Team Preview:
Written by: Sven Alskog
After making the state tournament in Caldwell back in the 2012-2013 season, the Sho-Ban Chiefs boys basketball team fell on hard times last year, going 4-12 in what new Head Coach Jeff Barfuss hopes was an aberration of a season.
Barfuss has spent four years roaming the sidelines as an assistant coach at Sho-Ban, being promoted to the new position during the offseason.
His first task will be to figure out how to quickly rebuild the basketball program at a school that has had plenty of success in the recent past.
Prior to the production falling off last season, the Chiefs had made back-to-back trips to Caldwell for the state tournament, beating Kootenai and falling in their other two games each year.
To return to the big stage a parade of newcomers will be relied upon, with not much coming back in regards to productivity from the group last season aside from Kilee Bache.
Chaylen Perdash was mentioned by Barfuss as someone he expects to be an impact player for his squad.
Within the style of play that Sho-Ban will be running this season a team effort will be necessary to find success, meaning the high turnover from last year will have to be forgotten about quickly, as chemistry will be of the highest importance.
The Chiefs will be a ball control team that attempts to limit turnovers and slow the pace of the game. Barfuss hopes this will help to keep his team within striking distance throughout the season.
For the new head coach, the reason for optimism for the upcoming year was simple.
“New year, new team,” stated Barfuss.
Residing within the 1AD2 Rocky Mountain Conference, the Chiefs will have plenty of challengers, namely in the form of Rockland, a state tournament team last year, and North Gem, who they were blown out by twice last season.
To stay competitive in games, Sho-Ban will need to improve on the defensive side of the ball. Last year the Chiefs allowed over 70 points on four separate occasions, while also falling victim to over 60 points ten times.
Putting the ball in the basket was also a challenge throughout the season, with the Chiefs only reaching over 50 points themselves three times.
With the influx of new players and the new head coach taking over, 2014-2015 will tell us a lot about the future of the Sho-Ban basketball program.
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