NATIONAL TRAIL CONFERENCE

BY JACK BULLOCK The ABV Preseason Preview of the National Trail Conference last season wasn’t the usual slam-dunk like it has been for so many years. Normally it is T-Town – St. Anthony or St. Anthony – T-Town. 1-2 or 2-1, it was those two. But last season was an anomaly because some other programs took advantage of a slightly down year at Teutopolis and moved up the ladder. This site chose Stew-Stras to win the league but the Comets never quite lived up to the ABV hype. Altamont – on the other hand – jumped right over several teams to tie St. Anthony for the NTC regular season title and that was no fluke. If you liked the Indians last season you may fall head over heals in love with this club this winter. St. Elmo moved up the list as well with a solid season to tie T-Town for fourth in the standings. Neoga made it six teams in the National Trail Conference that finished their seasons above .500. Although the regular season was very good for the NTC – only St. Anthony managed to win a regional title. Altamont and Stewardson-Strasburg were both beaten in regional finals. As for this season – don’t look now but guess who’s back at the title front door? Knock, Knock, Who’s There – Teutopolis. 1. TEUTOPOLIS The transition period is over and the Wooden Shoes are back as the favorites in the NTC. Head coach Andy Fehrenbacher and his team took a few months to get to know each other better and it took even more time to get used to not seeing Ken Crawford on the bench. But like water under the bridge the change is complete and final. This team, this program and this town doesn’t take too kindly to losing games and not winning championships. This isn’t arrogance – this is confidence that has come from seeing a sports program rise up to championship levels and sustaining the success. It doesn’t matter the sport – Teutopolis wins games. Coach Fehrenbacher has a good group returning that won the third place game in the conference tournament and will be much improved this season. The ‘Shoes were 17-11 overall last year and 6-3 in the NTC. But with just a pair of seniors missing from the system from last winter – look for this big gun to reload. Teutopolis has four returning starters and four others that earned the big “T” for the jacket. The top two scorers on the team that lost to eventual third place Class 2A finisher Olney-East Richland in the regional last season are back in those “Navy and Gold” uniforms. Tony Zerrusen and Brian Haskenherm were both in double-digits for the season in average. ABV can’t seem to remember a T-Town team that didn’t have a kid named Zerrusen? This Zerrusen is a 6-foot-1 senior guard that tossed in a team-high 14.8 points a contest for the Shoes as a junior. He hit a better percentage of his shots from behind the arc (38.9 percent) than he did inside the arc (36.6 percent). Those numbers will likely be a bit better this season. Haskenherm is a 6-foot-5 senior who has improved every step of the way for Coach Fehrenbacher. He hit for exactly 11 points a game for T-Town and grabbed 4.4 rebounds on average. He shot a pretty good percentage from the floor although as a team the totals were a bit low for a program that is usually around 50 percent. Jeremy Niebrugge and John Runde are back after spending a lot of time on the floor as starters. Runde was a full-time starter while Niebrugge opened the game nine times as a sophomore. Niebrugge is a 6-foot-1 junior (5.4 p.p.g.) and added 1.7 assists a contest that he played in (24). The 6-foot-2 Runde averaged 5.3 p.p.g. in 2007-08. Look for Runde and Niebrugge to close the scoring gap between themselves and the top two. If that happens it will be an even better winter for the Shoes. Coach Fehrenbacher will have to decide on a fifth starter from the four letterwinners returning. All contributed a bit here and a bit there last season. Jeremy Schumacher is a 6-foot-3 senior forward (2.5 p.p.g.) who played in 26 varsity contests as a junior. Six-foot-three Brock Sandschafer (3.8 p.p.g.) also played in 26. The other two are 6-foot-2 Michael Brummer and 6-foot-3 Michael Gilles. From the stat sheet ABV can tell by looking that these two know their individual roles to play in the Teutopolis plan. “We return the bulk of our team from last season and having that extra year’s experience and maturity should be evident in our team this season,” said Coach Fehrenbacher. “The kids worked very hard in the weight room this past off-season and we are all very anxious to get started with practice. Our seniors have set a great example of work ethic and dedication for our younger players to follow. We also have some very good young talent (freshman and sophomores) that could contribute this season.” OUTLOOK – If there is one thing that this basketball program does well it is rebound and defend. They did both of those things really well in 2007-08. This club averaged a rebound a minute last season and out boarded their opponents by 263 rebounds (or nine rebounds a game). However the problem with the Wooden Shoes last season was on the offensive end of the floor. If Teutopolis shoots the ball well this season – mark down 20+ wins and another NTC title. In this election year - ABV projects the NTC to be a Navy Blue State when all the numbers are tallied. 