With four sets of brothers, including a pair of twin brothers, among the 11 players on his varsity squad, it's not too surprising when coach Justin Dreyer addresses the strengths of this year's team.

"Our team chemistry," Dreyer said. "A lot of these guys have played a lot of basketball together throughout the years. Just knowing where each other are going to be on the floor."

Unfortunately for Dreyer, the brother tandems do not include twin towers, as height will be somewhat of a concern for the Pirates after graduating two starters, including 6-foot-4 Eli Tripp.

Senior twins Nathan Noland and Ryan Noland present some size, with the former standing an inch taller than his sibling at 6-3 but currently unavailable with a broken foot.

"We lost some size, and yeah, we're going to be pretty small," Dreyer said.

Garrett Johnson, one of three returning starters, and Wyatt Johnson, who make up the other set of twins, are senior guards with good mid-range shooting ability and part of what Dreyer views as a strength of this year's team.

"This is my fourth year as a head coach, and this will be by far the best-shooting team we've had," Dreyer said. "We should be able to spread the floor out a little bit."

Dreyer likes the mix of shooters, with returning starting guards Conner Stark and McGwire Bartley, and 6-1 Josh Robinson comprising a group of players that are accurate behind the 3-point arc.

"I've got some kids that can really shoot it from the 3," Dreyer said. "The Johnson brothers are really deadly from mid-range, and you don't really see that too much any more. They focused on that when they were younger, so they can get that shot down pretty consistently."

The Pirates' height tops out with 6-5 senior forward Jacob Robinson, the older brother of Josh Robinson.

Wyatt Johnson, Ryan Noland and Jacob Robinson all return from last year's team, but were not starters.

"Wyatt Johnson had kind of a limited role last year," Dreyer said. "He could kind of sit back and didn't have to score too much, and this year I think he'll be able to pick that up, and Ryan Noland as well, and Jacob Robinson."

Senior forward Austin Mueller and junior guard Aaron Mueller, who top out at 6-foot, round out the quartet of siblings.

"I think our offense will be a lot better than last year," said Dryer, who noted that his team has good ball-handling ability. "Our emphasis has been on defense and team rebounding. Those are two areas we've really been harping on every day in practice because we feel offensively we'll be fine."

Players to watch

The 6-2 Stark led the Pirates in scoring at just under 13 points a game, and in steals and assists last season. He displayed his athletic ability this fall when he tried out football for the first time -- he had played soccer previously -- and became the Pirates' leading receiver.

The Pirates may try to get even more points out of Stark this season, sometimes shifting him to shooting guard with Josh Robinson taking on some of the point-guard duties.

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Class 4 District 1

Conference

Jefferson County Activities Association -- Large Schools Division

Head coach

Justin Dreyer

(4th year)

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ROSTER

No. Player Year Ht.

1 Jacob Robinson 12 6-5

3 Aaron Mueller 11 5-10

5 McGwire Bartley 12 6-0

10 Conner Stark 12 6-3

11 Josh Robinson 11 6-1

12 Garrett Johnson 12 6-0

14 Nathan Noland 12 6-3

23 Kendall Barber 11 6-2

24 Wyatt Johnson 12 5-11

25 Ryan Noland 12 6-2

STARTERS GONE

Luke Schlichting

Eli Tripp

STARTERS BACK

Conner Stark

McGwire Bartley

Garrett Johnson

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SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

11/30 Woodland Invitational

12/8 @Valle Catholic 7:30 p.m.

12/11 @Fredericktown 7:30 p.m.

12/18 Saxony Lutheran 8 p.m.

12/19 vs. Festus TBA

12/26 Park Hills Christmas Tourn.

1/5 @Dexter 7:30 p.m.

1/8 De Soto 8 p.m.

1/11 Chester Tourn.

1/26 Cape Central 8 p.m.

1/29 Scott City 7:30 p.m.

1/30 @St. Vincent 5 p.m.

2/2 @St. Pius X 7:30 p.m.

2/5 @Festus 8 p.m.

2/12 Windsor 7 p.m.

2/16 @Hillsboro 8 p.m.

2/19 Park Hills Central 8 p.m.

2/23 Farmington 7:30 p.m.

2/26 Ste. Genevieve 7:30 p.m.

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LAST SEASON

LEADERS

Points: Eli Tripp (12.4 ppg)

Rebounds: Tripp (6.3 rpg)

Assists: Conner Stark (3.2 apg)

RECORD

16-10