Senior guards Conner Gore, Joe Kirkhoff and Reese McGinsie provide Roncalli with experience in the backcourt. Gore led the Rebels last year with 23 3-pointers while hitting 51 percent of his shots from behind the arc. Kirkhoff connected on 84 percent of his free throws to lead the team.
Roncalli coach Michael Wantz has guided the Rebels to 223 victories over 16 years. He will reach the 100-win milestone in home wins when the Rebels win their third home game this season. RONCALLI (4A, 17-9) – Rebels seek 16th straight double-digit winning season, all under coach Michael Wantz … must find way to replace inside-outside punch of graduated 6-10 Collin Sonderman and 6-0 sharpshooter Christian Stewart, who set school record 7-of-7 3s against Beech Grove … don’t fret … Rebels return with eight seniors who bring back 61 percent of last season’s scoring and 54 percent of rebounds … top returning scorers are 6-5 Kellen Schreiber, 10.6 points; 6-4 Bryson Meek, 9.0 points, and 5-10 Conner Gore, 6.2 points … seniors 5-11 Joe Kirkhoff and 6-5 Jack Hegwood in third varsity season … classmates 6-0 Reece McGinsie, 6-4 Drew Fleming and 6-6 Matthew Looney are back … Rebels have good size at all spots … can mix and match, go small or big … defensive length a plus … interesting season looms … first home game Saturday against Covenant Christian.
Coach’s comments: “This is a senior-laden team. These seniors have played together for years, and they know where each other are on the floor. During practices I’ll call a drill or a play and I’m thinking our coaches need to teach it again, and the guys are already running it. This is their team.
“When you’re as balanced as we are, when the player who led you the night before in scoring is off, the next game someone else will be hot. We dress 10 players, and I have no issues at all in putting any of them in at any point. We have a good mix of size and experience; we can spread the floor on offense and open things up. We need to take care of the ball, rebound and not give other teams easy opportunities to score. We’ll see how this season develops.”
Coach’s comments: “This is a senior-laden team. These seniors have played together for years, and they know where each other are on the floor. During practices I’ll call a drill or a play and I’m thinking our coaches need to teach it again, and the guys are already running it. This is their team.
“When you’re as balanced as we are, when the player who led you the night before in scoring is off, the next game someone else will be hot. We dress 10 players, and I have no issues at all in putting any of them in at any point. We have a good mix of size and experience; we can spread the floor on offense and open things up. We need to take care of the ball, rebound and not give other teams easy opportunities to score. We’ll see how this season develops.”
Roncalli has size and versatility with its seniors: 6-4 Bryson Meek, 6-4 Drew Fleming, 6-5 Kellen Schreiber, 6-6 Matthew Looney, and 6-5 Jack Hegwood. Meek led last year’s team with 93 assists.
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