2. ST. ANTHONY Coach Matt Britton took over this program last season and the Bulldogs didn’t lose a step. They shared the regular season title with Altamont with a win over the Indians at home on the last game of the regular season played on a Saturday afternoon because of a bad February of weather. These Dawgs also cut down the nets at Altamont when it won yet another NTC Tourney title with a win over St. Elmo in the finale. But with just one starter back from a regional title team that went 21-10 – Coach Britton well have to rebuild. But like any skilled basketball engineer – if the proper tools are there – anything can be built. This coach will assemble a team around four-year starter John Steppe – a 6-foot-3 guard-forward - who can do it all, literally. Steppe averaged 10.5 points, pulled down 2.9 rebounds and topped St. Anthony with 2.8 assists per game as a junior. He has had a lot of help the past three seasons and has shown that he is unselfish. He might have to be a bit more selfish this season with his own numbers if the Bulldogs are going to keep pace with Teutopolis. A quick look at the roster shows that Steppe is the only senior returning to a squad that dropped a close game to Bismarck-Henning, 56-48, at the Casey-Westfield 2A Sectional. Two key reserves from last season that are back for St. A are Taylor Worman and Myles Baker. Worman is a 6-foot-4 junior guard (8.4 p.p.g., 2.2 r.p.g.) and Baker is a 6-foot-6 junior forward (2.3 p.p.g., 3.8 r.p.g.) Look for those three to be in the opening night lineup when St. Anthony hosts a tough Thanksgiving event. There is more size in Red and Blue this season with three others standing 6-foot-3 or taller on the roster. Coach Britton lists 6-foot-6 Alex Lustig – a junior center – as a possible starter along with 6-foot-4 junior Paul Sudkamp. Neither of these kids produced a lot of varsity numbers last season but the potential is there. The same can be said for the rest of a strong looking roster. Six-foot-three junior Derek Rohlfing, 5-foot-11 junior Matt Hecht, 6-foot junior Marty Jansen and 6-foot-2 junior Alex Brown round out that junior class. In two years this group could develop into another of the special St. Anthony teams. Two sophomores of note are 5-foot-8 James Jansen and 6-foot-2 Kit Koerner. None of these kids had much of a shot at playing time last winter but with six seniors having graduated in the spring – Coach Britton will be taking applications for employment the first two weeks of practice. The Bulldogs averaged 54.9 p.p.g. last season but 33.7 of those points graduated in May. Coach Britton will need the rookies to be ready early. “This year’s team will be big, strong and fairly skilled as we return a strong nucleus with three players (Steppe, Worman and Baker) that each played 25 minutes or more in last season’s sectional,” said Coach Britton who enters his second season leading the Bulldogs. “They will be three of the top players in the NTC. Consistency in areas of leadership, discipline and unselfish play will be keys for a successful season.” OUTLOOK – The Bulldogs won’t let go of the NTC title “stick” without a fight. Steppe is probably the best player in the conference and this team is deep enough for Coach Britton to use multiple combinations in the lineup. The schedule – per usual – is one of the toughest in the state. The teams that play that tough of slate usually end up with success late in the year when it counts the most. When they travel to T-Town on February 10 that game will likely be for the National Trail Conference regular season crown. With the IHSA going back to a more local regional format – look for the Dawgs and Shoes to perhaps meet again for some postseason hardware. 3. ALTAMONT No coach in the history of ABV earned his “Coach of the Year” award more than Altamont’s Doug Hill last season. Hill was used to having a center/forward-oriented team because of his personnel. However in the 2007-08 season this mentor changed his offense around to fit his club and it paid off in a big way. The Tribe went 24-6 and shared the NTC crown with St. Anthony. They lost a tough game to Nokomis in the regional finale at home last February and then got to follow those Redskins all the way to Peoria. Altamont had two of the best guards in the conference last season and Hill used them to near perfection. The best news in this section of Effingham County is that both of those players return for their senior seasons in 2008-09. ABV Class 1A Carbondale Supersectional All-South First Team member Kiefer McCarron returns for Altamont. He averaged 17.9 points and 4.2 rebounds a night for a squad that beat Teutopolis for the first time in who knows how long? McCarron also broke the school record for most points in a single season last winter with 523 points. His running mate in the backcourt is Landon Duckwitz – a 5-foot-7 senior guard. While McCarron was racking up points last season – Duckwitz was setting records on both the defensive and offensive ends of the floor. Landon averaged 9.7 points a game last season and grabbed 2.7 rebounds. However Duckwitz dished out 5.1 assists per game while making 3.1 steals per game. Both of those marks (154 assists, 95 steals) are school records. Even though Altamont lost five seniors and a lot of points – don’t think for a moment that this will be a down year. A new group – a very large new group – will step forward this season to join McCarron and Duckwitz to make a squad that is capable of matching last season’s run. In fact ABV believes that the Indians could play a few more games this season - more on that later. The front line could stand 6-foot-6, 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-9 if Hill uses his trio that return all on the floor at the same time. Six-foot-seven senior Greg Sperry has worked hard on his game over the past summer and Coach Hill believes he is ready for the varsity. Brian Suckow (junior) and Devin Frailey (senior) are bookend 6-foot-6 forwards. According to Hill each one of these players can step out and face the basket. In Class 1A if you have 6-foot-6 players that can shot from the perimeter – you will be successful. Two other players in the Hill game plan are 6-foot-3 seniors. Kyle Kuhns and Josh Hooks both will play in the middle for Altamont as either starters or reserves. Although none of these kids averaged much in the way of numbers for the Indians varsity in 2007-08 – all are looked upon as ready to go by the coaching staff. Altamont has even more skilled players at the ready in Orange and Black. Five-foot-eleven guard senior Benton White adds to the potential scoring, as he was very good last season on the junior varsity team. Two underclassmen – Tre Schlief and Jaisun Berg are 6-foot-1 juniors. They will lead the JV squad and could give occasional minutes to the top unit in the varsity contests. But the season will hinge on co-captains McCarron and Duckwitz. If these two match last season’s totals and get the new faces involved in the scoring – Altamont could set a lot more records in 2008-09. “We are coming off of a very successful season and we have set some lofty goals for ourselves this season,” said Coach Hill who is 169-11 in 10 previous seasons in charge of this program. “We have worked hard in the off-season to make sure that we give ourselves the best opportunity to meet those goals.” OUTLOOK – ABV wonders if one of those goals is to make it to Peoria. That goal is a very realistic one to set. Great teams all have great backcourts – it doesn’t matter the level of play. From NBA down to the lower grades in elementary school – guards rule. Altamont has perhaps the best backcourt the school has ever seen. They can both do a lot of things with or without the basketball. There might not be another Class 1A team in the state that can match up with the Indians frontline size. They look deep, they look athletic and they look the part of winners – just like last season’s squad that shared the NTC championship. ABV believe 2007-08 was just the tip of the iceberg for this program. A healthy Altamont squad should set its sights on a big prize. How about a trip to Carver Arena in March – with their uniforms pressed and ready? ABV projects the Indians to win the Carbondale Class 1A Supersectional this March. That is unless the IHSA sends them on a different route. 4. STEWARDSON-STRASBURG The Comets struggled more than ABV believed that they would in 2007-08. In most cases a 19-10 final record would be very good for this school but with the talent on the floor last winter – it was a bit below what was expected. A 60-52 loss to a Dieterich team in the regional ended the campaign in the regional title game. S-S had dismantled those same Maroons by 25 points back in December but the Maroons won the school’s first boy’s basketball title at the Comets expense. The first thing that Coach Mike Walker will have to deal with this season is replacing the points and leadership that was lost when Ben Giertz graduated last spring. Giertz was also an ABV Class 1A Carbondale Supersectional All-South First Team selection and he his numbers backed up the choice. He scored at a 16.6 p.p.g. clip and added 3.8 assists per game. He played the last month of the season with a sore ankle he sprained against Altamont during the NTC tournament in January. While he was at it he grabbed 6.4 rebounds a night. His leadership and production will be missed greatly. Six-foot-six forward Phil Wetherell is also gone via graduation (10.3 points, 8.9 rebounds a game). However the team that takes the floor this season for Stew-Stras some may say is even better than last year. The reasoning could be that four returning players all averaged 4.3 points or higher last season while logging a bunch of minutes on the varsity hardwood. The Comets have a solid frontcourt back from last season and the guards that return are of quality. Starting with the forwards – Stewardson-Strasburg has Josh Talbert and Jon Hoene potentially in the lineup. Both are 6-foot-6 in the power forward