Hamburg hopes improvement will lead to wins
It’s been since the 2011-12 season that the Hamburg Area High School boys’ basketball team has won a Berks League game. Head Coach Ryan McGinley and his team will try to break that streak this season. They will have to do it with some key players lost to graduation, but they have a young and enthusiastic team that will battle every night.
“We are hoping to continue to improve from last season,’ said McGinley. “It’s our goal each game to be competitive and get better as a team each day.’
They will have some big shoes to fill in Patrict Barter and Josh Kida, both seniors on last year’s team. Barter led the team in scoring with 11.6 points a game. He also led the team in rebounding. Kida was second on the team in scoring. The question is, who will step up and do the scoring for the Hawks.
Dan Fink and Nick Schlottman will be the only two returning starters on the team. They are both guards and will be counted on to provide some points for the Hawks.
“Nick is a quality attacking guard who rebounds well,’ said McGinley. “Dan has the ability to score from behond the arc and shoots well off the dribble.’
Logan Adams will be the team’s best shooter this year, while Quinn Nabozny and Jared Lesher will also be key players to the team’s success. Adams and Nabozny are true forwards who will bring some size the the front court.
It will be a challenge for the Hawks this year. They do have some experience with four seniors on the team, but only two were starters last year. They will only return to starting players so it will be a relatively inexperienced team. The bench will be manned by players with little or no varsity experience.
That means the team will be learning on the fly and the main goal for the team is just to keep improving as the season goes on. McGinley hopes that if their game keeps improving, the wins will come.
“We are a team that has had not much succes in the past and we continue to work to change those results,’ said McGinley. “Our younger players are very competitive and hopefully this year will challenge our older players to make us a better team.
“In order for us to get better we have to be competitive in everything we do. We have to challenge ourselves and one another to make us better as individuals and as a team.’
The season gets underway for Hamburg when they host the Hawk Tip-Off Tournament on Dec. 5 and 6. The Hawks then host Kutztown on Dec. 9 before heading to Tulpehocken on Dec. 12.
