New head coach Gerald Mumbower takes over a Steeleville Warriors team that went 11-22 last year, but showed some promise late in the season.
Once again Steeleville will be young with just one senior on the roster, Josh Diercks (5’7). Mumbower does have a team with a strong junior class which includes two returning starters in Andrew Pokrzywinski (5’10) and Colin Smith (6’1).
“Both Andrew and Colin have plenty of varsity experience,” said Mumbower. “They have been playing varsity ball since their freshmen year, and we expect big things from them. Colin has gotten stronger and has really improved his shooting.”
Along with the two returning starters, Mumbower plans on starting Diercks at guard along with juniors Nick Potter (5’10) and Coire Reel (6’4).
“Diercks has good speed and a good outside jumper,” said Mumbower. “Potter saw limited time on varsity last year, but came on strong late in the season. Coire played only junior varsity last season, but he gives us some size inside. I am excited to continue this program where coach Zumbahlen has taken it the past two years. I know this team will play hard, and they have good team unity. This group knows each other very well, and they had a good summer. They are learning a different style of basketball defense where we like to put more pressure on the ball.”
Other players that will see some time on varsity include juniors Torrey Gerberding (6’2), Joey Wittenbrink (5’10), and Jeremy Wilson (5’11) along with sophomore guard Jacob Combs (5’9).
“We are not a real deep team, but we have playmakers off the bench that can come in and give us quality minutes,” added Mumbower. “Steeleville has great fans and great community support, hopefully this team can serve the community well by showing good sportsmanship on and off the court.”
The Cahokia Conference Kaskaskia Division should be much improved this season, and Steeleville wants to be right in the mix this season.
“The consensus of coaches is that Lebanon is the best team in the league with New Athens and Marissa right on their heels,” said Mumbower. “Valmeyer and Dupo should also be better this season. The conference will be a challenge, and hopefully we can battle ourselves toward the top of the division. Our main goal is to play hard and get better each game. I want to be playing out best basketball by the end of the season. We play a pretty tough schedule with a lot of 2A teams. We have to take care of the basketball and involve everyone. We want to have balanced scoring, play hard defense and limit turnovers.”
Mumbower served as a volunteer assistant for Steeleville the past two seasons under former coach Carl Zumbahlen. From 2005 to 2007 Mumbower was an assistant coach at Southeastern Illinois College and from 2002 to 2005 he served as the head women’s coach at Rend Lake College.
Zumbahlen resigned from his position as head coach at Steeleville last April.
The Warriors opened up the season Tuesday against Sparta and will face Egyptian Monday, November 30 in the Trico Pioneer Invitational Tournament.