With the loss of many senior varsity players, many question this basketball season’s success. Despite this, the team believes in the talent of the boys, especially junior captain Nick Peterson and seniors Quentin Sturwe and Dylan Drees, to pull through.

Other than captains and talented seniors, the team has some newly-added young talent as well: sophomore Derric Standifer. “Derric brings passion and enthusiasm [to the team],” Peterson said.

The boys had a few activities over the summer to get them in shape. These included VBAP, the Varsity Basketball Acceleration Camp. “[We went to] Wisconsin for a team camp, and [there were] a few summer tournaments to get the boys going again,” Peterson said.

One challenge for the team is the loss of eight seniors, including five who are playing sports at the college level. Liam Ford plays with Northern Michigan football, Carter Upus is with St. Olaf basketball), and Gabe Alada plays football with St. Olaf. Finally, Riley Miller and Joe Dunn both are on the St. Thomas basketball team. “The loss of these players have made it difficult to build up team chemistry,” Peterson said.  

Beyond the loss of seniors, there are still a few obstacles that await the boys. ‘’CDH, Wayzata, or DeLaSalle will be [our most difficult games], and our hardest non-conference games. Chaska and Chanhassen will be our hardest in conference games,” Peterson said.

The basketball team may have a difficult season ahead, but Peterson remains optimistic about his team’s success. He has two clear goals for the season. “Win the games. And we should get better as team and form chemistry, ” Peterson said.