The Bridger boys basketball team has one thing on its mind – a return trip to the State C tournament.
After an 0-2 showing last year, the Scouts return nearly everybody and are anxious to get back to that stage again.
“The competition when you get to state is completely a different ball game. The players are just great," Bridger head coach Randy Novakovich said. "Our division has been pretty weak the past four or five years. I think that was the biggest wake-up call we had. We were actually pretty close last year. We missed a couple shots early and got down and couldn’t get back in the game. Yeah, we got beat twice, but we were right there, actually.”
Bridger is likely going to roll through the majority of its conference schedule without much of a test. Finding internal challenges will be key to avoiding complacency.
“We’ve just got to go out each quarter and try to not let them score and see how many we can put up, because they’re not going to give us much of a challenge. As long as we’re pushing ourselves we’ll be ready for tougher competition," senior forward Baylor Pospisil said.
The Scouts suffered a big blow during football season when senior Cooper Frank suffered a torn ACL. While his scoring punch will be missed, freshman Gage Goltz is waiting in the wings and should contribute from day one.
“If he has a good year and continues to work hard, and I think he will, he’s going to be big. He’s going to step up and take over where Cooper, where we lost Cooper with the knee, and Gage is probably going to fill that role a bunch," Novakovich said.
The Scouts will play Broadview-Lavina on Dec. 17.
