It’s been an interesting few weeks for the John Carroll men’s basketball team. In that time, the Blue Streaks appeared to have found a winning formula — albeit with the program in a bit of a transition period. About a month ago, All-America point guard Luke Chicone of Mentor — JCU’s unquestioned leader — went down with what is likely but not confirmed to be a season-ending broken foot. In Chicone’s immediate absence, the Blue Streaks lost four straight games. Then, head coach Pete Moran took a leave of absence for personal reasons. He is expected back this week. Dave Wojciechowski is serving as the John Carroll men’s basketball interim coach with Pat Moran on leave for personal reasons. Wojciechowski spent nearly 25 years as the head coach boys basketball coach at VASJ and Harvey High Schools. (Mark Podolski — The News-Herald) In Moran’s place, assistant coach Dave Wojciechowski stepped in as the interim head coach but he is the first to admit it has been a group effort among him and assistant coaches Pat and Matt Moran, Spencer Roule and Bruce Johnson. That group has led JCU to three straight impressive victories. In a blink, a season that appeared in doubt has suddenly taken a new look. “Winning takes care of a lot of things,” said Wojciechowski, who spent nearly 25 years as head coach at VASJ and Harvey before joining the JCU staff. Indeed it has. Dec. 14, the Blue Streaks defeated visiting and traditionally tough Marietta, 78-74. It was a win that improved the team to 1-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference after an 0-2 start. The importance of that victory wasn’t lost on the Wojciechowski and the coaching staff. “Getting that win over Marietta was big,” said Wojciechowski. “Being 0-3 (in the OAC) would have put us in a real bind because it’s so competitive in this conference. Being 1-2 is manageable. I do believe we’re in it.” Then Dec. 20, JCU traveled to Virginia to play at the Charlie Cobb Classic and pulled off a stunning win, 74-61, over No. 8-ranked and host Hampden-Sydney, 74-61, a team that two years ago won the NCAA Division III national championship. The victory was keyed by reserve post player David Gentry, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds and was recently named OAC men’s basketball player of the week. The next day, the Blue Streaks rolled to an 86-61 win over Washington and Lee to get to 6-4. With the team set to host Wilmington on Jan. 4, confidence is soaring. For Wojciechowski and the rest of the staff, that confidence is a byproduct of a new-found mindset within the program. “We’re finding out who we are, and that’s being defensive-minded,” said Wojciechowski. “It’s about getting back to our roots, playing hard and being locked in. “Practices have been electric, and not much has changed other than I don’t think we’ll score in the 100s or 90s. We’re defending the 3-point line and being as physical as we can be.” If the loss of Chicone wasn’t enough of a setback, fellow backcourt mate Chase Toppin — an All-OAC selection a season ago — recently suffered a foot injury, and his return is unknown. The rest of JCU’s healthy bunch have rallied around the setbacks, bought in to the defense-first, man-to-man approach — while thinking of Moran. “Credit to players for listening and wanting to do it for Coach Pete,” said Wojciechowski. “All coaches and players have upped their games.” As for the point-guard position vacated by Chicone’s injury, it’s been a work in progress. Wojciechowski calls it “point guard by committee.” Omar Abuhamdeh has started the last three games at point, and others have contributed throughout the lineup at other positions. Most notable have been Lake Catholic grad Aiden Fitzgerald and Kasey Hunt, a transfer from Tiffin. In JCU’s last game, Fitzgerald started and played 31 minutes against Washington and Lee. It was the second-most on the team behind fellow Lake grad and JCU’s leading scorer Luke Frazier’s 35. Fitzgerald responded with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Meanwhile, Hunt has averaged 11 points while playing about 25 minutes per game in the last three. “When you lose a guy like (Chicone), an All-American, you can’t act like everything was fine,” said Wojciechowski. “We needed to adjust.” It’s taken a while and with the new year approaching, it appears the Blue Streaks have redefined themselves with the meat of their OAC schedule on the horizon. “Things seem to be coming together,” said  Wojciechowski. Wilmington at John Carroll When: 4 p.m., Dec. 28 Where: Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center Records: Wilmington 2-8, 0-3; JCU 6-4, 1-2 OAC