A big shift from young to experienced
By Ben Frotscher NDN Sports Writer
COLFAX — Heading into 2008, Colfax-Mingo’s boys basketball team had just one player hitting the hardwood with significant playing time.
After a year of growth and playing experience, the Tigerhawks look like a veteran team hitting the court this season in 2009.
Following a 7-15 season, Colfax-Mingo returns nine letterwinners and four starters to a team that starts the season Tuesday, Dec. 1, at home against Nevada.
“Last year we only had one returning player that had seen any varsity action,” Colfax-Mingo coach John Borts said. “This year we have four starters back and quite a few lettermen — players that basically shared starting time. We have a lot of varsity experience. They are a little farther along in practice with what we want to do, but we still have a lot to work on.”
The lone starter gone from last season is Tim Dille. He averaged 10.1 points per game and led the team in steals, but the Tigerhawks return starters in Michael Wilson, Dylan Berkey, John Shelley and Chad Sommars. Berkey led the team with 11.9 points per game, along with 3-pointers and assists.
Wilson returns in the post after averaging 10.4 points per game last season. Five other returning letterwinners are back, along with new prospects such as Connor Parker, Ross Husson, Mitch Larson and James Shelley.
“They’ll work hard — last year I felt like they played hard,” Borts said. “They are very coachable. The coachability was a real strength last year, and I hope that will continue.”
Borts said his team will look very similar to last season, with a lot of the same players on the court and the same objective.
“My intentions are to speed the tempo up and get baskets quickly,” Borts said. “I want to push the tempo and get easy opportunities, but if they’re not there, be an intelligent team and work for a good shot.”
Looking ahead to the conference schedule, which includes Nevada this season, the Tigerhawks know they’ll be in for a tough battle every night.
“Our conference is a pretty good conference from top to bottom,” Borts said. “If we do the things we talk about, we’ll be competitive night in and night out. I look for the season to include a lot of very close ballgames. If we can execute in the fourth quarter and make free throws, I like our chances.”
In the Large School portion of the Heart of Iowa Conference, Borts likes PCM, Roland-Story and Bondurant-Farrar. On the Small School side, Colo-Nesco will be tough again with Brandon Eley and Borts also looks for South Hamilton to be in the mix.
Borts isn’t too concerned about the wins and losses of his team.
“We play hard, we play smart and we have fun doing it — that’s what we want to do every day,” Borts said. “We want to compete every day. Wins and losses will take care of themselves.”
And Borts knows that all starts in practice.
“We just have to take advantage of the practice time — you never feel like you have enough before the first game of the season,” Borts said. “You know you’re not going to be good in the first few games. We just have to keep making progress and get better the next day.”
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