The NCHS Tiger boys basketball team is eyeing state hardware as the winter season begins
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LUSK – There won’t be a rematch of last years’ 2A boys basketball championship game between the Tigers and Chiefs, as Niobrara County High School (NCHS) has moved to 1A. However, with nine letterwinners returning Lusk has high expectations against (mostly) new competition.
“Looking around, I don’t think there’s a deeper team than what we’ve got,” senior Quintin Bieri said. “We’ve got probably a dozen guys that would start for most 1A schools.”
Seventh-year head coach Ed Fullmer lost both all-state players from last season but the cupboard is far from empty. Seniors Bieri, Ridge Kupke and Jackson Smith have played over 200 varsity games combined and were crucial parts of last year’s success.
“It’s so nice to have expectations. Yes there’s added challenges but to have kids excited for the season makes it fun to get started,” Fullmer said. “But with that, we talk about the process, not the result. We want to be prepared every night no matter the level of competition.”
Colton Bracklesburg rounds out the senior class and has improved enough to be competing for varsity time with a deep group of juniors and sophomores. Among them is two-year starter Nathan Miller and classmates Corbin Matthews, Isaac Assman, Charlie Gaukel and Kayden Goodwin. The roles for sophomores Raynce Brott and Brady Swisher will increase while Hudson Leimser and Ryan Youngquist are also looking for varsity minutes.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that can step in and replace what Cory and Aidan did last year,” Smith said. “It’s going to be hard trying to stop five guys that can all score and play defense.”
Defense will be the Tigers meal ticket, since they are not a particularly big group. NCHS was among the best in 2A last year and Fullmer expects that to continue. No longer are teams like Wright, Sundance and Big Horn a concern, but the top 1A teams like Upton, Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL), Southeast, Saratoga and Burlington are just as good as the 2A schools.
“We’re hoping to use our speed to create offense in the open court and at the same time be able to adjust from playing a lesser team to someone really good like the Doggers quickly,” Fullmer added. “But this group’s willingness to get after it and play defense should cause a lot of problems.”
Despite losing longtime assistant coach Andie Hubbard, Fullmer has Reece Andre back for a second season assisting on the sidelines. They have another handful of young guys looking to find their way in the program.
“I can see a few guys stepping up their scoring and rebounding but with our balance, it’s going to be hard to focus on just one,” Fullmer said. “There’s a lot here to be excited about, and Coach Andre has such a great energy and the knowledge he brings is really a benefit to all of us.”
“With our experience, we’ve got to lead by example because actions speak louder than words sometimes,” Kupke said. “And we definitely think we can make a run at a state championship.”
The Tigers open the season at the Upton tournament. On Friday NCHS plays Arvada-Clearmont (11:30 a.m.) and Midwest (2:30 p.m.) before facing Hulett Saturday afternoon (4:30 p.m.).
Late Monday afternoon the WyoPreps coaches/media preseason poll was released and the Tigers were ranked fourth behind Upton, LFL and Cokeville, yet ahead of Saratoga.
