The boys varsity basketball team prepared over the summer of building around the intimidating presence of senior center Kyle Kerrigan, unfortunately, it is now time to put plan B into action.

Though the team has two returning starters, Kerrigan, will not be playing, due to an ACL tear in his right knee suffered during football season.. This will go along with the graduation of Cotter’s all conference point guard, Garrett Crowley, and all conference forward, Matt Schrupp.

Despite these losses the eam will be looking to start off the season on a strong note this Friday at 7:30 p.m, playing on the road at Fillmore Central.

On the bright side, impressive junior point guard, Jonah Spiten, will be returning, and will be accompanied by a deep senior class, consisting of Henry Killen, Josh Forst, Carter Cunningham, Colin Duellman, Matt Masyga, and Corey Beyer.

When asked about some strengths for this team, senior forward Josh Forst had this to say, “Our strengths will come from our perimeter shooters. We’re quick, we’re fast, and we’re deep on the bench. We should have a lot of fresh bodies to throw into the game.”

Despite the loss of their dominant big man, Cotter’s assistant coach Seth Haun is quite optimistic, “We will have to play a lot faster this year without a significant post presence. This means more ball pressure and tempo. In order to stay competitive, we will have to play very fast.”

When asked about the season, Haun stated,”I believe our season will be competitive. We have some games on the schedule that we will have great opportunities to earn victories. More important than the record, I believe this will be a fun year. We have a great group and the atmosphere at practice has been tremendous during the first week.”

Graduation and injury have thrown some difficult obstacles in the Ramblers’ path to success, but the team is looking forward to the challenge.

Many of the returning players possess that “edge” that winning teams must obtain. Also, with the loss of starters, many spots are up for grabs which may encourage the younger players to fight for spots.   The early season should be a learning process, but should be interesting to watch the team come together.

The Ramblers home opener is Tuesday, November 25, versus La Crescent.