Petznick) who is coming along as a great golfer. I have had good teammates in the past as well such as Tyson Seyler who is now a Division I golfer and Kobe Stout who had the option to play at the next level. I would just say that it is a bit of a different role and a little more pressure and expectation that I place on myself. 9. The BIC Mustang basketball team is primed to have a really great season. You guys return loads of talent after winning the district tournament last year What are your expectations and how can you guys get the most out of this season? I do believe that our team has the talent and the determination to be a very competitive team this year. I’ ve mentioned Zander( Jackson) already, and I can’ t say enough about how important he is to our team. His tremendous versatility allows him to play almost any position on the floor. On any given night, he could lead us in scoring, rebounding, steals and also defend the other team’ s leading scorer. Rylan Hawkins can score with anyone in AA basketball. He is a junior with the upside to be right there with the best players in our conference. Michael Walters is tough as nails and brings awesome energy every minute he is on the floor. We have several other juniors who will play big roles for us this year as well as a couple of sophomores who are ready to contribute. With that being said, our conference and region have always been among the most competitive in the state and it takes being prepared and bringing elite effort night in and night out just to remain competitive. But I’ d be lying if I told you I wasn’ t excited for the ball to tip off this year and the opportunity to measure ourselves against the other great teams in this area. 10. Discuss what it has been like to play for Coach Taylor Layne. I’ m looking forward to my second year under Coach Layne. Some of the guys on our team were 7th graders when Coach came to BIC and have had the opportunity to grow up under his system. Coming from a different school, there was an adjustment period for me, but I believe in my coach and my teammates and I am extremely excited to get to go battle each night with him as our leader. We have a lot of good players on our team, and all of us have certain strengths and weaknesses, but we trust him to put us in the best position to succeed. As the season went on, I feel like he trusted me down the stretch in the postseason and district tournament last year and that gave me added confidence to succeed.
11. You guys won district which was great but then just a few days later lost in the first round of regionals. How important is it for you to make it to the state tournament this year and make a deep run? I feel like we were playing our best basketball at the end of the season last year. Then we ran into a hot shooting and talented Tuckerman team and our regional tournament was over just like that. Some of that is just the nature of the conference and region we play in. Some of that was probably because it was all of our first regional tournament appearance. Now, we have multiple players returning with valuable postseason experience and I really want to get to the state tournament for my teammates, my coach, and my school.
12. You had an up and down season last year at times. How do you find more consistency on the basketball court and what did you learn from that last year? Agreed. My season last year definitely had its ups and downs. I think I had some of my best games in the NEA Tournament and in the postseason. I feel like offensively I’ m playing my best when I’ m finishing through contact, getting to the foul line, distributing the basketball and hitting the offensive boards. Defensively, my goal this year is to be a player that coach can trust to be a shutdown defender and never take a possession off. Honestly, I think a lot of my“ down” stretch last year came during a period where I wasn’ t on the court very much. This year, I’ m dedicating myself to bring the effort, leadership and mentality needed to whatever role I’ m needed to play with this team. I think at my best I’ m among the best options in our conference. Whether that’ s starting the game as one of the top options or coming off the bench with energy and enthusiasm. I’ ve learned that it’ s more important putting myself in a position to be able to be trusted to finish games on the court for my team than hearing my name called out to start them.