27 out for boys basketball; 10 letterwinners lead the way

Without much of a lull between the football and basketball seasons, Holyoke High School boys are busy preparing for the first game of the season. The Dragons will travel to Ault this weekend for the Dec. 6-7 Canine Classic. HHS boys will start the tournament Friday at 5:30 p.m. in a game against Dawson.

Returning for a second year together are head coach Marcus Kammer and assistant coach Ernie Kinnie. As the season opener rapidly approaches, Kammer is looking forward to another year with similar coaching staff and many returning athletes with varsity experience. Given their existing rapport, he expects to see plenty of growth this year.

 Leading the 2019-20 HHS boys team are 10 returning letterwinners. They are seniors Slaten Burris and Caleb Deaver; juniors Joey Beckner, Alejandro Rojas, Aaron Sierra and Cameron Skager; and sophomores Ethan Johnson, Cade Killin, Kaison Kinnie and Miles Sprague.

Kammer pointed out that Holyoke’s varsity team didn’t graduate any seniors last year, which gives the Dragons an advantage over other area teams that will be rebuilding this season.

From a coaching perspective, Kammer is looking forward to starting off with a tournament, and specifically a game with Dawson. “We’ll go into this weekend trying to get a good grasp of what our strengths and weaknesses are,” he said, explaining that the teams don’t know each other and aren’t going into the competition with any preconceptions.

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