Holy Trinity boys hoops team growing up

Posted

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG

PCC EDITOR

FORT MADISON - HTC boys head basketball coach John Hellige must have put something in the water bottles at Holy Trinity Catholic last year as his Crusaders have seen a marked increase in the height of this year's team.

The Crusaders are coming off a 5-18 campaign in a very talented Southeast Iowa Superconference South division last year. The Holy Trinity boys battled in the district post season play with an Iowa Mennonite squad in hostile territory that finished the year 21-4 and just missed going to state in Class 1A. HTC led several times including a 26-25 halftime lead, but a soft third quarter kept them from an upset win.

Hellige said this year's squad is a good two inches taller on average and even though the Crusaders will still be one of the smaller squads, they will have an increase in size and experience.

"We've got everyone back other than Collin Thornton and Jason Reece. Collin was huge leader for us, but he was injured for more than half the season. We also have Adam Rauenbuehler back who missed a lot of the second half last year after a fall," Hellige said. "When we measured everybody a couple weeks ago, we've increased in height. We don't have a treetopper but we have a ton of growth."

HTC is will also have the services of senior Kyle Bredemeyer who's returning for his senior year after sitting out his junior year. Hellige said the senior will bring some muscle and some senior experience to the team.

HELLIGE

FEHSEKE

SCHNEIDER

Holy Trinity is banking on a 2017-18 sophomore squad that featured Matt Hellige, Reed Fehseke, and Quentin Schneider who accounted for about 75 percent of the team's offense, for their junior year. Junior Blake Crabtree grew about three inches in the offseason and Hellige said he will probably be first off the bench with Bredemeyer this year.

Hellige said about five or six sophomores will compete for minutes this year, as well.

Matt Hellige, who's coming off a state-qualifying cross country season, will provide a post presence again for the Crusaders.

"Matt brings a big post presence and huge endurance. He could play two games back-to-back and not be tired," John Hellige said. "Quentin, Reed, Matt all have gotten taller and Crabtree grew about three inches. Crabtree and Bredemeyer will probably come off the bench and I've got six really good sophomores and I'm going to dress five. They're all really good players and they'll be vying for that minute here and there."

Matt Hellige said the team will still feature good outside shooters, but the difference will be the experience under their belts and the added height. The junior post player averaged right at a dozen points and five boards per game in his sophomore season.

"We have a lot of good shooters here. I think what's different from last year, everyone grew about .5 to 2 inches and everyone seems a lot taller. We're stronger and we're not as young," he said. "Last year we only really had one senior and this year we have three seniors and then a bunch of juniors. I think everyone's a lot more mature with the added experience. I think we'll surprise some people this year. "

Seniors Brant Holtkamp and Adam Rauenbuehler will help provide leadership and ball handling for the Crusaders this year. The two combined for 52 assists last year with Rauenbuehler only playing in 13 games last year.

"I think we have a lot of young talent. We'll probably have a smaller rotation than most and our juniors will make up the bulk of our lineup," Holtkamp said. "I think we can surprise some people hopefully. Our entire team is intact so we won't change things a whole lot."

Rauenbuehler, who'll most likely handle the No. 1 or point guard position, said the team should be able to move inside and out this year and the team should move up the conference ladder.

"I think it will be pretty balanced outside and inside, but we'll try to run more and get into fast breaks. I think New London will be up there again towards the top this year because they didn't lose many players this year, but we'll finish higher than we did last year."

Schneider was 7th in conference in rebounding his sophomore year and we'll look to build on that presence around the rim this year.

"I think we're going to be a lot better this year. We were younger last year and we've improved a lot. We know everyone in the conference and how they play. Our weakness is that we're not that tall, but we're going to try and outhustle the other teams. You have Brant, Adam, and Reed on the outside with me and Matt in the post and we did pretty well with that lineup in the second half last year."

Fehseke said Schneider may be the most improved player on the team.

"I think the team definitely has gotten bigger and stronger. Last year was a confidence builder. The whole season was like a trial for us to get ready for this year," Fehseke said, "I think toward the end of the season we started getting confidence. Everyone in general has gotten a lot better. Quentin has really improved this year and he can shoot so much better this year. He's really strong and can bulldoze through the middle."

Fehseke finished the season at just under 13 points per game. He was second in the Southeast Iowa Superconference with 60 3-pointers behind Van Buren's Caleb Johnson, who returns this year as well. Reed hit on better than 40% of his attempts beyond the arc, but also accounted for 103 turnovers in 22 games for almost five per outing. He said he'll move around on the perimeter.

"I'll probably play a litte point guard, but Rauenbuehler will probably control the ball and pile up the assists. He's really good at driving and kicking the ball out. Everything is just starting to come together this year," Fehseke said.

John Hellige said his main focus is for the kids to enjoy the season and have fun playing ball. He said New London, Danville, West Burlington, and Notre Dame will probably be the top teams in the conference.

"Central Lee is a bigger school so you can never count them out, but I'm looking for great things from our guys and to build this program. But above all else, I just want the kids to have fun and enjoy their high school basketball career," Hellige said.

athletics, basketball, boys basketball, crusaders, fort madison, holy trinity, Holy Trinity Catholic, htc, Pen City Current, preview, sports, varsity

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here