Basketball is underway and both the boys and girls teams are anticipating a strong season.

Having only lost three seniors, none of which were in the starting five last season, boys basketball hopes to build on last season’s success and an overtime loss in the section semifinals.

Returning senior Lincoln Cizek said, “All the guys are excited for the season and expectations are high. We are returning all of last year’s starters, and with our strong bench expect to be ready to roll for the season.”

Fellow senior, Nate Hendler, stressed the team’s ability to surprise teams that overlook their abilities: “We are sleepers. We are going to surprise a lot of people and win games we won’t be expected to.”

Coach Thuli expects “a great deal of depth and a lot of experience” from his returning players. He plans for the team to be very competitive in the regular season, especially in their section games.

The team’s first game is Home vs Breck on Saturday, December 2 at 2:00pm.

The girls basketball team has already begun play, starting the season off with a win against Hill-Murray and a loss to DeLaSalle. Senior captain Molly Kalb stresses the strong bond between her and her fellow teammates, believing that their “strong team chemistry will lead us to a successful rest of the season.”

The team lost two strong offensive players, but intend to bounce back with a hardworking mentality. Senior captain Shea Thompson reflected on the loss of last year’s seniors: “We suffered a great loss with Brooke Bowlin and Allie Spinner, but I’m confident we’ll come back strong and have a successful season.”

Shea also agreed with Molly’s confidence in the team’s chemistry and believes that the players familiarity with each other will give them an advantage.

The girls have 2 games this week: Away vs Rockford High School on Thursday, November 30 at 7:00pm and Home vs Providence Academy on Friday, December 1.