AHS Trojan boys hit the hardwood for practice tonight, Nov. 16, as the 2015-16 season officially begins. The team ended the 2014-2015 season with a 14-9 record. They tied for second in the Hawkeye Ten conference with Harlan, and also earned the first seeding for the district tournament.

The boys practiced for eight weeks over the summer ,playing a minimum of five days a week preparing for the upcoming season. On average there were about 18-25 kids showing up every day.

Head coach Alan Jenkins said, “We worked a lot on team concepts, but more importantly wanted to improve individually with our skill sets.” The team also played in multiple team camps over the summer to prepare for the upcoming season.

Jenkins said, “Expectations within the basketball program are always high.” The team’s expectations are always to win, but it’s more important to constantly improve throughout the season.

In the past four years the boys’ basketball team has been conference champs twice, and tied for runner-up last season.

The team has made improvements on the court, but they also have to improve mentally.

Sophomore Ben Renaud said that he thinks their toughest opponent this year will be Kuemper Catholic.

Numbers for this upcoming season will be up a little bit compared to last season. They are expecting around 30 kids between ninth and twelfth grade.

Some key returners from last season are senior Ryan Hawkins and junior Garrett Franken who were both All-Conference players a year ago.

Jenkins said, “I think there are some really solid kids coming up from the JV a year ago that will contribute on the varsity this year.” Jenkins said he is looking forward to watching kids grow and developing throughout the year. They’re planning to win, and win at a high rate.

The team wants to compete throughout the season and see how they do under pressure in the flashing lights. The team is looking to have a better season than last year even though last year was a winning season.
Renaud says he’s excited for the upcoming season and it’s going to be a big year. He is looking forward to winning a lot of games and getting better throughout the season.

The boys have a jamboree on Nov. 25 against Panora. Their first game will be Tuesday, Dec. 1, against the Winterset Huskies at the Atlantic High School gym.