The West Fork boys basketball team, with preseason practices underway, is establishing a brand new starting lineup after graduating all five of last year’s everyday starters. The Warhawks enter the season fielding a mix of players with varsity minutes off the bench last season and newcomers to varsity play. Head Coach Abe Maske says the group is striving toward a common goal.
“They all collectively want the same thing. They’re willing to work hard and they know to do so, they’re gonna have to challenge each other. They’re also pushing each other for minutes on the court,” says Maske. “They’ve created a culture here. I’ve got a number of kids that I can put at any time on the floor and feel very good about what we’re doing and where we’re gonna be.”
Junior Zander Hansen and junior Keston Lambertsen return the most varsity minutes from last season, having played in every game. Hansen averaged 7.4 points per game and had 36 rebounds. Lambertsen scored 2.5 points per game and collected 72 rebounds.
Returning senior Dax Suntken, senior Tyler Fessler, senior Rylan Dorenkamp and junior Max Martinek will also look to take on more expanded roles in the new rotation. Maske shares core concepts of the Warhawks offense and defense entering the season.
“We implemented a different offense that we’re going to run. An offense that I think is going to be high octane and it’s going to allow us to really utilize the strengths across the board. We’re really going to be focused on honing in on that offense, adding a few little sets here and there,” says Maske. “Then again, really hitting hard on defense, just like we did last year. We know we have the ability to score points. We now need to make sure that we have the defensive principles and discipline in place, so that we can shut down teams. Then manage to keep teams at a certain point allowance that we want and then really hone in on that goal.”
West Fork will tip off their season at Garner Hayfield Ventura on Thursday, December 4.
