stalled throughout an upset loss to St. Louis Park on Jan. 4, Columbia Heights coach Willie Braziel turned up the heat at the next day’s practice.

Braziel set up a half-court offense drill pitting the starting five against eight defenders — a format that reduced star guard Zach Lofton to a pouting sideline observer.

A few minutes later, Lofton returned to the court with an audible, “Let’s go,” and began talking teammates through the drill. The attitude change drew Braziel’s praise and signaled Lofton’s growth toward balancing passion with patience.

“On the court I love working with these guys,” Lofton said. “You have to be patient with them and teach them. I still need to be taught, too.”

Lofton, who averaged 28.3 points through the Hylanders’ first nine games, uses a college basketball caliber first step to attack a defender. He posted three 40-point games during the Hylanders’ 6-0 start.

But consecutive losses to St. Louis Park and Benilde-St. Margaret’s showed the Hylanders’ inexperience. Lofton dropped 35 points on the Orioles but no teammate added more than six. And when the Red Knights held Lofton to a season-low 12 points, the other Hylanders could not muster enough offense.
Last season, Columbia Heights got within one game of its first state tournament appearance since 1930. Lofton wants this group to improve during the season and finish the job.

“I want my team to go to state bad,” he said. “I don’t like to see anybody on my team mad or sad. That’s why I take losing so seriously. I hate it. But the leader role, I love it.”

Lofton has found teaching others starts with setting the right example. He is battling a reputation for getting easily frustrated and too animated in response to referees’ calls. Braziel said those antics likely cost Lofton North Suburban all-conference recognition last season.

But Lofton is no prima donna. As a sophomore he did not make the St. Bernard’s varsity team or the Howard Pulley 15U team. The experience, he said, “made me a little bit stronger. It made me work a lot harder.”
Lofton spent the summer doing shooting and dribbling drills and plyometrics. After transferring to Columbia Heights for his junior season, Lofton averaged 18.8 points per game. And last summer he made the Howard Pulley team.

“I give credit to Zach for sucking it up, coming back and showing me that I made a mistake,” said Rene Pulley, executive director of Howard Pulley AAU basketball. Pulley said Lofton and Gophers recruit Joe Coleman of Hopkins were “the best all-around players I had.”

Pulley liked Lofton’s potential for igniting an offense but also worked to keep the young man from imploding in the face of adversity.

“We told him, ‘College coaches from all over the country are going to be at games watching everything you do. They’ll watch how you react, how you walk to the bench and your body language on the bench,’ ” Pulley said.

For his part, Lofton is taking a more mature mindset onto the court.

“The refs are never going to change their calls and it only hurts your game to get frustrated,” Lofton said.
Patience is also important at home, where he is helping the family’s new Jack Russell Terrier become housebroken.

Braziel said Lofton’s college potential is vast, citing interest from schools such as Baylor, Boston College and South Dakota State. Despite a productive summer, Lofton noticed he received lukewarm rankings by some recruiting publications. He plans to respond with his play.

“That’s another thing that’s come with being patient — don’t get mad about it, just go and work for it,” Lofton said.


Columbia Heights' Zach Lofton. Marlin Levison, Star Tribune

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