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Bulldogs will need to replace superstar Cooper White
By HART PISANI | hpisani@journal-advocate.com |
January 27, 2021 at 8:24 a.m.
All in all, 2020 was a successful year for the Peetz boys basketball team. There was a midseason slump where the Bulldogs lost 7 of 8 games, but they rebounded nicely to end the season, upsetting Fleming in the opening round of the district tournament. The Bulldogs lost their last two games to miss the 1A state tournament, but the All-State play of Cooper White and an 11-11 mark on the year would make the season a success.
Now, it’ll be up to a lot of new faces to keep that success going.
The loss of White can’t be understated after the stud averaged 22.6 points a game last season. In addition, there’s also the loss of Marcus Bernhardt and Ethan Ramey, key starters on last year’s team. Those three will be difficult to replace, but there’s good talent coming back as well.
Senior Nolan Hill (13.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game last season) will be back for one last go around this year. Senior Owen Kurz (3.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.1 APG) and junior Ryan Schilz (2.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG) will also return. Any team with Hill on it has a chance to be very successful, though head coach Sean Fehringer noted that a lot of youngsters would have to learn on the fly this season.
“We’re going to have to drink from a firehose and learn really quickly,” said Fehringer. “We have very, very, very limited varsity experience. We really only return two guys that have any varsity playing time in their high school careers. It’s going to take a lot of these younger guys to step up into bigger roles.”
If the young players can develop quickly and Hill stays true to form, there’s certainly hope that Peetz can be successful this year. While Briggsdale is the odds-on favorite to win the district, Fleming and Prairie will also be replacing a lot of departed players from last year. Weldon Valley is coming off of a winless season, so while Peetz has a lot of experience to make up, there will be plenty of opportunities for success.
“We’re getting there,” said Fehringer. “We’re learning and getting better every single day. I think as long as these guys can show up every single day focused, energized, ready to go, then we’ll be a competitive group. It’s going to look a lot different. There’s going to a lot of new, young faces, but we’ll find out what we have next week once we get to play somebody.”
Peetz is scheduled to begin their season this Friday against Haxtun at home at 4 p.m.
Peetz Boys Basketball Schedule
Friday, Jan. 29 vs. Haxtun, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 2 @ Caliche, 4 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 5 vs. Briggsdale, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 6 @ Creek Valley, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 9 @ Potter, Noon
Thursday, Feb. 11 vs. Weldon Valley, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 16 vs. Fleming, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 20 vs. North Park, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 23 @ Weldon Valley, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 25 @ Prairie, 5 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 26 @ Otis, 4 p.m.
Thursday, March 4 @ Akron, 4 p.m.
Friday, March 5 @ Merino, 5 p.m.
— All schedules subject to change.
Roster
4: Brayden Weinbender, So.
10: Chance Segelke, Fr.
11: Owen Kurz, Sr.
14: Aaron Bernhardt, Fr.
20: Colton Howell, So.
22: Mason Long, Fr.
23: Ryan Schilz, Jr.
25: Nolan Hill, Sr.
30: Mike Kissel, Jr.
32: Grady White, So.
33: Noah Naegele, Fr.
34: Aiden Hill, Fr.
35: Nikoli Serkiz, Fr.
Aiden Curtis, Sr.
Joe Fehringer, Fr.