NWOAL PREVIEW …. Swanton’s Luc Borojevich works his way through traffic in a game at Evergreen. Swanton will try to repeat as league champions while trying to replace leading scorer Nic Borojevich. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
The NWOAL looks to be a wide-open race this year as defending league champion Swanton tries to replace three letterwinners who totaled 30 ppg between them.
Patrick Henry, who finished second in the league last year, bring back as much experience as anybody with seven returning letterwinners.
Perennial NWOAL power Archbold will have one of the youngest teams in the league this season with just one senior on their roster.
Here are the previews for each team in order of their finish in the NWOAL last season.
1. Swanton (Last season 20-3, 7-0 NWOAL; Lost in Division III sectional final to Cardinal Stritch 57-46)
HEAD COACH: Bruce Smith (2nd season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Nic Borojevich (18.0 ppg), Sam Betz (8.0 ppg), Lathan Pawlowicz (4.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Cole Mitchey (9.0 ppg), Luc Borojevich (6.5 ppg), Hayden Callicotte (4.2 ppg), Kayden Davis (3.0 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Sophomores – Charlie Wood, Keyon Johnson
STRENGTHS: “We have quickness on the perimeter with Callicotte and Borojevich and size inside with Wood (6’9”) and Davis (6’5”).”
WEAKNESSES: “It will be a challenge to replace the 30.0 ppg our graduated seniors produced. As of now, we are struggling to score consistently.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “If we can stay healthy, we can compete with the best teams on our schedule. We also hope to build depth as the season progresses.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The NWOAL will be very balanced from top to bottom. The eventual champion will have to win several close games both at home and on the road.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Lake (H); NWOAL Opener – January 5 – Patrick Henry (A)
2. Patrick Henry (Last season: 16-6, 5-2 NWOAL; Lost in Division IV sectional finals to Convoy Crestview 55-52)
HEAD COACH: Bryan Hieber (3rd season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Will Seedorf (4.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg), Ethan Rohrs
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Gavin Jackson (4.9 ppg), Kaden Rosebrook (4.2 ppg), Aiden Behrman (4.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Drew Rosengarten (2.0 ppg); Juniors-Landon Johnson (7.7 ppg), Nash Meyer (8.5 ppg); Sophomores – Lincoln Creager (13.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
NEWCOMERS: Junior – Mack Hieber; Junior – Thomas Smith
STRENGTHS: overall depth, size, and length, coachability and work ethic
WEAKNESSES: overall basketball fundamentals – “We have a lot of athletes, but we need to tighten up our fundamentals.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We exceeded expectations last year. We now need to continue build upon the culture that we’ve created. I expect us to be more competitive and aggressive this year.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “As always, the NWOAL will feature elite competition. I look for a lot of parity in our league. I would put Archbold, Wauseon, Swanton, and ourselves near the top of the league.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: December 2 – Ayersville (A); NWOAL Opener: January 5 – Swanton (H)
3. Evergreen (Last season: 13-10, 5-2 NWOAL; Lost in Division III sectional finals to Liberty Center 49-46)
HEAD COACH: Jerry Keifer (31st season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Evan Lumbrezer, Brock Hudik, Ethan Loeffler, RJ Shunck, Landon Vance
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Eli Kiefer (9.0 ppg), Tyson Woodring (3.8 ppg), Drew Gillen (2.2 ppg), Ben Ruetz (1.4 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Ryder Hudik, Walker Lumbrezer, Riley Dunbar, Blade Walker, Jeese Spradlin
STRENGTHS: Depth – “We will have 9-10 players that will play this year.”
WEAKNESSES: Size
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We will be young and inexperienced, but we will play hard and continue to get better.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “My top four is Swanton, Archbold, Patrick Henry, and Wauseon.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Clay (A); NWOAL Opener: January 5 – Delta (A)
4. Archbold (Last season: 15-8, 4-3 NWOAL; Lost in Division III sectional finals to Genoa 42-41
HEAD COACH: Joe Frank (5th season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: DJ Newman, Tyler Hurst, Brady Johns, Gavin Bailey, Ashton Kammeyer
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Senior – Alex Roth (10.5 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.5 rpg); Juniors – Cade Brenner (8.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Jayden Seiler (5.5 ppg. 2.0 rpg), Chase Miller (1.0 ppg); Sophomore – Sonny Phillips (2.3 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Juniors – Asa Hudson, Josiah Gomez, Stephen Diller, Jerry Rodriguez; Sophomore – Evan Wendt, Micah Nofziger
STRENGTHS: overall team speed/ quickness, hard-working, team chemistry
WEAKNESSES: Inexperience – one senior on the roster, rebounding – lack size
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We will be replacing a lot of graduated seniors but there are a lot of opportunities for younger guys to step up and fill roles.”
“Our schedule will be very challenging, and the NWOAL will be a meatgrinder this season. Our goal is to play as hard as we possibly can and improve in all areas of the game.”
“We hope to make up for our lack of size by using our team quickness and being very aggressive.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 26 – Wauseon (H); NWOAL Opener: January 5 – Bryan (A)
5. Wauseon (Last season: 14-10, 4-3 NWOAL; Lost in the Division II district semifinals to St. Marys 48-38)
HEAD COACH: Chad Burt (15th season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Jonas Tester, Carson Burt, Matt Shaw, Krue Powers
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Landon Hines (8.3 ppg), Jude Armstrong (3.3 ppg), JT Gleckler (2.0 ppg), Jack Leatherman (1.9 ppg), Junior – Tyson Rodriguez (6.4 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Senior – Ethan Borton; Juniors – Elijah McCleod, Trey Parsons, Logan Patterson, Braden Vajen, Connor Keefer
STRENGTHS: “We have a group that is hard working and eager to learn. They are excited to follow up on the success from previous years and have been competing hard in practice.”
