Chaffee boys basketball team looking for big contributions from newcomers

Is there a silver lining to an 0-20 cloud?

The Chaffee boys basketball team is about to find out.

The Red Devils are eager to turn the page on last year's disappointment, offering an intriguing mix of veteran experience and youthful exhuberance in an effort to return to the upper echelon of area Class 2 competition.

Head coach Josh Govreau is excited about the opportunity.

"We have some experience coming back, but we've also got a lot of young talent," he said.

He's right. The Red Devils welcome back nine seniors and juniors from a year ago, but will also find playing minutes for a talented group of underclassmen that features a potential freshman starter and five sophomores who figure to see significant time on the court.

"We're going to be really young," Govreau said. "We have 13, 14 guys that are all capable of playing. We just have to find the right combination."

The Red Devils return all but one senior from a year ago, so experience will be an asset. So, too, will the talent coming up from a solid group of sophomores, five of whom Govreau sees as contributing significant playing time at the varsity level.

One in particular is guard Alec Bogenpohl, who started as a freshman a year ago. Govreau likes his tenacity and his outside scoring ability.

The head coach is excited to see what freshman Landon Tenkhoff can add to the mix. Tenkhoff is a forward who has the potential to be a scoring threat inside.

The real wild card, though, is senior forward Jordan Wilburn, who missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL the day before the Red Devils' first game. Chaffee hopes to have Wilburn back on the court in early December.

"He'll help to be a big scorer for us, and he'll start when he gets healthy," Govreau said.

Govreau's main task will be melding the youthful talent with an experienced roster.

"The key will be understanding our roles," he said. "We have some older kids that need to understand their roles. We have some younger players that will come in and be scorers for us. Our older kids need to know that they can come in for two or three minutes, and know that they have to screen, they need to rebound, they need to run the system. They need to know what it takes to play at the varsity level."

As do the underclassmen champing at the bit for playing time.

"The biggest problem we'll face early on is the speed of the game from the junior varsity to the varsity level," Govreau said.

Players to watch

Wilburn and Tenkhoff figure to provide a scoring punch the Red Devils sorely missed a season ago.

"(Wilburn) will be a huge addition for us," Govreau noted. "Last year, we couldn't score. We averaged 24, 25 points a game, and you're not going to win a lot of games like that."

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Class 2 District 1

Conference

Scott-Mississippi & Mississippi Valley

Head coach

Josh Govreau

(8th year)

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ROSTER

No. Player Year Ht.

00 Auggie Knutson 11 6-0

1 Brandon Ivester 12 5-8

2 Ryan Jobe 12 6-0

3 Damion Applewhite 10 5-9

11 Gabe Henson 10 5-7

13 Tanner Chaney 12 5-8

20 Ryan Holderfield 11 5-10

21 Jordan Wilburn 12 6-0

23 Landon Tenkhoff 9 6-1

24 Brayden Glueck 11 5-9

31 Alec Bogenpohl 10 5-10

32 Austin Copeland 10 5-9

33 Uzziah Beggs 11 5-9

45 Devohn Foulk 10 6-0

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SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

11/24 @Meadow Heights 7:30 p.m.

11/30 Oran Invitational Tourn.

12/8 East Prairie 7:30 p.m.

12/11 Woodland 7:30 p.m.

12/15 Saxony Lutheran TBA

12/18 @Marquand-Zion 7:30 p.m.

12/26 SEMissourian Xmas Tourn.

1/5 Bloomfield 7:30 p.m.

1/8 Scott City 7:30 p.m.

1/12 @Advance 7:30 p.m.

1/15 @Kelly 7:30 p.m.

1/26 Leopold 7:30 p.m.

1/29 @Scott Co. Central 7:30 p.m.

2/2 @Oran 7:30 p.m.

2/5 Oak Ridge 7:30 p.m.

2/9 @Zalma 7:30 p.m.

2/16 @Delta 7:30 p.m.

2/17 Greenville 7:30 p.m.

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LAST SEASON

RECORD

0-20