Brock Kenaga’s first season as the head coach of the MV-BT Liberty boys ended with a solid 18-10 record overall with a 4-3 record in conference.
Leading scorer Shalin Stout (13.9 ppg) along with Tyler Dewick (11.3 ppg) and Koel Orchard (7.8 ppg) graduated from that team.
Andrew Holden is the top returning players after averaging 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game as a junior.
“Andrew is a big strong athletic kid. He has played a lot of varsity minutes since he was a freshman,” Kenaga said. “He has played summer basketball the past two seasons and has become a more rounded player. He will be a big part of what we do this year. He is a great rebounder and defender which really fuels our transition style of basketball.”
Seniors Brodyn Kenaga (6’5, 240 pounds), Landen Coley (5’9, 140 pounds), Coltin Foster (6’0, 170 pounds) along with juniors Zach Stretch (6’2, 160 pounds) and Jaris Acklin (6’1, 160 pounds) will be key returning players this season. Stretch scored 9.3 points per game as a sophomore while playing in all 28 games.
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Senior Ty Barnes will also step up the varsity level this year.
The Eagles will use their length to cause problems for opposing teams.
“We are long and athletic so it helps us pressure people and create turnovers,” Kenaga said.
Kenaga hopes to see a decrease in turnovers this season.
“We made a lot of poor decisions with the ball last year and cost ourselves games because of it,” Kenaga said. “After a good off season and a year in my system I hope to see improvements in our decision making and ball handling in general.”
The Eagles are expecting a strong year thanks to the large group of upperclassmen playing together for years.
“This group is a veteran group that I have been involved with since they were very young due to my son Brodyn playing,” Kenaga said. “This is a special group of young men and we are excited to have a great year.”
MV-BT Liberty opens the season on Nov. 27 at Winona.
