The varsity boys basketball team will have their first opportunity to showcase the skills they have learned in the off-season tomorrow as they travel to Platteview for the 2024 Jamboree.
The Jamboree will serve as a preseason scrimmage for the boys. It will consist of four mini-games, each a quarter long with the scores getting reset after each quarter and a new team to play.
“We’re going to reset the score after the quarter, and we’re going to kind of script it to where we’re going to show some things [skillsl] that they [the other teams] want to see, and they’re going to show some things that we want to see,” Head Boys Basketball Coach Cooper Anthony said.
Following the Jamboree, the boys will officially start their season with an away game against Grand Island Northwest on Dec. 7.
“They’re physical, they’ve gotten big, and they return a lot of their guards, Anthony said. “So they’re an experienced team that is going to be, they’re going to be tough and they’re going to be well coached, and it’s a fun opening night.”
The Griffins are returning after having a 7-17 record last season. However, with changes to the team’s schedule, they are hoping to have a better year.
“Last year, we were in the Metro Conference, and we were the only class B School in the Metro,” Anthony said.
With all Gretna Public Schools making the switch from the Omaha Metro Conference to the Eastern Midlands Conference, so the way they have been preparing for the season is different.
“It’s the Eastern Midlands conference is all Class B,” Anthony said. “We’re excited that we are a Class B school who gets to play Class B teams. Last year, being in the Metro, we were playing against a lot of teams we weren’t going to see in the postseason, which was good experience for us because we played against some really good athletes and some really good teams.”
With the season opener being an away game, the boys will not have their first home game until Dec. 12 where they will take on Pius X who went 18-6 last season.
“They will be a solid team that can shoot really well,” Anthony said. “[Then] on that second night [Dec. 13], we got a chance to see Gretna High or Skutt, two good teams that will be a challenge and fun to see.”
According to Anthony, the change in conference will be a challenge for the boys that they will have to rise to.
“Later in the year, we see Norris. Honestly, everybody in our conference is good; Norris, Elkhorn North, there’s not a game on our schedule I don’t look at and they’re not a team that can’t cause us problems. So I see a lot of good teams.
Senior Talan Hovie has similar sentiments as his coach.
“Honestly, I feel like it takes pressure off us because we were playing in Metro conference last year, so we saw way better athletes and great teams, but the EMC has a lot of good teams this year, so it’s still going to be quite a challenge.”
With the whole district switching to Class B and the EMC, one of those ‘good’ teams will be Gretna High who went 20-6 last year. After several matchups during the fall sports season, games where the sister schools face off are highlights of their schedules.
“It’s a big, important conference game,” Anthony said. “The environment is going to be cool– to be packed old community out watching two teams battle it out. So we’re excited for it, but at the same time, I think for us [coaches], it’s going over ‘don’t make it something it’s not. It’s another basketball game.’”
Knowing the district was switching conferences for the next season, the coaching staff and the team got to work shortly after the completion of the 2023-24 season. They took about three weeks off and then they were back in the gym three to four times a week.
“We worked on competing with each other, our physicality, we’ve gotten better there,” Anthony said. “We spent time in the weight room, we’ve gotten stronger, we’re just older or more mature, and so I think our guys have gained confidence through all of those things– the hard work they’ve put in.”
In addition to putting in work in the off-season, the Griffins have the majority of their roster from last season back this year.
“We’ve been able to look back and watch every game from last year, and then, evaluate kind of where we are, and we’ve tweaked some things offensively,” Anthony said. “We know our players a little bit better, and they’ve developed and grown.
Seniors Carter Craven, Cole Edwards, Hovie, Drew Rhoades, junior Jake Hawley and sophomores Drayke Brown, Connor Levinson and Lucas Winterborer all played on varsity last season and have returned this year.
“We have some experience, a lot of experience coming back, and so we are looking to just build on how we finished last year, Anthony said. “We’re looking to just hit the ground running and compete and go play meaningful basketball in March.”
In addition to them playing together last year, some athletes have played with each other for several years.
“I’ve played with Drew [Rhoades] since fourth grade, so just being able to play with him these last, I do not even know, like, 6-7-8 years, it’s just helped build chemistry with me and him,” Hovie said, “so he’s just someone I can trust on the court until then I can lean on.”
Joining the returning members of the team, team is senior Grant Rice who transferred to East from Gretna High this year after his family moved to the area.
“I had some of the same coaches here as I did there because they used to coach there [at Gretna High], but it’s a lot different in the way of, like, the culture, Rice said. “Everyone’s a lot more close-knit here as it wasn’t really like that at Gretna.”
Now, having worked out and practiced together, the boys feel ready for the season to officially start.
“I think we are prepared, we’ve spent some time going over some changes in our offense and defense,” Hovie said. “So I think that those changes were necessary will help us be successful for the season.”