BATAVIA – Patrick Mayfield has endured an eventful few months since his potential game-tying shot in the sectional finals fell short in March.

Last week, Burlington Central's 6-foot-4 forward, who averaged 17 points, 4.4 rebounds and nearly two assists per game last season, sustained a mildly separated left shoulder during a Geneva summer league contest while going for a steal.

No biggie, though – Mayfield played the next game.

The injury was only expected to keep him out for about two weeks, but he is visiting a doctor soon, and said he could even be cleared to play as early as Saturday if all goes well. Earlier in the summer, Mayfield also turned his left ankle.

Injuries aside, this offseason is a critical one for Mayfield, who slides into the primary scoring and defensive spotlight with Zach Schutta, Will Hough, Dejsani Beamon and others graduated off last year's Burlington Central team.

Central will now have to incorporate a mix of experience – Mayfield, Jake Lenschow and Kyle Moring – with a handful of newcomers, which puts Mayfield front and center.

"It got a lot harder, but a lot more fun," Mayfield said of the offseason. "I love training hard, but I have to train that much harder knowing that I have a lot of guys that I have to help out. I have to do a lot more of rebounding, passing [and] everything."

One specific change to the training regimen is Mayfield's weight lifting.

It's an area that Mayfield admits he didn't used to spend time focusing on, but the upcoming increased work load is forcing him to compensate. He now gets up at 5:30 a.m. simply to eat a bowl of oatmeal and peanut butter toast, for example.

"We know what type of player he is, and what type of player he can be," Central coach Brett Porto said of Mayfield during Friday's Batavia Hoops Mountain Showcase.

"Right now, he's just gotta get healthy...now we're just looking for him – like we would any senior - to take that leadership role, and do the right things on the court so guys could build off of that."

Marmion getting in groove without Sullivan

Replacing a near seven-footer is never easy.

Marmion will do its best to compensate losing one of the most prolific figures in recent program memory in Mick Sullivan, who is headed to DePaul as a preferred walk-on.

"You can't replace size," Marmion coach Tony Young said. "When you lose a seven-footer, you don't replace a seven-footer. You just fill in, and shift and figure it out moving forward.

One thing, at least, is evident in the early-going of summer league play – Marmion will make opponents work. Conditioning, transition play and more are focal points while working the passing lanes constantly.

"[Sullivan] was a huge loss, but that's not going to stop us from playing better this year. I think we'll definitely be better than last year," senior forward Ryan McMahon said.

Returners include standout shooters in Tom Surges, Jon Reid, Carlos Liz and McMahon; but, a possible ace in the hole may turn out to be guard Troy Campbell – who figures to be in the mix to start at point guard or serve as a sixth man.

Campbell, a senior, chose to stop playing basketball last season due to personal reasons. He played his first two seasons, and stopped playing AAU after his 15U season.

The 5-foot-9 Campbell still attended a few games last season. He saw the hype around them, and the itch to return eventually had to be scratched.

"I thought it'd be a good idea because it's my senior year; [I've] got nothing to lose," Campbell said. "We played a students versus staff game in front of the whole school [last spring], and me and coach Young were [guarding] each other...created a relationship through that. I started thinking about playing basketball again, and now here I am."