By Steve Fields
BRAZIL — Northview will open the boys high school basketball season with four times as much experience as it had last year. But it still might take the Knights a while to get going.
Coach Ernie Maesch begins his second season at Northview with three returning starters from last year’s 9-14 team. The Knights lost Austin Akers’ 21 points a game and Clint Reynolds’ perimeter shooting to graduation.
Northview returns 6-foot-1 junior guard Trent Lancaster and post players Jonathan Bradshaw (6-4 senior) and Jacob Musgrave (6-5 junior). Caleb Mershon, a 6-1 junior, played a lot of minutes as one of the first players off the bench.
“This year we have a lot more experience than last year, but also we’re still very young. Most of those [returning players] are juniors, except one guy [Bradshaw], and then we have two or three sophomores we’re going to throw into the mix,” Maesch said.
At the same time, Maesch is predicting a slow start for the Knights. As one of the smaller Class 4A schools, most of Northview’s basketball players are coming off three months of football.
“It’s always going to take until Christmas before our football players are ready to go,” Maesch said.
Lancaster, who averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 assists per game, started last year at point guard, but moved to the other guard spot when the Knights put the ball in Akers’ hands. He won’t be returning to the point, at least not full time.
“We’ll handle the basketball by committee. We have guys who can handle [the ball] and play the two [guard]. It could be different every time down the floor. It’s something we’re going to have to deal with.”
In fact, Lancaster may play a lot of small forward.
“I’m not wanting [Lancaster] to have the ball the whole time. There are going to be times where he’s going to be out there [handling] the ball. Especially when we play good teams, he’s going to have to handle the basketball for us at times. But we’ve got a couple of other guys that showed me this summer they can handle it and still execute,” Maesch said.
Bradshaw, who averaged 7.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and Musgrave, who averaged 6.7 points and 5.6 rebounds, give Northview a pair of interchangeable post players. The burly pair can post the center or power forward positions.
Bradshaw scored a career-high 27 points against Bloomington North last year.
“I think [Bradshaw is] a much better shooter. J.B. is the smartest basketball player I’ve ever coached, bar none. He could play any position on the floor, if he had to,” Maesch said.
Musgrave scored a career-high 24 points against Greencastle. He pulled down an impressive 11 rebounds in two quarters of action in the Jamboree.
“We have to get him to do something [with the rebounds] on offense,” Maesch said.
Mershon fills the bill as a spot-up shooter. “He’s a great shooter,” Maesch said.
And shooting could be Northview’s strength this season. The Knights scored a lot of points and have been shooting three mornings a week. How that all translates to the games remains to be seen. One thing is sure, with Bradshaw and Musgrave rebounding inside, the Knights will shoot the 3-pointer.
“I’ve worked harder with this team than any team I’ve been involved with. The No. 1 thing I want to be able to display every night is people can tell our fundamentals have improved and our shooting has improved. How we’re going to stop people and how we’re going to rebound, that’s still going to tell the tale for our season, but I want people to notice we have put a lot of time in,” Maesch said.
Northview will be looking for that fifth starter. Guards Dillon Reynolds and Damon Hyatt or frontcourt players Bryant Pestoff, Chance Talbot, Jordan Allen and Jordan VanHorn will be competing for playing time.
“I think we’ve got about seven guys that could start at different times. That’s what we need; last year no one was pushing anybody and they knew it. If Hunter [Robertson, out with knee injury] had been out here now we would have eight guys who could start at any time,” Maesch said.
Defense is the biggest question mark about the Knights. Because they open with Terre Haute North and that opener doesn’t come until Dec. 4, the Knights waited until after the jamboree to start working on defense. “This summer we scored enough points to win about 95 percent of our summer games, but we couldn’t stop anybody,” Maesch said.
After the Dec. 4 opener at Terre Haute North, the Knights begin Western Indiana Conference the next night at home vs. Brown County.
Northview roster
Player Ht. Yr.
Jordan Allen 5-11 Sr.
Jonathan Bradshaw 6-4 Sr.
Shiloh Holifield 5-11 Jr.
Trent Lancaster 6-1 Jr.
Caleb Mershon 6-1 Jr.
Jacob Musgrave 6-5 Jr.
Justin Rodgers 6-0 Jr.
Dalton Rohr 5-10 Jr.
Jordan VanHorn 6-5 Jr.
Connor Bowman 5-10 So.
Cam Guy 6-0 So.
Zach Hull 6-3 So.
Damon Hyatt 5-10 So.
Jacob Ninesling 6-4 So.
Bryant Pestoff 6-4 So.
Dillon Reynolds 5-9 So.
Chance Talbot 6-2 So.
Cole Watts 5-10 So.
Brock Wheeler 6-2 So.
Dallas King 6-0 Fr.
Northview schedule
Dec. 4 — At Terre Haute North, 6 p.m.
Dec. 5 — Brown County (WIC), 8 p.m.
Dec. 11 — At West Vigo (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 18 — At Edgewood (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 19 — Avon, 6 p.m.
Dec. 26 — Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North, TBA
Dec. 28-30 — Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North, TBA
Jan. 8 — Owen Valley (WIC), 8 p.m.
Jan. 15 — At Terre Haute South, 6 p.m.
Jan. 16 — At Mooresville, 6 p.m.
Jan. 19 — At Bloomington North, 6 p.m.
Jan. 22 — South Vermillion (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 29 — At Sullivan (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 — Plainfield, 6 p.m.
Feb. 11 — At South Putnam, 6 p.m.
Feb. 13 — Monrovia, 1 p.m.
Feb. 16 — Greencastle, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 19 — At Clay City, 6 p.m.
Feb. 20 — Vincennes Lincoln, 6 p.m.
Feb. 24 — Danville, 6 p.m.
WIC — denotes Western Indiana Conference game
