Courtesy Photo/CM Photography The 2019 Alpena High School boys basketball team includes from right to left, back row: assistant coach Bill Bright, Jadon Duncan, Jack Schmanski, Kelley Stark, Adam Urlaub and head coach John Pintar; front: Ryan Voltz, Luke Tucker, Cooper Bright, Patrick McCourt and Jordan Schultz.

The Alpena High boys basketball team enjoyed its first winning season in four years after finishing with a 16-5 record a year ago and coming within a game of claiming a share of the Big North Conference title. 

Now the Wildcats will look to keep their program trending in the right direction and maintaining a strong level of play, while continuing to contend for a league championship.

Alpena will be challenged this year after the Wildcats graduated a strong senior class, most notably losing the program’s all time leading scorer in Chris DeRocher.

Despite all of Alpena’s departures, the Wildcats will be led by a new group of talented and capable seniors.

Five seniors lead the Wildcats as they welcome back Jadon Duncan, Jack Schmanski, Kelley Stark, Jordan Schultz and Adam Urlaub.

For head coach John Pintar, the expectations will still be high for a team searching for its first BNC title and postseason win since 2015. 

Alpena’s district title drought is now over a decade long, but Pintar believes his team can compete with anyone.

“We did lose a lot from last year, but the expectations are still high for us,” Pintar said. “I like the makeup of this team and the goal is for continued improvement and compete in every one of our games. I don’t feel like there is anyone on our schedule this year that we cannot beat.”

The rest of Alpena’s nine man roster is made up of juniors Luke Tucker and Patrick McCourt and sophomores Ryan Voltz and Cooper Bright. 

Duncan is the lone returning starter and the other four seniors will see an uptick in minutes and increased roles.

Stark is a gifted athlete who has the ability to attack the basket and shoot from anywhere on the court. Schmanski, Schultz and Urlaub will each play key roles and be counted on to fill the stat sheet on what should be a balanced Alpena team.

Alpena is hoping one of its juniors and sophomores emerge as a capable option and provide the Wildcats with depth outside their starting lineup.

“Obviously are goal is to always compete and try and win a conference title. Despite losing a lot, our goals remain the same,” Pintar said. “Obviously it’s going to be a challenge for us because our conference is full of talent and competitive every year, but the expectation is to compete with every team we play and there’s no reason why can’t do that this year with what we have.”

The Wildcats opened the season with 50-39 victory over Cheboygan on Tuesday and started the 2019-20 campaign on a winning note.