Entering his 26th year as head coach of the Oak Hills’ boys basketball team, Mike Price has seen plenty of turnover. Going into the 2017-18 season, Price knows that his Highlanders have big shoes to fill.
Last season, Oak Hills captured its first GMC title since 2008 with a 22-win campaign. But this year’s squad will look a lot different than the one from a year ago that fell in overtime to Springfield in the Division I district final at UD Arena.
Oak Hills graduated five seniors that played a key role in guiding the Highlanders to a 15-1 conference record last season. Ryan Batte and Luke Rudy combined for 26.9 points per game last season, while Cam Naber, Issac Holmes and Brandon Wieck contributed major minutes off the bench.
“We’re gonna miss them a lot and I really enjoyed coaching them,” Price said. “But I think they left behind something special in terms of leadership.”
Leadership is important aspect to any championship unit, and Price feels that his new batch of ballers can collectively fill the shoes left by last season’s departures. Oak Hills’ youth movement, in addition to the upperclassmen, have the tools necessary to build another special season.
“I love this group. It’s a whole different group in terms of experience, excitement and energy level,” Price said. “We have some really good senior leadership. Not everyone can have that C on their chest, but they can all lead. There’s a pretty good culture going on right now with guys wanting to be good, wanting to work hard and wanting to do it for each other.”
One of those senior leaders is Nick Deifel. Last season as a junior, Deifel played 25 minutes per game and averaged 8.7 points per contest while shooting 42 percent from the field.
“This group of seniors is very hard-working,” Deifel said. “We’ve been putting in work the last four years and I think a lot of us have improved and were looking forward to a great year.”
Deifel led the Highlanders in assists last year with 62. But with the team’s top two scorers now playing in college, the 6-foot-3 guard knows he may have to adjust his game this season.
With all the threats we had last year, I was looking more to pass first than to score first,” Deifel said. “I’m gonna look to score more this year, but we have a lot of good shooters so I’m still gonna be passing the ball around, too.”
A strong defense was the nucleus of last season’s Oak Hills team that climbed to the top of the GMC standings. The Highlanders allowed a conference-best 40 points per game, and did not allow any opponent to score over 50 points over their eight-game mid-season winning streak.
“I think in any sport, if you look at the champions, they are all very sound defensively,” Price said. “We’ve really concentrated at being good on defense. Night in and night out you have to be good and the easiest place to be good is on defense. That requires effort, an identity, an attitude, and it doesn’t require making shots or being on that night. It just requires those others things that are controlled by us.”
While the Highlanders made a habit of winning close, low-scoring affairs last season, senior Jacob Woycke believes this year’s club has the ability to light up the scoreboard.
“The thing I like about this team is that we’re faster and more athletic than last year,” Woycke said. “Last year we were kind of big and could bully teams, but this year we can speed it up more with our perimeter shooters.”
Oak Hills will look for contributions from its junior class that includes guard Deandre Hayes and forward Jacob Berkemeier. Both feel prepared to step in as the Highlanders look to repeat as conference champs.
“What the seniors did for me last year as a sophomore was getting me acclimated for what varsity basketball was like and getting me to understand their work ethic,” Berkemeier said. “We don’t have as many big names this year but these guys have been in the program for four years. They know how to buy in and they’re helping all of us underclassmen buy in. It’s gonna be a different look for us this year but I think we’re gonna be just as successful.”
“We’re definitely a lot faster (this year),” said junior guard Deandre Hayes. “We get in transition a little more and play faster than we did last season. Nick (Deifel) brings tremendous energy and I can’t wait for my role.”
Winning back to back GMC titles is easier said than done, though. There have been seven different GMC champions since Oak Hills and Princeton split the crown in 2008.
Price, who had his Highlanders ranked no. 3 in the Enquirer’s Division I coaches poll last season, expects another season-long battle for the top spot in the conference.
“I think (the GMC) is very balanced this year. Maybe more balanced this year than the last 3-4 years where you can have a lot of teams step up,” Price said. “I think Princeton is probably the favorite on paper because of their players and Darius Bazley, too. I think (Lakota) East is very good, Mason returns some players and Hamilton has improved. I just think it’s very balanced and gonna be very competitive.”
Oak Hills begins its quest to repeat on Dec. 2 when it hosts Western Hills. The Highlanders have won three straight against the Mustangs.
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