LEBANON CEDARS
COACH: Tim Speraw (3rd season).
ASSISTANT COACHES: Dave Bentz, Chris Blouch, Bill Rakow, Carlos Sanchez.
LAST SEASON: 6-10 Section 2, 11-11 overall.
KEY PLAYERS LOST TO GRADUATION: Ben Leibig (10.2 points per game, 47 3-pointers), Josh Lopez (16.4, 34 3-pointers), Steven Padillas (2.5), Alex Trautman (2.8, 3 3-pointers), Brandon Whitman (12.4).
KEY PLAYERS RETURNING: G Drey Murray (Sr., 9.9, 30 3-pointers), F Josh Spaulding (Sr., 3.5).
STRENGTHS: Size and athleticism.
WEAKNESSES: Lack of varsity experience and a floor general.
QUOTABLE: Tim Speraw - “I’m looking forward to our section race. Every team lost valuable seniors - including our five senior starters - but that simply means that other players will have to step up for everybody. The section crown will still go through Elizabethtown, but we plan on being right there at the top at the end of the season.”
NOTABLE: Wow. Graduation gutted the Cedars’ rotation, with all five starters moving on from last season’s .500 team, which couldn’t quite recover from a mid-season 4-game losing skid last winter. Lebanon did beat section champ E-town to finish out the regular season, but it was too little, too late for a postseason bid, despite posting a prerequisite .500 record to make Districts. … Two key subs from last season return: Josh Spaulding in the frontcourt and sharpshooter Drey Murray, who will be handful to defend from the perimeter. After those two guys, everyone else is new; Speraw said during the preseason that he was still trying to configure a starting five and a rotation. … Former Lebanon girls’ coach Carlos Sanchez has joined Speraw’s staff as an assistant coach.
REINHART SAYS: Two pieces to the puzzle here, but a lot of pieces to fill in. Sniffing some growing pains in Cedar Country. But Lebanon is rarely down for long. Be patient, Cedars’ fans.
JEFF REINHART: jreinhart@pnco.com
ON TWITTER: @JeffReinhartPN