New-look Hornets to fight for Cloverbelt
By Nathaniel Underwood
The 2023-24 Colby boys basketball team will have a host of new faces as they look to defend their Cloverbelt- East conference champion title.
Most of the senior-laden 2022-23 squad that won the team’s first conference championship in over a decade has graduated, meaning that the Hornets will have to turn to a number of players getting their first significant minutes on a varsity court.
The only returner in last year’s regular rotation is Joseph Streveler. The senior was second on the team in points per game last year with 11.6 and third in rebounds with 5.6 per game.
“We are replacing a lot of guys from last year and Joe’s the only one who had a lot of varsity minutes,” head coach Jimmy Flink said. “A lot of these new guys haven’t really had the varsity experience, so it will probably take some time to get used to the game speed and how much better the athletes are at the varsity level. A lot of the little things you can get away with at the lower levels you can’t do up here.”
Looking to fill the gaps will be a group of eight to ten players who will be getting their first real taste of varsity basketball. Seniors Adrian Lopez and Jaxon Polivka both had limited time off the bench last season and will join Streveler in the starting lineup this year. Juniors Tucker Hayes, Landon Steinman, Gavin Voss, Tayt Smith and Miguel Morillon, as well as sophomore Reed Fleischmann will all likely be part of this year’s rotation.
With the number of new players making the jump to the varsity squad this season, practice will be extremely important in the early going. Luckily, putting in the work to get better isn’t a problem for this group.
“One of their big strengths is their work ethic,” Flink said. “We can get quite a bit accomplished in practices, so while there is stuff we need to work on, they work pretty well together when they can.”
While there will be some growing pains early as the players try to find their roles, and they have seen them crop up in their first two contests against Auburndale and Stanley-Boyd, Flink has liked how the team has handled the first few games of the season.
“Before the Auburndale game, a lot of kids said they were nervous,” he noted. “But I think once we got that out of the way, we played okay against a team that’s ranked eighth in the state right now. In the game against Stanley-Boyd, I thought they were a lot more comfortable and moved the ball around a lot better. So we saw a big improvement between the first and second game with the guys playing together and getting used to each other.”
“I think once all these players find their niche and get comfortable, we should be pretty good,” Flink added. “One thing that I’ve been impressed with in our first two games is that we only had 12 turnovers against Auburndale and 13 against Stanley-Boyd. So if we can keep that number down right around 10, that will help a lot.”
Finding that confidence and balance will be key for the Hornets before they dig into the heart of the Cloverbelt- East schedule. Outside of what looks to be another strong squad from Columbus Catholic, many of the conference’s top teams from last season will also be having to replace many of the key pieces, so it is difficult to see how the conference will play out on paper .
They will get that first Cloverbelt challenge on Thursday when they face off against Loyal. The Greyhounds are 0-3 thus far this season and will be looking for their first win of the season as well.
Stanley-Boyd, 74-59
The team invited Stanley-Boyd into town last Thursday for their second contest of the season. While Colby only trailed by one at halftime, a second period surge from the Orioles pushed them to a double digit victory.
See COLBY BOYS BB PREVIEW/ Page 20
2023-24 COLBY BOYS BASKETBALL - The 2023-24 boys basketball team pictured above starting in the back row left to right are Miguel Morillon, Joseph Streveler, Tucker Hayes, Zander Engel, Gavin Voss, Reed Fleischmann and Tayt Smith. In the front row, left to right, are Izaac Carrera, Adrian Lopez, Braiden Johnson, Jaxon Polivka, Landon Steinman and Luke Hannula. Not pictured are Asa Martin and Hayden Kaiser. The Hornets are coached by Jimmy Flink.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
FLOATING ABOVE THE FRAY - Tucker Hayes soars over the outstretched hand of an Oriole defender during last Thursday’s game against Stanley- Boyd. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Colby boys BB preview
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Stanley-Boyd’s ability to put up transition points and effectively attack the Hornets’ zone defense gave them the advantage down the stretch. The Orioles were also a bit more consistent finding success down on the blocks, outrebounding Colby 41-34 and earning twice as many trips to the free throw line.
Both teams took some time to settle into the game offensively, scoring a combined 11 points over the first five minutes of the game. The visitors took an initial advantage over those opening possessions, eventually growing a seven- point lead by the halfway point in the period.
Down 17-10, shots finally started to fall for the Hornets. After scoring 10 points over the first 10 minutes of the game, Colby doubled their point total in just sixty seconds. Landon Steinman started the scoring streak with a threepoint shot and Adrian Lopez followed up with two free throws. Lopez then followed up with a three-point shot of his own to give the Hornets the lead and Steinman added a short jumper from the left block to extend their advantage. The Orioles finally cut the streak short with a three of their own to tie the game, but Lopez answered by hitting another shot from beyond the arc to keep the Hornets ahead.
Lopez continued to provide the offense for Colby over the next few minutes, connecting on two more three-point shots and finishing the half with 16 points. His final make of the half put the Hornets up 33-28, their largest lead of the game, but a final push from Stanley-Boyd flipped the script once more before halftime. The Orioles put up six points over the final minute-and-a-half to retake the lead heading into the locker rooms.
A layup from Lopez to open the second period briefly put Colby back on top, but the visitors answered with a three on their next possession and never trailed again. The Hornets kept things close, down 44-42 at the halfway point of the period, but Stanley-Boyd began to find cracks in the home team’s defense. The Orioles’s Hunter Hoel found room to maneuver down low and eight points scored in transition allowed the visitors to pull away at a critical juncture. A 20-7 run for Stanley-Boyd put the game out of reach and Colby was dealt their second loss of the season.
Lopez finished the game with 20 points as the Hornets top scorer. Joseph Streveler finished one assist short of a triple-double in a solid all-around performance for the senior. He finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Steinman, Jaxon Polivka and Tucker Hayes all added seven points and Polivka and Hayes had six rebounds each. Reed Fleischmann brought down eight rebounds and contributed three points and two assists, Gavin Voss had three points and Izaac Carrera had two points.
