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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2008 - 4:54:39 PM |
The HLV Warriors basketball team will come off last year’s season as consolation champions with six returning seniors. From left, Boone DeBrower, Bryce Hasley, Scott Blomme, Drew Schultz, Jon Faga and Jake Burns. Mitch Traphagen Photo
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VICTOR - Just over nine months ago, the hopes of the region rested upon a group of high school kids. In Victor, excitement had built to a fever pitch as decades old newspaper inserts were pulled from boxes and dresser drawers - surely this team could do what the 1973 team did. They put Victor on the map.
It turns out that team, the 2008 HLV Warriors varsity basketball team, did just that. Throughout the season the AP polls didn’t give them much in the way of credit, but the Warriors went to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines and left as the 2008 Iowa State Boys Basketball Consolation Champions.
And now, as a new season begins, only two names are missing from the team roster, a list that had been memorized in homes across the area. Certainly Jared Herzberg and Dylan Miller will be missed this year, having graduated and gone onto college, but the foundation is still there. Jake Burns, Scott Blomme, Jon Faga, Bryce Hasley, Drew Schultz, and Boone DeBrower are set to take the leadership reigns this year - and their goal is nothing less than another visit to Wells Fargo Arena.
“We’re ready to roll,” said senior Boone DeBrower. “We’re heading back to Wells Fargo.”
That sentiment was echoed by the rest of the seniors - including center Scott Blomme.
“We have three of the five returning starters, hopefully another conference championship, hopefully get back to Wells Fargo,” he said.
When asked if on a different day, the 2008 Warriors could have beaten NU Cedar Falls, the eventual state champion, Blomme replied, “I don’t know - they were obviously a good team and they played their best. Hopefully this year we’ll get another shot at it.”
Bryce Hasley spent almost every minute on the court last year at Wells Fargo Arena. Fans won’t see him on the court this year - probably not until January. Hasley is recovering from a knee injury suffered during the HLV-BGM football game on Nov. 3.
“I’ll probably wait until January to play,” he said. “I feel pretty good about this season - we can do a lot of good things and get back to where we were last year. It will be weird without Jared and Dylan but we’ll be OK.”
It seems that while Herzberg and Miller won’t physically be on the court, their presence will still be felt.
“Maybe Bryce or Jon or I will be able to pull it off,” Jake Burns said, referring to Herzberg’s zen-like presence on the court. “But it will be hard because Jared is a one-of-a-kind type of guy. We will miss both him and Dylan.”
The HLV Warriors aren’t resting on past success. Above, sophomore Garrett Hinrichs is part of the future of the team. Mitch Traphagen Photo
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For the HLV seniors, the basketball season comes directly on the heels of the Warriors playoffs-extended football season. For Burns, this is just the norm - last year’s basketball season overlapped both track and golf - two sports that Burns participated in simultaneously - and track, with a visit to the state meet in Des Moines, overlapped baseball. He had a few days off after baseball before football began. And so it goes today.
“You just keep going, no matter what,” he said. “You go home and go to bed and get ready for the next day.”
With the basketball season beginning, Burns doesn’t expect to slow down.
“It’s going to be a fast and physical season,” he said. “I hope everyone comes out to watch us.”
For the fans, the season looks to be a good one. Many of the names they already know and the new additions to the team will build on future success.
“I’m pretty excited for this year,” said Jon Faga. “We have a lot of people that played a lot last year returning - we should do well.”
The HLV communities are accustomed to winning teams - each major sport has had playoff visits over the past year. If the team feels pressure to repeat their past success, they don’t show it.
“Well, we feel some pressure,” Burns said. “Because we won, teams are going to be out for us - but I feel we will do well with it.”
Last season is over - this is a new team taking on a new challenge. Senior Drew Schultz perhaps summed it up best - both for the players and the fans.
“I’m excited and ready to go,” he said.
© Copyright 2008 by The East Iowa Herald
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