The Owatonna varsity Boys basketball team is in for a promising year this season. The program has put in a lot of work and time this offseason. Usually having two practices every week and a tournament on the weekends during the summer.
Thanks to Head Coach Josh Williams, in the fall there were opportunities at the high school for players to come in and shoot around during open gyms, and some people even got some live games going.
The first game was on Tuesday, Dec. 2 in New Prague, and Owatonna Varsity was able to come out on top winning handily, 72-48.
Williams says, “The thing that makes me the most excited is just the energy that our guys are bringing right now, especially defensively after our first game in New Prague and we thought that was outstanding in terms of the energy and execution. I really liked just watching the defense feed offense and the ways the guys are playing in the offensive scheme and also sharing the ball with 17 assists which is really good from a Varsity standpoint. On both ends of the floor we are just doing a lot of good things early on in the season”.
The team has two captains this year, they are both seniors with a lot of knowledge for the game and know how to lead their guys. Those captains are Gavin Burmeister and Will Halverson.
Burmeister says, ”One word that describes us is relentless because the team never stops pushing on defense, on offense, in practice, and every game. We keep grinding no matter what¨.
The former junior varsity coach Greg Kruschke has stepped down after being on the coaching staff for ten years and leaving a big impact on the growth of basketball players on and off the court.
Filling in Kruschke’s spot as the JV head coach is Brad “Doc” Schuster. Schuster has been around the program for numerous years. He also is the varsity assistant coach and on the side he coaches his grandson’s (Bo Standke) fifth grade traveling basketball team.
The team also brought back the ball boys that have been with the team for several years, Bo Standke and Carter Rosenau. Also new managers. Kayf Ali and Amal Mohamed.
Mohamed says “ Being a first time manager this year is awesome because I am classmates with a lot of the players and it is interesting to see my peers act differently on the court rather than the classroom ”.
Come watch and support the Boys basketball team as their first home game is on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m.
