MORENCI — This season might not have been everything they hoped for, but the Morenci boys basketball team grew together as a unit and took some big steps forward over the course of Garrett Benjamin’s second season as head coach.
“I think we took a step in the right direction as far as growing together as a young corps,” Benjamin said.
The season began on a strong note — a 37-33 road victory against Reading just before Thanksgiving.
“We actually started out 3-and-2,” Benjamin said, with losses to Blissfield and Napoleon but wins over Camden-Frontier and Sand Creek. But when league play started, “we kind of went through the wringer.”
“There’s some tough teams in our league this year compared to where we were at,” he said.
Their 3-and-19 total wasn’t where the team wanted to end up, but Benjamin said the boys are “looking to make big leaps and bounds in terms of the winning column next season.”
One player to watch next year is Talan Kruse, who led the team in both scoring and rebounds this year. He will be a senior.
“I’m looking for him to be one of the top players in the league in terms of offensive power. He does a lot of good things,” Benjamin said.
Two more of this year’s juniors, Finn Molitierno and Blake Moran, will be coming back with some solid leadership experience. And two of this year’s sophomores, Landon Wilkins and Jonas Castillo, have shown a real knack for scoring that their coach believes they can build on.
“Landon is a great shooter,” Benjamin said. “Jonas can go inside and out and kind of score the ball in a lot of different ways.”
Kylan Lester and Skyler Trent will be coming up from junior varsity. “They are pretty impressive in terms of speed and strength,” Benjamin said. “They took a lot of steps in the right direction so I think they’ll be impact players for me next year.”
Another key player for the Bulldogs will be Drew Joughin, who will be a sophomore next year. “In terms of basketball IQ, he’s right there with anyone,” Benjamin said. “I can plug and play him on the floor and know and trust that he’s going to be in the right spot doing the right thing.”
Benjamin said he feels good about the team culture and the strides the boys have made this year.
“The camaraderie that we’ve built and the culture that we’ve taken steps to creating has been a huge, huge positive,” he said.