Eight seniors will lead the Hills-Beaver Creek High School boys' basketball team into battle during the 2001-02 season. Front row, left to right, are: Matt Buck, Randy Krull and David Top. Back row: Justin Van Maanen, Darin DeBoer, Lyle DeBoer, Brad Haak and Paul Jess.
By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys have the ingredients to develop into a good basketball team this season.
The Patriots, who are coming off an 8-15 campaign, possess many ingredients needed to be successful on the court.
Topping the list of positives is experience. H-BC has five players who drew starting assignments for the 2000-01 team returning to the ranks and two other letter winners who picked up playing time in a reserve role.
With three players 6-3 or taller, the 2001-02 Patriots will have the size to create match-up problems for future opponents. Add in athleticism that appears in the form of quickness, and H-BC has a list of strengths that creates optimism for the upcoming season.
Experience, athletic ability and a physical presence are qualities that most area coaches would love to have in their teams. According to Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema, this H-BC team has something else that makes it special.
"What I like about this group is the intensity they have been practicing with. If we can play with the same intensity in games, it will be a plus.," he said.
"Other things I like about this team are our experience and size," Wiertzema continued. "The kids have played a lot of basketball, and it's always good to have experience. We also have pretty good size and quickness."
A combination of H-BC's strengths has made the Patriots a team area coaches will not take lightly after a rough 2000-01 season.
With a 7-14 regular season, which included a 1-3 record and a third-place finish in the Tri-County Conference, the Patriots drew a less-than-impressive eighth seed for the South Section 3A Tournament.
What the seeding didn't reveal was H-BC was a team on the rise at seasonÕs end, and that was evident when it sported a fourth-quarter lead over eventual state champion Southwest Christian before falling 52-42 in the quarterfinals of the post-season event.
The Patriots did lose two key players from the 2000-01 team, and they will have to find a way to replace graduates Lance Crawford and Chris Fransman.
Crawford was a post who led H-BC in rebounding while locking up a spot on the All-T-CC roster during his senior year. Fransman, an outstanding jumper as a forward, also started at times for a Patriot team that did not feature a set starting five last year.
Wiertzema's decision not to establish a regular starting five last winter should pay dividends this season. H-BC will have five players with starting experience and seven letter winners coming back to a team with a pre-season roster consisting of eight seniors, three juniors and one sophomore.
"We'll be trying to play most of our kids to start the year just to see where we are at," Wiertzema said. "Obviously, the returning letter winners will be playing. We'll also give our seniors the first shot to play their way in or out of our lineup."
Six of the eight seniors on the roster played varsity basketball last season, and five of them did start at times.
Matt Buck, a 6-5 post, is the most experienced senior. He earned a spot in H-BC's starting five late in his sophomore season and has become a go-to player ever since. Buck made the All-T-CC team as a junior.
Seniors David Top and Brad Haak bring added size to the floor along with past starting experience.
Top and Haak are 6-4 and 6-3 wings respectively.
Darin and Lyle DeBoer are the other seniors who started for the Patriots in 2000-01.
Darin DeBoer is a 6-1 point-guard, and Lyle DeBoer is a 6-1 wing.
Senior Justin Van Maanen and sophomore Trey Van Wyhe are the other experienced players on H-BC's roster.
Van Maanen is a 5-10 wing and Van Wyhe a 6-2 post for a Patriot team that should be able to challenge opponents a lot of different plays.
"We'll look to push the ball some, but we won't be a true fast-break team," Wiertzema said.
"Our size will allow us to set up in a half-court offense and create some mismatches we hope to take advantage of. Our overall depth will allow us to play at a higher tempo. Man-to-man will be our base defense, but weÕll also do some zone pressing and playing some half-court zone defenses because our size will created problems for some teams."
Seniors Paul Jess and Randy Krull will be given an opportunity to add to H-BC's depth this season.
Jess is a 5-8 guard and Krull a 6-1 post.
Juniors Tyson Metzger, Clint Roozenboom and Jesse Leuthold round out the pre-season roster.
Metzger is a 6-1 guard, Roozenboom a 6-2 wing and Leuthold a 6-0 post.
Wiertzema is looking forward to playing in the Red Rock Conference this season, which H-BC joined when the T-CC disbanded last season.
Instead of playing four conference games last year, H-BC will play 15 league tilts in the 2001-02 season.
"That will be fun. We'll be playing a bunch of new teams, and there will be some great competition," Wiertzema said.
Not knowing the teams H-BC will be facing keeps the Patriot coach from establishing win-loss goals for the season. Wiertzema, however, thinks H-BC will be a team that gets better as the season progresses.
"We'll get better as the year goes on, because of the length of the football season and the fact we still donÕt have our basketball legs yet. We have some kids nicked up, so we've only been practicing once a day rather than twice a day in past years. I think we're going to have a good year playing an exciting brand of basketball," he concluded.
The Patriots open the season by hosting Ellsworth tonight.