As fall sports wrap up, the Westminster boys basketball team rallies up to kick off their 2024-2025 season. The Cats are looking to have another winning season, going 17-11 last year. We asked senior J.D. Robertson how he feels about the upcoming season, “We are excited to get back on the court. We are gonna have to play as one group with all the young players we have.” J.D. says he feels confident in his team’s ability to handle adversity and ability to work together will boost the team’s overall morality.The team has lost key players, Colby Alpert, Asher Amanuel and Devin Coulter and so we are looking for players to fill in their shoes. Having young players on the bench learning from the upperclassmen leads teams to successful seasons. Leadership will be a key factor for the cats success this season.
This year the Cats team will have to lean on the leadership of senior Evan Montandon. Evan has a big role to fill as the team’s leader and will have to keep the teams on one page. We asked Evan how he feels being one of the team’s leaders, “It feels incredible that this team looks to me for leadership and I can’t wait to lead this team to another successful year.” Being a leader for Westminster is a role that does not go unnoticed and Evan fills this role perfectly. He is going to teach the young players on the team what it means to be one unit on the court and what it takes to win.
Westminster, having a young roster with just three seniors is going to have to lean on young players stepping up and doing the job. Last year, the team had a young starter who filled that role. We asked sophomore Will Powers how he felt being one of the youngest players playing under Coach Ribble, “I’m extremely grateful to be able to play under such a great coach.” Will had an impressive freshman season averaging 10.7 points and 42.1 3 point percentage and looks to continue being a star player for the cats.
While the team’s offense is looking to repeat another good year scoring, our defense is looking to improve as well. We asked junior Tobi Akinyede what problems they need to fix to keep the other team scoring, “We need to crowd the ball and make them feel the pressure. We are counting on our student section this year to bring the pressure.” Tobi led our team in rebounds and was tied for first in blocks. He looks to repeat another successful season and improve the team’s overall success.
Westminster has been fortunate enough to have one of the best coaches in the area and he has led the basketball team to numerous winning seasons. This past fall, Ribble was introduced into the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame and he gave us insight of how the team will be this year, what he has changed and what he has kept the same, “Almost nothing will change this year besides our personal. The boys are going to have to play faster to get open and shoot.” Ribble has high expectations for this team and is looking for the boys to give 100% effort through the whole game.
The Wildcats start off their new basketball season against Lutheran St.Charles at Westminster at 7.00 pm on November 11. The boys are looking for a big season opener with a win and continue the legacy of wildcat basketball.
