With the winter sports season looming around the corner, the basketball team is looking forward to the new season ahead with new players and team dynamics.

The Bulldogs are wishing for another winning season, with the past season ending with a 17-8 record.

Coach Corey Stitzel, the head coach of the boys varsity team, is hoping for a spot in the state tournament.

“We’ve been on the cusp a bunch of times, but I think this is the year where we feel that we can break through, and that is what we are working towards,” Coach Stitzel said. “Once you get in the state tournament, anything could happen.”

With the last season’s team being undersized according to Coach Stitzel, he has noticed problems in areas of rebounding. However, despite these difficulties, the team learned to adapt.

“We are still small, we’re still talented but small. We have to be really good at half court defense and transition defense, and we have to rebound as a team,” Coach Stitzel said.

Junior Isaiah Rhodes, who was on the team last year, has noticed differences in the team dynamic.

“I’ve noticed that we’ve been playing at a faster pace and we are an overall taller team,” Rhodes said.

However, some characteristics and values have carried on throughout the years according to Rhodes.

“I’ve learned that we are a tough, scrappy, and fast team,” Rhodes said. “A value that we always have that I’m proud of is our 3 point shooting and our unselfishness as a whole when we are on the court. We don’t care about our individual production. We are a team who doesn’t care about how many points a person has, we just want the win.”

New transfers, junior Michael Healy from Tuscarora and junior Carter Svenson from Battlefield, have given Coach Stitzel more depth to the team.

“[The new transfers] are winners, they want to win, they want to bring everybody together, and we’ve got a close knit group, they’ve added to that aspect,” Coach Stitzel said.

Michael Healy notices that Coach Stitzel’s coaching style is different from his coach at his old school.

“[Coach Stitzel] focuses on offensive plays and putting guys in positions to score, whereas in Tuscarora, we focused on more on defense and motion offense.” Healy said.

Healy has managed to bond with his new teammates easily by spending time together after school.

“My personal goal is to make the All-District team,” Healy said.

The Bulldogs face their first game Nov. 29 against Woodgrove high school, at Stone Bridge high school.

“They’re a good bunch of players, so we have to play well to beat them,” Coach Stitzel said.