mold – big and strong. Talbert is a senior that averaged seven points a game with four rebounds hauled in. Hoene is a junior forward that added 4.3 points to go with 3.1 boards. All of the rebounding and scoring totals will increase because Wetherell hogged a bunch of those stats (in a good way) last season. Against the big frontlines that they Comets will face this season – this pair will need to come out ready each game. The backcourt for Coach Walker looks to be a good one, too. Will Rincker – a 6-foot-1 junior – played a lot as a sophomore in 2007-08. He is the top returning scorer for Stew-Stras (8.1 p.p.g.) and was third on the team with 1.5 assists a game. Expected in the backcourt with Rincker is 6-foot junior Jaden Widdersheim – 6.4 points, 2.9 assists a night. As backcourt tandems go – these two match up favorably with everyone in their area including Altamont’s McCarron and Duckwitz. There are some other players that Coach Walker can turn to. Travis Ballinger and Chris Knootz should be in the race for that fifth starting spot. Ballinger is a 6-foot senior forward whose stock raised with his play this past summer. Coach Walker said the same thing about Knootz – a 6-foot-4 junior forward - who played junior varsity last season. Six-foot-one senior Jon Becker was also involved with the junior varsity last season and should be part of this system this season. Stewardson-Strasburg also has a trio of sophomores on the roster with 5-foot-11 Henry Ballinger, 5-foot-5 Clayton Brandt and 5-foot-10 Luke Rincker. “The kids have started to understand the type of work required to be champions,” said Coach Walker – who is 91-64 overall as a varsity coach. “I'm proud of the ownership they are taking and the individual work they have been doing in preparation for this season. We are looking to mesh/come together and to be unselfish with a focus on defense and rebounding.” OUTLOOK – Looking at this club and the top three here in the National Trail Conference there isn’t a lot of separation. The Comets have the intangibles to compete with all of the teams on their beefed up schedule. They have another trip up north for a shootout appearance against Mason City-Illini Central to go along with tough tournaments at Vandalia and the NTC event at the end of January. Although Giertz being gone will be an early factor – look for this group to get better as the season progresses. If both T-Town and St. Anthony fall apart in this league – the Altamont/Stew-Stras battle on February 20 at S-S could decide the conference title. As for the postseason these Comets will be a big-time threat to also get to Peoria. If the IHSA does as predicted – Altamont and Stew-Stras could be sharing a regional floor. Both of those teams have the talent to reach the Final Four. 5. NEOGA Head coach Jason Hanson (77-60 in five years of varsity coaching) will have the task of finding players to fill the spots vacated by six seniors. Logan Hoene, Jake Probst, Eric Jansen, Clayton Meyer and Alex and Tyler Walk all graduated last spring. Missing are the points and leadership but as it turns out Coach Hanson has some kids back that should keep the successful recent run going. This coach has two key returnees in Austin Robinson – a 6-foot-1 senior – and 6-foot-5 senior Jordan Russell. Robinson was fourth on the club in scoring in 2007-08 (7.3 points a game) while averaging 4.4 in the way of rebounds. He also distributed the basketball some with a shade over an assist a game average. Russell averaged exactly two rebounds a game as a junior and added 2.5 points a game. The new players ready to graduate from junior varsity to varsity are athletic and skilled according to this coach – a McLeansboro native who was a reserve on the 1991 Foxes team that finished third in the Class A state finals. Six-foot-three senior center Zach Letizia returns as does Dalton Robinson – a 6-foot junior guard. Those two logged mostly JV minutes in 2007-08. Neoga (16-12 overall, 5-4 in the NTC) has juniors Zach Blair – a 5-foot-11 guard – and 6-foot-4 junior forward Cody Boarman. Bryn Price – a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard/forward – is also on the list of potential starters. “We will have an athletic team along with having some size,” said Coach Hanson. OUTLOOK – This program has been pretty steady under this coach and the fact that they beat Casey-Westfield and Teutopolis in the same season for the first time in over ten years spoke highly about the direction the Indians are heading. However a lot of good players have left the building and their minutes will need to be replaced. Coach Hanson believes he has some kids coming up that are going to step in a fill the void. How well they can get off to a good start will determine if Neoga can stay in the top five of this league for 2008-09. There are at least two clubs in the NTC that could jump past the Indians if they falter at all. 6. BROWNSTOWN The Bombers look to have another successful year in both the National Trail and the Egyptian Illini. In fact while a fifth place finish here could be a big deal for the Brownstown crew – a title