Cotter basketball is looking for the program to take a big step forward coming off a difficult season in 2020-21.

The reason for optimism comes from a full summer of working together at camps. skills sessions, and summer tournaments.  The team will have a nice mix of youth and experience.  Returning seniors include Payton Weifenbach, Tate Gilbertson, Charley Schroeder, Abraham Kamara, Ryan Hesch, and Vanya Schultz. Sophomores Luke Gardner and Bobby Sandcork will bring some scoring and athleticism to the squad.

One thing that this team feels more confident about is their defense.

“We have been working hard in our defense at practice, we believe that our defense will be much improved this year,” Kamara said.

The reason for the optimism on defense comes to being a more athletic team

“We feel that the reason our defense will improve, is because we have a more athletic team, which we hope will translate to better defense,” Gilbertson added.

“We feel our defense will also help us get more open looks on offense, especially on three pointers, which we struggled with last year,” Vanya Schultz said. ” We feel much more comfortable taking three pointers this year.”

The team will have to fill the shoes of leading scorer Connor Yocum and point guard Cale Beckman, who were lost to graduation.

Last year’s season did not go as planned as they finished the season 1-18, and lost in the Section quarterfinal to Caledonia.

The Ramblers first game was December 2 and they lost a nailbiter to Lanesboro 51-46. The first game showed that the Ramblers still have many things to work on, but there defense was a huge part in keeping the game within reach.

The next game is Tuesday, December 7, at La Crescent and their home opener is versus Caledonia on December 14.