By Jordan Burton
R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
A seven-letter word that everyone wants to earn, but few get. Right now, reigning Class 2 state champion Hartville has a lot of it…
But Lincoln is hungry for a piece of that pie.
The Cardinals are coming off of a 22-5 campaign and sixth-year head coach Tyler Burke returns several full and part-time starters from last season.
“If people are sleeping on us it’s because they should be,” said Burke. “I’ve been really honest with our guys and I think they feel the same way; we haven’t met our goal yet so we don’t deserve that respect.
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“The school and the community are proud of this group of kids – they have accomplished so much athletically in baseball, golf, football and basketball. We want to win a district and get into the playoffs in basketball, I think our guys are as hungry for that as they can be.”
Everything starts with all-conference and all-district selection Boone Kroenke.
The senior guard – also a standout in football and golf – averaged a team-high 21 PPG last year and has scored more than 1,000 points entering his senior season.
“He’s really important to what we do because he has all the skills to play the way we want to play,” said Burke. “He can break most pressure defenses with the dribble. He can score from all three levels and we are better defensively when he is on the floor. We had a great season last year we got 22 wins and we expect a lot of wins this year. His numbers could be higher as far as points, but he knows when to spread it around and when we need him to score.”
Also returning for the Cardinals are seniors Mason Sanders (9 PPG), Trevor Kroenke (8 PPG) and Ryan Eckhoff 8 PPG, 4 RPG).
All four guys bring back starting experience, something that will be pivotal to Lincoln this season. Burke returns eight of his top 10 players from last season. All players that are familiar with Burke’s system and desire to play a high-octane brand of basketball.
“We will return eight guys that started games last year,” said Burke. “We had a 10-man rotation last year. We graduated two, so we return eight players that were in the varsity rotation. We rotate our starting lineup based on the matchup and our confidence in every guy we have, most of those seniors started games when they were freshmen so we are a very experienced team.”
That experience will be useful come March. Last year Lincoln – the No. 2 seed in Class 2 – District 14 – appeared to be the favorite after top-seeded Sacred Heart was upset in the semifinals. However, Lincoln was upset by No. 5 Windsor just two hours later.
Lincoln beat Windsor and Skyline during the regular season. Last year’s district loss has fueled the Cardinals throughout the offseason.
“We missed out on the opportunity to play for the district championship against a team that we had already defeated,” said Burke. “Our kids aren’t going to forget that game, I’m sure they are motivated by it.
“If we are going to make a run in the playoffs we are going to have to put egos aside and work for a common goal. It’s easy to say but it’s tough for kids. We have to stay healthy as well. We need to get over the hump and play our best basketball during the district tournament, which is something we have yet to do. I think the most important thing for us is to just enjoy it. It should be fun.”
