By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
On the heels of another winning season (11-10), the Abilene boy’s basketball team will look to return to the height of their program when the 2023-24 season gets underway this week.
Erik Graefe returns to the helm for a fourth season as head coach of the Cowboys, with an impressive 39-21 record to boot.
Four key returners, including two of last year’s starters, will slot into a lineup that should look something like this come tip-off.
G- Brax Fisher (Sr)
F- Stocton Timbrook (Sr)
F- Keaton Hargrave (Sr)
C- Tyler Holloway (Jr)
The remaining starting spot and rotational minutes will be entrusted to the capable hands of senior Zach Miller, juniors Weston Rock and Ian Crump, and sophomore Taygen Funston.
Ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, we had a chance to catch up with Coach Graefe and get his thoughts on this year’s squad.
Q: When you had a chance to look back on it, what were your overall thoughts on last season?
A: We underachieved, I enjoyed it, and wouldn’t trade it for the world, but we did not reach our potential and we all need to be better this year.
Q: Entering this year, what would you say are the biggest known strengths of your team?
A: We have several players with a lot of experience playing at the varsity level and there are aspects of last year’s season that we know exactly how to improve upon.
Q: What are the biggest looming questions or challenges that you’ll look to sort out in these first few weeks?
A: We graduated two good guards, and we will have to find some scoring and ball handling this year.
Q: What are the biggest goals and expectations for this group heading into the new season?
A: We just want to be an excellent team, that means being good teammates, sharing the ball, and defending. If we do all of those things the wins will take care of themselves.
The Cowboys open their season in Abilene with a home game against Smoky Valley this Friday.