Wildcats basketball looking for improvement this season

The Wildcats basketball team will be looking to improve on its 5-15 record last year as they open the season at home against Stevensville Dec. 1.

“We will be looking for continued improvement this season. We will have a lot of new faces on the varsity level with only one returning starter and two with any real experience,” head coach Chris Finberg said.

The Cats lost six seniors from last year’s squad, including all-conference selections Matthew Morrison and Quintin Schriver, but will have five seniors on the roster this season. Only one starter returns from last year’s squad, senior guard Drew Morgan. Along with Morgan, the only other returning player who saw extensive playing time last season is Logan Bechtel, who averaged 4.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Cats a year ago.

“We might have some slow going at first as we figure things out, but hopefully we will be playing some good ball at the end of the season,” Finberg said.

Finberg is expecting big things out of several new faces on the varsity squad, including several players that put in extensive time over the summer improving their skills.

“Sam Hovde has put in a lot of time over the summer and has improved tremendously. He and Zach Pletcher should bring us a lot of energy down on the post,” Finberg said.

Senior Dillon Wanner will be stepping up to fill the point guard role for the Cats while Cascade transfer Dillon Shipp should be starting for the team at wing.

“We are really focusing on our fundamentals right now, making sure we are in the right spots on defense and moving the ball and making the right pass on offense. We are seeing what roles everyone is going to fit into,” Finberg said. “We just want to keep getting better every game, every week, every practice and make sure we are peaking at the right time of the season.”