of the EIC seems attainable with the top scorer returning from last season’s team that gave Altamont a tough game in the regional semifinals. The Bombers also beat South Central at the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament – topping the Cougars for the first time in over a decade and then finishing 16-10 overall and 2-7 in the NTC. A 5-2 mark in the EIC was good enough for second behind St. Elmo last winter. This coach did see three of his top scorers (Cole Rhodes, Josh Miller and Dalton Goldsboro) graduate in the spring and all three headed off to college. Another senior (Jared Kious) is in college as well (Air Force) which is something that head coach Adam Bussard is clearly proud of. As for the returning players Coach Bussard has his top scorer returning. In fact 6-foot-3 junior forward Jared Winters was one of the top scorers in the whole NTC last season with an 18 p.p.g. average along with 11 rebounds a game. A very athletic kid – Winters can run the floor and finish according to Bussard. Three other players also are back that put up scoring figures. Five-foot-eleven senior guard Cody Robbins scored six points a game from the Bombers’ backcourt. Also back for Brownstown is point guard Michael Kramer – a 6-foot junior who added eight points a game as a sophomore. Kramer is the kind of team leader that Bussard needs on the floor. Levi Tackett – a 6-foot-1 senior – chipped in three points a game while being one of the squad’s best defenders. Another junior is Coner Riley who is a 6-foot-5 center who is athletic with lots of potential. Coach B added the name Carl Sefton to the list. He is a hardnosed defender like Tackett. “I’m excited about this upcoming year as we will get a chance to build on what we began last season,” said Coach Bussard – an Olney native and former Tigers’ standout. “Both of the conferences will be tough with the fact that any number of teams are capable of winning on any given night. We have some juniors returning that can improve with another year in this system. We lost four seniors and will struggle to fill that void left behind. However I look forward to a year of hard work. Our goal will be to implement a will to win every time we suit up.” OUTLOOK – This program couldn’t have picked a better coach to lead this program back into some prosperity. Although ABV doesn’t share his contention that there isn’t much difference in the NTC and the EIC in talent – there are some roadblocks in each league that will produce a loss if the Bombers don’t show up ready. Winters can be one of those kids that will end up with 1,000-points for his career if he can stay healthy and focused. In all of the ABV previews of this conference over the years (10) this might be the best Brownstown team. And for the fans of the Purple and Gold – this could be a two-year ride. Although they may not have the guns to sneak into the top five here they are the clear choice to win the Egyptian Illini Conference. 7. BEECHER CITY The further down the list of teams in the National Trail Conference appears the most lost to graduation. Head coach Terry Pruemer sent a good crew from last season’s team to graduation this past spring following a 14-15 season that ended at the hand of Nokomis in the Altamont 1A Regional semifinals. Two of the players – Tyler McKay and Jared Laue – were ABV Class 1A Carbondale Supersectional All-South Honorable Mention selections in 2007-08. McKay averaged 11.3 points a game while Laue added 14 p.p.g. Both have departed along with fellow seniors Nick Kline, Louis DeWerdt, Matt Fritcher and Cody Doty. That is a lot of depth to replace but this coach has done this before a time or two in stints as a head coach at Cowden-Herrick and Beecher City. Five-foot-ten senior Macaulay Mason averaged 6.9 points and 2.3 rebounds a game for the Eagles in 2007-08. He is one of two returning starters for so Coach Pruemer will need to promote some untested bench players into the limelight. The other one is 5-foot-10 Luke Levitt who made the grade as a varsity starter as a freshman. Levitt is also the top returning scorer with 10.1 points and 4.4 rebounds. Coach Pruemer believes Levitt will build on a fine freshman season. “He shoots well and is improving on the defensive end,” said Pruemer. “Macaulay (Mason) is poised to have a good year. He plays non-stop and very hard. He is a good scorer and rebounder.” Matt Kline is a 5-foot-10 senior who got into 20 varsity games as a junior. Another 5-foot-10 player – Derek Brandt – is also a senior returning who played a bit in 14 varsity contests. Another player – a 5-foot-7 junior Daniel Lagerhausen – could be a part of the starting five when practice begins. After those four - open tryouts will likely decide who gets a uniform from Mr. Pruemer. “We will have to work very hard each night to sneak out a few wins. We have a lot of unproven players that could be pretty good or not so good - maybe even on the same night,” added Coach Pruemer. “If we can learn early to pay attention to what needs to be done on defense as well as be competitive on the boards, we could beat some teams.” OUTLOOK – The Eagles have been pretty good recently but the talent pool is evaporating. The five mentioned all could get better this season and according to Coach Pruemer – the program has a lot of kids interested in playing. However sheer numbers won’t produce good results unless a lot of hard work goes with it. Beecher City will need to swipe a few wins out from under more talented teams to reach double-digits in the victory column. 