This year, the BSM boys basketball team has not had a big change in the roster.  They only lost a few seniors, and most of them are returning, including most of their starters.  This year’s captains are seniors Peyton Miller, Eli Cave and Matt Lilienthal.  Overall they hope to go to State.

This year’s roster has added a lot of new young players that will be a big asset to the team. “We also added a lot of younger guys to help out the team, so we have a good mix of returning players and talented young players,” Miller said.

During the offseason a lot of the players participated in their summer basketball program and spent a lot of time improving their skills.  “We primarily focused on improving our basketball skills and getting stronger during the summer,” Miller said.

They have four coaches that have helped them all.  Coach John Moore has been a big part in helping the team because of his knowledge of the game and his experience.  Coach Nick Tibesar is also one of the coaches this year.  “Coach Tibesar is very passionate about basketball,” said Miller.  

Coach Tom Shannon is also a coach that also shares a lot of his basketball knowledge.  Lastly Coach Swann is “a very good offensive coach,” according to Miller.

The captains also look to help the coaches by leading the team as well.  “We all bring good leadership and we all have different skills that complement each other well,” Miller said.

Their biggest rival for them is De La Salle.  They are excited to play them and they are hoping to be able to beat them.  “They have won the state championship four years in a row.  We are determined to play them.  I think that we will have a very successful season, if we play together and stay together,” Cave said.

This team has many key players, and this is the time for the new young players to step up and improve their game.  The new players will have to work hard but they will gain great experience.  “We know that our returning players are going to do well for us, so we need a couple of our younger guys to step up to give us some more depth,” Miller said.

Overall their goals have no end, they have high hopes and expectations and they are excited for the season.  “We have very high expectations for this year. I think that the sky’s the limit for our team and we all feel that we should be able to compete for a state championship.  We will be able to score a lot of points, so if we can play good defense we should be able to accomplish our goals,” Miller said.

The team also hopes to be able to make it to State and win.  “Goals for the season are not limited at all.  We think that we could compete for the state championship.  We will reach [our goals] by working hard everyday in practice,” Cave said.