By Chris Parker
Golden City boys basketball is looking for a fourth consecutive season with at least 18 wins with one of the best small school scorers in the area returning to lead the way.
Josh Reeves enters his senior year coming off a junior campaign that saw him average 21.2 points per game with 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assist and 2.6 steals on his way to Class 1 All-State honors. Reeves is first and third in school history in three-point makes in a single season with 85 and 75. He should break the career record early this season.
Ty Force is the only other returning player with significant varsity minutes under his belt. He was the sixth man last year who averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
Deshawn Huffman (senior) Ethan Pettengill (junior), Robbie Stafford (sophomore), Nathan Weiser (sophomore), Spencer Parrill (freshman), and Jamison Menadue (freshman) are newcomers who will be expected to step up.
“I am impressed with our team as a whole on the improvements we have made this off-season,” said Golden City head coach Michael Reeves. “We are a young team experience wise at the varsity level, but these players have come in wanting to get better. There are always some rough days with teams that have little experience, but they have always tried to fix the problem and right the ship with the next day.”
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This group has bought in to Reeves’ philosophy with everybody accepting their role.
“The biggest strength of our team will be how our players understand what they need to do as individuals for our team to be successful. There is no one player bigger than the team and everyone has a role, and our players understand this and will look to win the battle of their role for the overall success of our team,” Reeves said. “The biggest thing we will need to improve to find success this season is just our basketball IQ. I believe that we have good athletes and some pretty good skillsets. The main thing though is our team can get sped up and become single minded when it comes to playing defense. We will look to improve throughout the whole year on our defense and decision making.”
Golden City opens the season on Nov. 22 at home against Ballard.
“Like in past years, I would like for our team’s identity and reputation to be a very tough defensive team that guards well for multiple possessions and is willing to make the extra pass on offense when needed,” Reeves said. “I believe we have built a great reputation here of these things and believe that this group has what it takes to carry that reputation on.”