8. WINDSOR It has been a while since the Blue Devils put together a good winning run but this season head coach Bruce Austin has four players back from a team that didn’t dent the win column but has potential to do so this season. Two of the four are seniors – led by 6-foot-1 forward Jake McIlwain who topped the Devils with 9.3 points and six rebounds a game. He also had a couple of assists a night. Another forward coming back is Levi Cushing who is also 6-foot-1 but a junior. Cushing helped out with 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. The second leading scorer is also the Windsor starting point guard. Five-foot-eleven sophomore Kyle Floyd averaged 5.9 points as a freshman in 2007-08. The other player mentioned by Coach Austin is senior guard Trevor Warner (5.2 p.p.g., 3.3 r.p.g.). Both played in some games last season for the Blue Devils. “We have a strong nucleus of players returning including a couple of senior leaders in McIlwain and Warner,” said Coach Austin. “Out starting point guard (Floyd) has just the one year of varsity playing under his belt and is going to be asked again to lead this ballclub. We won a couple of games against area teams this summer and have improved our team chemistry.” OUTLOOK – It is good to hear that Windsor picked up some wins this summer - even though the outcomes mean nothing in the summer. Winning can fix a lot of things including the team chemistry that Coach Austin mentioned. Let’s hope for the sake of the conference that Windsor doesn’t have a Devil of a time winning a game in 2008-09. 9. ST. ELMO No team in this conference – or even in the ABV scope of teams – lost as much as St. Elmo did after a very good season. The Eagles sent away nearly every point from varsity games to graduation this past spring and only a handful of minutes return from the 19-9 squad that lost to Dieterich on the Movin Maroons home floor in the regional semifinals last February. Colton Booher averaged 17.2 points a game last season and was an ABV Class 1A Carbondale Supersectional All-South First Team selection. Eight other seniors joined Booher in departing the program and the black hole left behind is a deep one. A total of 28 varsity points are back out of 1,735 scored by St. Elmo in 28 games in 2007-08. Zeke Asher – a 5-foot-11 junior guard - scored 22 of those. Two seniors from last season – 5-foot-8 guard Mark Schumacher and 5-foot-8 Blake Wright – should return this winter. Five-foot-ten junior Adam Seibert and 5-foot-7 junior Chris Logue also wore a St. Elmo varsity uniform last season. Nathaniel Maxey – a 5-foot-6 sophomore – should be part of the picture. ”We’re going to be very young and inexperienced with no one having very many varsity minutes,” said Coach Greg Feezel. “I expect us to play hard and try to build for the future.” OUTLOOK – The immediate future will be tough on the young Eagles but teams shouldn’t underestimate this team. Fortunately there appears to be a few possible wins on the schedule and the ones that survive the downside of 2008-09 will be ok in the next couple of seasons. St. Elmo will be able to ride this storm out. 10. COWDEN-HERRICK New coach Brett Boehm takes over a team that returns no starters from an 11-15 squad that lost to Beecher City three times in 2007-08 including a 63-47 loss at the Altamont 1A Regional. The five starters that left took with them a whopping 34.5 p.p.g. out of the gym. Tyson Robertson, Jacob Reynolds, Derik Banning, Austin Kramer and Chase Meek have gone. Three seniors on the roster – two played last season while one is coming into the program for the first time after not playing. Six-foot-three forward D.J. Hovis and 6-foot center Stephen West will likely start for Coach Boehm. Another senior – 6-foot center Tim Dagen - hasn't played in the C-H system before. This coach has three juniors he expects will start on opening night. Tyler Day – a 5-foot-10 guard – 5-foot-11 forward Colton Heiserman and 5-foot-11 forward Tanner Seaton will start. The rest of the junior class will have opportunities. Six-foot-one forward Jesse Hagar, 6-foot-1 forward Tanner Dagen, 5-foot-9 guard Blake Faulkner, 5-foot-11 forward Zach Miller and 5-foot-8 guard Austen Ward should all get playing time. Coach Boehm has some sophomores and freshman that could get into the mix late in the season. “We are very young with mostly juniors on the team,” said first year coach Boehm. “I hope this is a smooth running season and we learn a lot as we play each game.” OUTLOOK – The Hornets will get better but they will end up battling St. Elmo for ninth place in the NTC and will really have to improve to stay out of the basement in the EIC as well.