Experience and Brotherhood Key for Coshocton Boys on the Court
COSHOCTON, OH
Entering his third year at the helm of Coshocton boys basketball, James Herman has his most experienced squad yet looking to make a run at an MVL small school championship.
“We have five returning lettermen. We’ve got a lot of experience coming back. We have eight seniors right now. It’s the most we’ve had here at Coshocton for quite a while. It’s most I’ve had in one year in quite a while” said Herman. “So we’re looking for that experience to pay big dividends for us as the season progresses.”
Finishing second last year in the small school division, Coshocton has every reason to expect even greater results this season, and it helps when you have the league’s second leading scorer from a year ago back for another run.
“Having the seniors just gives us a lot of leadership on the team. I mean, we have a lot of experienced people now. We know what it’s like to play in big games, have big crowds and everything. We’re just ready to go this year” said senior captain Colton Conkle. “Our goal is definitely to be small school MVL champs this year, and make a far tournament run because we’re waiting for it.”
Junior captain J.J. Herman said, “I think our experience is really going to help us with opportunities and possessions. We’re a lot stronger than we were last year and it’s going to help us move forward and do better this year.”
But there’s a lot that goes into a team over the course of a season than just what we see on the court, and for Coshocton, that’s learning to play with and for each other.
“We talk about it both as we end the previous season and starting the new one. Our motto for the year is ‘brotherhood’. How we’re coming together and taking care of our brothers and doing it all for each other” preached Coach Herman.
“You know, because the year we all will set our goals and everybody wants to get to the top of the mountain, right? But only one team gets there. And just because you don’t necessarily get to the top of the mountain, which is our goal, you can still have a great season and a wonderful journey.”
“Just to become a brotherhood, really, and just become like a real close family. And if we do that, we’re going to do great things” added senior captain Alex Taylor.
“You talk just about the small school side. I like the MVL in that, man., it’s ultra competitive and you want to talk about somebody that’s going to be prepared for the playoffs. You play in the MVL. I mean, we had five teams in the district last year, so the MVL definitely prepares you for that. The small side gets even better this year because Maysville moves to the small side” said Herman with a smile.
“The big side’s got to be happy about that. But Maysville moves to the small side. So it’s going to be a dogfight every night.”
Coshocton begins its MVL journey against Philo on Friday, December 6th.
