Courtesy Photo The 2018-19 Alpena High boys basketball team from left to right is: back: Adam Urlaub, Colin Donajkowski, Jadon Duncan, Chris DeRocher, Haydn Goebel, Jack Schmanski, Kelley Stark and head coach John Pintar; front: Bruz Copping, Kayden Wisniewski, Aidan Goike, Clay Donajkowski and Garrett Beaulieu.

For a coach, every year is different and every team has it’s own identity, but John Pintar has been waiting a good two years to coach this year’s edition of the Alpena High boys basketball team.

Two years ago, the Wildcats were brimming with potential and talent, but short on experience and took their fair share of lumps along the way. The same was true last season as the Wildcats lost more than a handful of close matchups while still gelling as a team.

But Pintar was patient with his players and kept the endgame in mind. He knew things would be different this season and they are.

The inexperienced sophomores are now seniors who are third and fourth year varsity players and the Wildcats have transformed into the group Pintar envisioned they might become. With more experience and better chemistry, the Wildcats have gained a lot of confidence over the past two seasons and believe it will lead them to a winning record during their 2018-19 campaign.

“Every year you’re excited to go out with every group, but this group has put a lot of time in. They’ve been a close group. They’ve been together since third and fourth grader and they did a lot of traveling,” Pintar said. “They’ve played a lot of basketball together and they know each other well. They understand what it takes to get out and compete because they’ve played multiple sports and they’ve been in those situations.”

So far that experience is paying for the Wildcats, who are off to a 3-0 start to the year after beating Bay City Western, Sault Ste. Marie and Tawas.

The Wildcats return seven players to this year’s roster including senior forward Chris DeRocher, who is playing his fourth year on varsity. DeRocher, the 2017-18 Alpena News Player of the Year, averaged 23.9 points and 12.8 points in his junior season and looks to be on track to close out his high school career on an historic note. DeRocher currently has 1,226 career points and is just 211 points from breaking Butch Feher’s career record of 1,436 points. With a double digit scoring average, DeRocher will likely set the mark toward the end of the season, but in the meantime he’ll be looked to for leadership.

“Having Chris on the team all these years, you can just see he’s doing things already that you expect from a senior,” Pintar said.

Along with DeRocher, Alpena returns senior point guard Aidan Goike, senior shooting guards Bruz Copping and Kayden Wisniewski and senior forwards Clay and Colin Donajkowski and Haydn Goebel.

While DeRocher is the team’s only fourth-year player, the other six returnees have all played three varsity seasons.

Between Goike’s ball handling skills, Copping and Wisniewski’s shooting abilities and the willingness of the Donajkowski brothers and Goebel to be glue guys who do a little bit of everything, the Wildcats have plenty of depth and plenty of tools to have a successful season.

“Aidan has obviously been our point guard for three years and he sets the tone up front: handling the basketball, getting us in the right things, (calling) plays. I continue to see him see the floor (better). The game’s slowing down for him a lot and it’s crucial for a point guard to be able to do that,” Pintar said. “Colin just works super hard. (He) doesn’t say much, he just comes in, puts the effort in. You need those glue guys who come in and are willing to do everything. He’s not worried about any stat sheet. He just wants to do whatever he can to help this team win. His brother Clay is the exact same way.”

Newcomers to the team this season include senior Garrett Beaulieu and juniors Jack Schmanski, Adam Urlaub, Jadon Duncan and Kelley Stark. Duncan and Stark have been among those who have already made an impact and players like Duncan, who missed last season, give the Wildcats extra depth on the bench.

“Jadon’s a a big addition. No matter what you have (as far as) seniors, you always need your underclassmen to step forward. Jadon missed last year and I know he’s really excited to get back out there and play,” Pintar said. “He gives us a nice dimension there and Kelley Stark plays really well off the bench too.”

More experience, more team depth and more confidence are all key ingredients the Wildcats hope they can use to contend for the Big North Conference title. Alpena went 0-10 in conference play last season, but lost seven of those games by 10 points or less.

“I would think that we’re one of the teams that can challenge for the conference,” Pintar said. “Traverse City Central is very deep, Gaylord is tough, Petoskey’s always good and Cadillac and Traverse City West are good. We have to come out ready to play.”