By Chris Parker
Galena boys basketball is chasing a fourth straight season with a winning record.
Seniors Colton Ellingsworth and Brandon Lingenfelter will be key leaders for Galena in the quest of that goal.
“Both (Ellingsworth and Lingenfelter) lead in the hall and classroom as well as the court,” Galena head coach David Sherer said. “They do it the right way. They lead by their attitude and aptitude. They come to work with a purpose each day. They are two of the most respected students in our school.”
Ellingsworth scored 7 points per game with 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Ligenfelter scored 1.4 points per game seeing action in 19 of 27 contests.
Fellow senior Brayden Sartin returns to the lineup after earning honorable mention all-conference honors as a junior. He averaged 9.1 points per game while leading the team with 84 steals.
Garret Lewallen earned first-team all-district honors as a sophomore on the strength of his 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO ALL OF THE WINTER PREVIEWS
Darland Gideon returns for his senior year as the fastest and quickest player on the roster.
Freshmen Cody Jones, Jack Stephens, John Bailey, Bobby Harris and Jacob Coones could all see immediate varsity playing time.
Ellingsworth and Bailey pushed each other throughout the off-season.
“(Ellingsworth and Bailey) teamed up with each other in the weight room every morning and in every drill this summer,” Sherer said. “They really pushed each other to the limits and loved every minute of it. They improved on their shooting and defense along with communication to run a team. John will be a good leader and mentor to others down the road because of Colton.”
Leadership will be a strength for Galena this year.
“I think our leadership, approach and maturity has improved,” Sherer said. “I think practice will be much better along with team chemistry in time as we have 4 seniors, 1 or 2 juniors and several freshmen and maybe one sophomore in the mix to play varsity. These guys seem to really like each other.”
Galena opens the regular season on Nov. 19 at Dora.
