As the weather cools down and days get shorter, winter sports are beginning. This obviously includes basketball. The Lakeview boys basketball team is looking forward to their upcoming season. With a roster that includes 7 seniors, the Bulldogs return 3 starters from last year in Seniors Nate Fox, Jake Wilms, and Aidan Popovich. They will also look toward Seniors Colton Maiorca, Blaine Barr, Michael Horn, and Gavin Mauger for key contributions. Juniors Tyler Capan and Andrew McRoberts are expected to play a key role as well, along with 1st year head coach Mark Novotny looking to succeed in his first year leading the program. Coach Novotny is assisted by social studies teacher Scott Chronister and math teacher Matt Baker. 

With the amount of experience the Bulldogs return, they are expecting to be more successful than previous years. I asked Captain Jake Wilms about his expectations and feelings about the roster for this year and he said “I feel we can develop a chemistry that we have been lacking recently. This group of guys hasn’t played fully together since 8th grade and we were pretty successful then. I can see this season being pretty similar.”

Playing as a group of friends and having a big number from one class can definitely help the Bulldogs succeed. 

This year, the Bulldogs can play a normal schedule rather than the conference-only schedule they were forced to play a year ago. I asked Colton Maiorca about his feelings toward the full schedule return and he said “This will be my first full basketball season at Lakeview and I’m excited. Last year was kind of disappointing that we didn’t play enough. So for it to be normal again is awesome.” Maiorca’s first year at Lakeview was last year and he was stripped of having a full season. 

The NE8 is a conference that the Bulldogs have been a part of for 4 years now. Each year it gets more and more competitive. However, with the team’s experience and maturity, they are expecting to compete within the conference.

Senior Blaine Barr expresses his feelings and predictions for how the Bulldogs match up with the conference. Barr says, “The conference is and always has been competitive. I think we can be at the top of this league. We all just have to play together and use our experience to our advantage.”

The Bulldogs looked to battle Jefferson in their first conference game and then take it from there; however, this game will need to be rescheduled.

The Bulldogs have received a lot of student support throughout their first couple games. Senior Michael Horn says, “I really like the amount of support we’ve gotten from our student body. I’m glad we’re bringing the student section to more events than just football. It gives us a little bit more enthusiasm during the games.”

There has and will be themes and a student section at the majority of the boys’ games this season. 

With the age and experience of the team, they expect to be very competitive with all of their opponents. The Bulldogs were supposed to start conference play on Friday, December 10th but instead they have to wait until Tuesday, December 14th at home vs. Girard.

Come support the Dogs!