WEAKNESSES: “We graduated a group of four seniors that made tremendous contributions both on and off the court. They will be difficult to replace.”
“Team ball handling will be a point of emphasis and a major concern. We will need to develop our perimeter skills to be successful offensively as we return very little scoring from last year.”
“We have very little experience competing at the varsity level so we will need to adjust to the speed and physicality of the game quickly.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We have many new faces in new roles. We have won 17 or more games for 8 of the last 9 years (14 last year) and have a group of kids that are eager to compete and establish themselves at the varsity level.”
“We are inexperienced in some key positions, but they are a coachable group and will continue to grow and develop as the season progresses.
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “Overall, the league will be as balanced and competitive as it has been in a long time with a number of teams capable of winning the league title.”
“Swanton has many key players back off their league championship team from last year. PH returns a great deal of experience coming off a great season last year.”
“Archbold has tremendous talent and several players that can hurt you on the perimeter. Liberty Center has very good athletes and a nice core returning.”
“Delta played very well down the stretch last year and has everything back. Bryan and Evergreen both have quality players and will play extremely hard.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 26 – Archbold (A); NWOAL Opener: January 5 – Liberty Center (A)
6. Liberty Center (Last season: 11-13; Lost in Division II district semifinals to Eastwood 61-42)
HEAD COACH: Greg Badenhop (11th season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Evan Conrad (8.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 31 blocks), Wyatt Leatherman (8.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Isaiah Estelle (2.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg), Dakota Schultz, Jake Spieth (3.0 ppg), TeJay Moore (2.1 ppg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Aiden Hammontree (9.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Matthew Orr (2.1 ppg), Riley Chapa 3.9 ppg), Zane Zeiter (3.1 ppg); Juniors – Landen Kruse (3.3 ppg, 2.3 apg, 2.9 rpg, 42 steals), Colton Chambers, (2.3 ppg), Colton Kruse, Trenton Kruse
NEWCOMERS: Senior – Josiah Johnson; Juniors – Landon Backelman, Seth Navarre; Sophomore – Gavin Geahlen
STRENGTHS: “We are going to put a lot of athleticism on the floor at all positions this season, that should allow us to extend our defense & put a lot of defensive pressure on teams.”
“Our depth should also be a big strength; we anticipate somewhere around 11- 12 guys finding their way into our rotation.”
“While we lose a 3-Year letterwinner in the post (Evan Conrad), we’ll replace him with him some combination of three guys (Landon Bockelman, Seth Navarre, Gavin Geahlen) who all have nice size & athleticism themselves.”
“We’re expecting a big step forward from Aiden Hammontree this season. He has the size & skill to be one of the more difficult offensive matchups in the area this season.”
WEAKNESSES: “One of the things we must continue to develop going into the season is our outside shooting.”
“We have guys who are certainly capable (Hammontree, Chambers, Navarre, Zeiter, Landen Kruse), they each just need to find some consistency.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We are once again hoping to build off the tremendous success our football team had this past season.”
“Majority of our players come to us from football, so they already understand what type of commitment, energy, & toughness it takes for a team to be successful.”
“It is our goal to take that same mindset & keep it rolling into basketball season.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The NWOAL will once again be very balanced. You have about 5 or 6 teams that all could make a case as to why they are the best team in the league headed into the season.”
“It’s going to come down to being healthy once we get into the league schedule. It will certainly be a nightly battle in the league no matter the opponent.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: Cardinal Stritch (H); NWOAL Opener: January 5 – Wauseon (H)
7. Delta (Last season: 11-13, 1-6 NWOAL; Lost in Division III sectional finals to Eastwood 55-30)
HEAD COACH: Matt Brighton (2nd season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Josh Tresnan-Reighard (7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg), DJ Davis (2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg), Alex Hodge (2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg), Bryce Reeves (1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Bryce Gillen (9.2 ppg), Nolan Risner (8.6 ppg), Bryar Knapp (3.1 ppg), James Ruple (5.3 ppg); Juniors – Justin Ruple (4.9 ppg), Jude Gibbons (2.0 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Juniors – Reece Verdin, Luke Reinhard; Sophomores – Brodey Roth, John Brasher
STRENGTHS: Experience – top six players include four seniors and two juniors, work ethic, scoring by committee
WEAKNESSES: depth, overall size
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We have a lot of experience coming back this year. Some of our guys have been playing at the varsity level for the last two or three years, and we look to use that leadership and experience to our advantage.”
“Our competition within practices will help us improve throughout the season, and we look to build off the positives we had last year.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The NWOAL is a very competitive league with a number of great coaches. The play is physical and there are many players who can execute at any time during a game.”
“That has helped guide our day-to-day practices and off-season workouts. We have worked hard in the weight room as well as finishing around the basket.”
“We are hoping that the work our players have put in this off-season helps us compete with other teams in our league.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Pettisville (A); NWOAL Opener: January 5 – Evergreen (H)
8. Bryan (Last season 1-21, 0-7 NWOAL; Lost in Division II sectional semifinals to Lima Shawnee 70-52)
HEAD COACH: Brock Homier (2nd season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Logan Moss, Carter Brown, Craig Jackson
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Evan Cox, Carter Dominique, Maddox Langenderfer, Sam Herold, Jase Kepler
NEWCOMERS: Joe Watson, Karter Brown, Ryan Dunn, Dylan Koenig
STRENGTHS: Kids play hard, athletic team
WEAKNESSES: Experience and size
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We are looking to get better every single day we are in the gym. We are going to pride ourselves on our energy, attitude, and effort.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Edgerton (H); NWOAL Opener: January 5 – Archbold (H)
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com
