by Jena Brosam and Alyssa Siggins

With five returning starters, AHS boys basketball is ready to hit the hardwood. Atlantic boys finished their 2013-2014 season with a record of 7-15, after losing in the second round of districts. The young team had no returning starters and gained experience throughout the season under their new coach, Alan Jenkins.

”In the end of the season last year I felt like we were becoming a good defensive team, but I still think there is a lot of room for improvement, which is why we have this season to become stronger as a whole team,” said Jenkins.

This year, Jenkins again has high expectations for his team. “I don’t always label expectations on wins and losses. Our expectations are on how we handle ourselves, how we compete, and how we play. Everybody that played varsity last year has improved.”

That improvement has come from hard work. “We’ve put a lot more time in the weight room. Coach Waldstein has done a good job with our weight program since he’s been here. We put in a lot of time last spring, we played quite a bit of pickup games. We see our summer as a second season, and we took good advantage of that time,” said Jenkins.

The players are eager to get on the court. Point guard Joey Walker said, “I’m looking forward to getting started with the season. We all have more experience so it should be fun, and I really hope we win more games than we did last season. Personally, if we aren’t playing in the Wells Fargo Arena in March, I’ll be disappointed.”

Wing Tristen Benn said, “I am looking forward to being able to compete on the basketball court with my teammates, and I look forward to beating a lot of teams this year. I think the team is going to be extremely successful. We are more experienced this year, and that will help a lot.”

Small forward Garrett Franken said, “I’m looking forward to getting better and being as competitive as we can be. We will be a lot better, win a lot more games, and since we have all the same players, we will just be a better team.”

Jenkins said, “I feel prepared, I feel like we had a good summer. Anytime you have a good summer, you put yourself in a position to be more ready for the season. We will take it one step at a time and take care of getting ourselves better before we worry about opponents.”

The team has their first official practice Monday, Nov. 17. Their first game is shortly after on Dec. 5 against St. Albert, which is home.