Are you ready for another winter sports season?

Boys varsity head basketball coach Dakota Nichols is.

“We are excited to get started,” he said. With no scrimmage and only six practices before the first game, the team is getting ready,

“We do not have a scrimmage,” he said. “Only six practices before our first game, so we might have alumni come in to scrimmage a little bit. But nothing formal.”

As for players, the team returns three seniors, these being Connor Goebel, Shyloh Wellner, and Ryan Stark. With 27 kids in the basketball program for grades nine to 12, returning varsity starters include six foot eight inch Charlie Hoel (2nd team all-conference), six foot seven inch Josiah Demske (honorable mention all conference), and Brenner Myers. As for expectations this year, Nichols had the following to say.

“After losing the Regional Championship game last year, we told our team to remember this feeling and challenged them to use it as fuel to get better this offseason. We had record numbers for open gyms, contact days, and kids just playing more basketball with AAU and summer leagues. We’ve seen drastic improvements with some of our players, and have a few JV guys from last year looking to make a big impact this year. There are no nights off when playing in the Western Cloverbelt, as a lot of teams bring back key players. Our coaches and players are excited for the season to start!”

The Oriole boys varsity will meet Colby at Colby High School on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Game start is 7:15 p.m.