Basketball has returned to North Harford, well, not quite, but almost! The season is closely approaching and the fans can expect a much different team this year around with players such as captains Austin Smith, Dylan Jablon, and Luke Kelly all graduating over the extended break. Players such as Nick Ciampaglio and Gavin Barker also played a vital role in last season’s team however they will not be back on the team for the 2021-22 season for a variety of reasons.

     The Hawks bolstered a record of 7-14 in the 2019-20 season, as well as a 3-7 league record which put them at 4th in the region. With a brand new roster and a new coaching staff taking over, the team will look to the fresh faces of the program to take charge and lead the Hawks to a better season come November 15, when practices for winter sports officially start.

     Senior Aaron Huth stated “ I have high expectations set for myself” as well as claiming “[I’m] hoping to become a team captain and contribute wins in any way I can for my team.”

     The Forward spoke on the new coaches by claiming “the coaches this year are the same as the [junior varsity] seasons, so I’m familiar with the faces.”  The head coach for the Varsity team will be coach Nick Panos.

     Huth spoke on his expectations for himself stating “I’m hoping to dunk on some people this year, I think the crowd will appreciate it. We’ve been on the receiving end of posters [Dunks] for way too long” as well as claiming “I’ve made preparations by lifting weights and conditioning myself with running.”

    Junior Connor Ballard played a pivotal role in the Junior Varsity team of 2019 however the team will be short of Ballard as he faces an ACL injury sustained during the 2021 Varsity football season. The Point Guard spoke on the coaches claiming “I think the coaches will do an exceptional job!”

     Senior Garrett Reinecke letters in football and baseball as well as basketball and he claims “I’m excited for the season, I think we have a good chance to do great things with this roster, we all have put in hard work over the offseason” when asked about his expectations for the season.

     Reinecke also commented on his teammates stating “This group has a lot of skill and years of work under their belt, this is the last chance for our seniors to prove themselves on the court and I think that they’re up for the challenge.” “We have some dogs at the 1 and 2 so there will be a lot of competition there, our bigs excite me too, I think we have a lot of potential all around the board.”