By JESSE TEMPLE
jtemple@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — There’s really no shortage of ways to describe the plight of this year’s vertically challenged Burris boys basketball team.

Pardon the previous pun, but the Owls enter the 2009-2010 season facing a significant height disadvantage at nearly every position. The Owls are the bonsai plants to their opponents’ Chestnut oak trees. The Owls make Tiny Tim seem like Andre the Giant. The Owls … well, you get the idea.

“We’re not gonna outsize you by any means,” Burris coach Brian Carr says.

In fact, when the Owls take the floor for most basketball games, it’s possible that only one player will stand taller than 6-foot with a measuring stick. That would be senior Charles Wolfe, who tops out around 6-1.

The only other Owl likely to grace the court listed in the 6-foot range is senior Will Spengler. And that’s a bit of a stretch.

“I’m actually like 5-11 and three quarters,” Spengler said. “I’ve been to the doctor like three times and I’m just trying to get 6-foot, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get there.”

Even the team’s post player, senior Terrence Johnson, comes in at a diminutive 5-10. The rest of the rotation includes sophomore point guard Trevor Woodgett, senior guard Bryce Rector, sophomore guard Ryan Davis and junior guard Andrew Beatty, all of whom stand well below the 6-foot level.

Rector, the team’s starting off-guard, should be one of the shortest players on the floor nearly every game at 5-8.

“Well, 5-8 on a good day,” he said, smiling. “I’d say probably 5-7 is about right.”

Just because the Owls are short on inches, however, doesn’t mean they’re short on talent. Players say they can turn their height disadvantage into an advantage.

“We put in a new offense this year and a new break that we’re running, and I think we can definitely use our speed,” Rector said. “Pretty much everyone in our lineup can handle the ball and is pretty decent at getting to the hole.”

Carr noted that the combination of a speedy lineup and an experienced senior class would help get the Owls through tough in-game situations, regardless of height.

“We’ll just have to get up and down the floor a little bit, pressure you defensively and take care of the basketball,” Carr said. “Like any coach will tell you, if you can reduce your turnovers, good things will happen.”

Burris also will need to cash in on shots from the perimeter, where Rector says the Owls possess another edge. If not, look for opponents to turn right back upcourt following a long rebound.

Last season, when the Owls finished 8-13, they counted on 6-4 swingman Zach Jones, Tyler Bauchert and Will Pollard to aid in the rebounding effort. Now, much of that falls on Spengler while the Owls wait on the return of their tallest tree, 6-foot-2 forward Lucas Parsons. Parsons has been unable to practice thus far, saddled with painful shin splints.

“As one of the biggest guys, I’ll have to really step up and rebound,” Spengler said. “That’s been a problem in the past for small Burris teams. We can’t really board the ball. Especially with this offense, if we have five guys on the perimeter and someone shoots a 3, it will be hard to get in there and get the ball, but I think we’ll be all right.”

Burris begins its season Dec. 1 at South Adams. And that’s the long and short of it.

Contact prep sports reporter Jesse Temple at 213-5807.