By Chris Parker
Galena boys basketball will look for new players to step up with only one starter returning from last season’s 17-win team.
The one returning starter is a good one in sophomore Cody Jones. Jones poured in 17 points per game with 4.3 rebounds as a freshman.
“Cody is the lone returning starter coming back from last year’s team,” Galena head coach David Argo said. “He will be asked to be a leader by example for the returning players and newcomers. Cody has worked hard to develop his game to become a three-level scorer. He had a remarkable summer, on both ends of the floor. We will be thrown into more of a defensive role this season. He has all the intangibles to be a high-profile player.”
Fellow sophomores John Bailey, Jack Stephens, Bobby Harris, Jacob Coones and Dalton Faucett all saw varying amounts of varsity action as freshmen.
Argo on Bailey: “I’m really looking forward to John taking over the point guard role on this team. He is fast, with good ball handling abilities. He will be asked to control tempo and read the flow of the game to manage this young team. He had a strong summer, and we are really excited about him being our floor general the next three years.”
Argo on Stephens: “Jack will be the anchor in the post. He has worked hard on his footwork and agility to become faster for transition offense and defense. If he can become a two-way player that would make us a strong team at both ends.”
Argo on Harris: “Bobby is going to add size and scoring to this year’s team. He is going to be a great spacer on offense with good defensive awareness on the other end. His role will be very important to this year’s squad.”
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Argo on Coones: “Jacob will be asked to do a lot of the dirty work for us. He brings good energy day in and day out.”
Junior Wyatt Harris will return to the team after sitting out his sophomore year. He brings athleticism and defense to the team.
Freshmen Jaxon Foster, Andru Foster, Esiya Weeks and Billy Taylor will all look to make immediate varsity impacts.
Youth will rule this team with primarily underclassmen tasked with leading the team.
“We have the potential to be a very solid team,” Argo said. “We had a good summer playing larger schools to speed up the growing pains. We will be able to play fast or slow depending on what is needed on a game-to-game basis. I look forward to watching this team grow and mature into a solid foundation over the course of the season. If they all buy into a team concept, I think we will shock some teams. We told them all summer we want five players working as one, and no one is more important than the next.”
Galena opens the season on Nov. 17 at home against Chadwick.
