The South Hardin boys basketball team returns six everyday players to an upperclassman squad that will look to rise above a 10-13 finish last season.
South Hardin Head Coach John Phillips on returning leaders and impact of experience on team chemistry.
“Traven Wheeler is going to be a focal point on offense and defense, he’s played ever since he was a sophomore and is going to head into more of a leadership role. Then we have a couple other guards coming in, Sam Benson and Jake Balvanz, they’ll play a big role. We’ll probably go seven or eight deep. I’m really excited about it. Keep everybody fresh and keep the tempo up,” says Phillips. “The boys really get along. That’s a huge thing. We’re going to play selfless basketball and be happy for one another when they have a good game. It’s huge. We’re building a culture at South Hardin. I’m really excited to see what the boys can do.”
Senior Traven Wheeler returns as the Tigers second leading scorer with 13.5 points per game and led on the boards with 203 rebounds last season. Senior Jaxon Drury returns as the third leading scorer with 13.3 points per game and was also a force in the post with 111 rebounds last season. Junior Jake Balvanz returns as the team leader in assists with 64 last season. Junior Sam Benson, junior Preston Dolash and senior Izaak Hollingsworth also return as everyday contributors.
Phillips on the three core values of the Tiger team this season and fundamentals to achieve them.
“Tenacity, playing physical and relentless are those three things. If we can knock those three things down, we’re gonna be a really tough team to beat. Shot selection and finding that mismatch on offense and then not letting up on rebounding and defense. If we can get consistent with that and have no letdown, we’re going to have a really tough team.”
The Tigers will host Oelwein in their season opener on Tuesday.
