With a jamboree now complete, a roster of 12 Winside boys basketball players will turn their attention to their week one opponents in early December.
James Gubbels will be in his first season as the head boys basketball coach after serving as an assistnat football coach last year.
"We attended the Concordia Camp (NE) and played in the Y Summer league in Norfolk," said Gubbels. "(We worked on) playing team basketball. We need to move the ball around better than we did last year."
Joining coach Gubbels will be Josh Fremstad and Dax Behmer on staff.
Goals being set by the coaching staff include improving their free throw percentage, field goal percentage and cut the turnover total in half from last year.
Senior players include Jayden Aschoff, Matthew Gubbels and Lucas Petersen.
With zero seniors graduting off last year's team, Winside will have played a lot of varsity minutes.
Aschoff will be a senior forward this season for the Wildcats and first picked up a basketball around second grade.
"I've been working on making smarter decisions and as a team playing as one and not so independent," said Aschoff. "Something I took away (first week of practices) is getting used to the new scheme and how my teammates play. I learned the new plays that were given to us."
A goal being set by the team is to qualify for a district final.
Aschoff shared what he's most excited about along with a message to the fans.
"See what we can be and how successful we could become," said Gubbels. "Thanks for the support and for always showing up when you're able to."
Along with the seniors, additional top returners include Tyler Paulsen, Jahiem Hamik, Matthew Gubbels and Brayden Lurz while Carter Krause is out for basketball this season which will add depth to the bench.
It was a tough stretch of games between Dec. 20, 2024 - February 14, 2025 where the Winside boys lost 17 straight. The Wildcats ended their season at 2-21 last year.
"You always want to have more wins especially when you only win a couple of games," said Gubbels. "If we can cut our turnovers down and work the ball around we will see better results from the previous season."
The Nov. 25 home jamboree against Tekamah-Herman was not only the first action of the season during the preseason for Wisnide, but also a first for coach Gubbels.
"I wanted to see the boys play as a team, rebound the ball and share the ball," said Gubbels. "This gave us a chance to see what we still need to improve on and it was nice getting to play another team other than just scrimmaging against your teammates."
A Dec. 5 outing will open the Winside boys basketball season at Wynot.
"We need to be ready for a team that plays uptempo along with being very athletic at all five positions," said Gubbels. "They play a lot of kids but do not drop off when kids come off the bench. We have to be able to handle the pressure and get back on defense to take away easy baskets."
The Wildcats will open their home schedule hosting Homer on Dec. 11.
"The kids have been working hard and I am hoping you enjoy the brand of basketball we are going to play this season," said Gubbels. "We have some experience coming back from last season, we need to take the next step in maturing as a team, knowing our roles to be successful."
