Fresh faces, same lofty goals for PCM boys basketball

MONROE — It doesn’t matter to coach Fred Lorensen who is on the court for the Prairie City-Monroe boys’ basketball team.

Lorensen expects to win. He expects to compete for a Heart of Iowa Conference title.

For the past seven seasons, his Mustangs have done just that.

Winning at least a share of the HOIC in six of the past seven seasons, there’s no reason to believe this year’s PCM team can’t continue that trend despite another big offseason of roster turnover.

Senior Logan Gilman returns for his final season and junior Luke Greiner also is back after starting as a sophomore, but no one else on this year’s roster played significant minutes during the Mustangs’ run to a share of the HOIC title last year.

“That’s our goal every year. We always want to compete for a conference championship,” Lorensen said of his yearly expectations. “Our conference is really good. I don’t know if we can do that again.”

Having Gilman back on the roster certainly helps. The senior forward committed to Grand View University back in early October, and he will need to be as good or better as he was the past seasons. He averaged nearly 20 points as a sophomore and tallied 17 points and seven rebounds a game as a junior.

“He’s a unique player with strong games both inside and outside,” Lorensen said. “He can beat you in multiple ways. We need a really big year from him.”

Greiner was the fourth leading scorer last year for the Mustangs, averaging 7.6 points per game. He also grabbed 4.8 boards per contest and was third on the team in assists with 48.

Greiner was an honorable mention all-conference selection a year ago. This season, Lorensen expects his versatile forward to take another step forward.

“We think he can take that next step to be our second option. He is quick and strong. He’s a physical player,” Lorensen said. “He did a good job last year, and we want and need him to be even better this year.”

Outside of that, Lorensen will once again welcome in a new crop of varsity players. Gilman was the only returner on last year’s squad that went 16-2 in conference play.

Greiner joins Gilman this year, but it’s too early to tell if the new faces have what it takes to keep the Mustangs at the top of the HOIC.

Making up the Mustangs’ backcourt this year will be senior Austin Brown and juniors Mark Bruxvoort and Sheldon Speers. Manning the block and presenting a presence inside the lane will be the junior tandem of James Snodgrass and Ethan Thomas. Junior Noah Clark will have a prominent role, too. He’s a “tweener” who likely will have to be used on the block.

“We have a lot of really athletic kids. If we get the right five out there at the same time, we can really get up and down the floor,” Lorensen said. “We also have a couple guys with good size so we can go that route, too, if we want to.”

Sophomores Elijah Sperfslage and Jackson Thomas are two underclassmen who could have an impact this year, too.

The Mustangs should be in the mix for another conference title, but Lorensen points out that the league is talented from top to bottom.

South Hamilton features the league’s best players in junior Collin Hill, who is getting Division I interest from a number of mid-major schools, including Drake, Northern Iowa, South Dakota and the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Hill returns to the Hawks lineup this season after missing all of last year with an injury.

Greene County (Trey Tucker), Nevada (Cole Gidel) and North Polk (Brett Haun) all bring back first-team all-conference players, too.

“You hate to leave anyone out because they all can beat you,” Lorensen said of the conference outlook. “We’ll have to play well every night.”