Coming off an underwhelming 2023-2024 season, the boys’ basketball team saw a coaching change with Ben Kinnison taking over head coaching duties in the offseason at the end of last school year. Kinnison inherited a roster with only two returning players from last year’s sub-.500 team. Guard Bryce Nunley, 12, and forward Israel Awoyomi, 11, remain on the team after departures from a huge senior class. This season saw the Broncos face a litany of injuries to multiple prominent players having four of the five game one starters being injured at one point or another.
“Bryce [Nunley] broke his wrist and he has not played since December 9, and Sam [Monasterial] has not played the last 3-4 games,” Coach Kinnison said. “ [That’s] our two leading scorers and our two starting guards.”
Practices after gamedays emphasize recovery for the student-athletes. After the Tuesday and Friday games, subsequent days are spent with time in the weight room, preparation and a focus on fundamentals with footwork reps. Every Wednesday the team stops down during practice and does yoga for an additional recovery time.
“We’ve put such a tax on their body with all the weights and the running,” Coach Kinnison said. “[Yoga] is just good for mobility and recovery.”
Despite the efforts of the coaching staff to limit injuries, the Broncos still faced losses to the lineup leading to more minutes and opportunities for the still healthy players.
“We have the next man up mentality,” senior Chase Petersen said. “ When somebody goes down, the next person up has to replace them.”
In district, the focus of practices laser in on scouting and intensely preparing for the next opponent. With district play consuming the back half of the schedule, there are more numbers and information on teams that help prepare the squad for every game.
“We want to be efficient with our time and our preparation for district,” Coach Kinnison said. “The level of detail is more.”
Even with the high focus on preparation, the injuries proved to be a detrimental blow to the team. A district record of 1-8 makes the playoffs out of reach, but Coach Kinnison doesn’t view this season as a failure. A slew of uncontrollable circumstances derailed this young team’s full potential.
“ [Our] record’s, not great, not where we like it to be, obviously. But there’s growth,” Coach Kinnison said. “As long as we continue to grow every day, we’ll be fine.”