The North Butler boys basketball team will begin their 2025-26 season with practices on Monday, seeking to build from a 8-15 overall finish last season. Head Coach Austin Guerrero on how the roster is taking shape.
“We’ve got a lot of talented kids that are both competing against each other to get minutes and competing to push each other, so that we’re a well-oiled machine come real games,” says Guerrero.
Seniors Jax Thorne and Brody Wangsness return as production leaders from last season, and will be working back to the floor after injuries during football season. Thorne averaged 5.7 points per game at 43.7 percent from field clip and Wangsness averaged 5.6 points per game and shot 32.4 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore Jarret Shear returns varsity minutes in the post, with 67 boards (second most on the team last season). Guerrero shares how the team’s identity is developing.
“Offensively, is an area we haven’t been strong enough up to this point in my last two years as head coach. I think we’ve put more time into getting shots up. I look for us to make a leap. We’re going to play fast, get up and down. We’ve got a lot of guys that I think help us out with that. If we can play fast, we can get up and down, we can get some easy baskets in transition. That’ll help us out on the offensive side of the ball,” says Guerrero. “Defensively is where we kind of hang our hat. We held teams to the second lowest scoring average in the conference last year in the Top of Iowa East. We’re going to continue to bring pressure defensively, get up in the passing zones, try to get some easy baskets and transition through turnovers.”
North Butler will travel to Northwood-Kensett to tip off the season on Tuesday, December 2.
