Steady improvement key for Hornets’ growth

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Preble boys basketball team will look to continue to climb under head coach Rick Rosinski, who is entering his third season leading the Hornets after guiding them to a 11-11 overall record and 6-8 mark in the Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) last year, good for fifth place.
Rosinski said he has seen steady improvement across the program since his arrival and believes this year’s group is ready to break through.

“It’s been kind of a progression to get the program going in the right direction and each year we’ve been able to improve, going from six wins the first year to 11 last year,” Rosinski said. “We had four really close games against good teams, so our record could’ve been even better. I’m looking this year to take that next step, get over .500, maybe a couple games over, and finish in the upper half of the conference. We’re starting to get the talent coming through now with younger kids reaching the high school level, and I can see a drastic improvement from my first year to now.”

He pointed out that physicality inside the FRCC was a major challenge a year ago, but the Hornets off season work has started to close that gap.

“The biggest thing we struggled with last year was probably the physicality,” he said. “The FRCC was pretty dominant with a lot of size and really good players. At times we had trouble matching that because we weren’t very big, but now you can start to see the kids getting stronger and playing more aggressively. Changing that mentality has been a process, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

Rosinski pointed to senior guard Gavin Sullivan, senior Tyrus Cooper, senior Elijah Levanetz, junior Henry Paplham and junior Nick Howard as key contributors this season. He also noted the return of senior Micah Johnson, who missed much of last year with an ACL injury.

“Gavin’s really come on and playing higher level AAU ball has helped him compete at a higher level,” Rosinski said. “Tyrus Cooper’s another guy I expect to take that next step, and Isaiah Flowers gives us that defensive toughness you need to win. He’s a beast defensively, physically strong and not afraid of anything. We’ve got a balanced team, and I think we can compete with anyone in our conference.”

Howard, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, said he’s confident the team’s chemistry and experience will translate into wins. “I’m most excited about our improvement in chemistry that we’ve built over the last three years,” Howard said. “Coach Rosinski has been a new coach to Preble, and I feel like he’s built us up and given us a lot of motivation to do well this year. We want to pick up the loose ends from last year and have a better record and hopefully a deeper playoff run.”

Howard said he expects the Hornets to play as a connected, balanced group on both ends. “Coming in as freshmen, we were still figuring everything out, but now we know each other’s strengths, how to move the ball, who our shooters are, and how to flow together as a team,” he said. “We’re really scrappy and competitive, and I think we can compete in our conference, win games, and get Preble somewhere it hasn’t been in a while. No matter if we win or lose, we’re going to fight until the clock hits zero and move forward in a positive way.”

Preble will look to carry that fight into its Dec. 2 season opener against Green Bay East as the Hornets aim to build on last year’s progress and continue climbing the FRCC standings.