Partial rebuild taking place at Laville
LAKEVILLE — Laville was one of the few teams to end last season with a win. But shortly after taking the Class 2A North Judson Sectional championship, the coronavirus pandemic hit, taking away Laville’s chance to play in the regionals for the first time since 2015.
The final ledger read 19-6, the third straight year with at 19 or more wins and the sixth straight with at least 15 victories.
Four standouts graduated from last year’s squad, leaving senior returnees Leyton Czarnecki, Andrew Dill, Bobby Good and Ayden Doyle to lead the way this season. Other returning letterwinners are junior Alec Coleman, and sophomores Ross Wagoner, Garrett Wagoner, Ryan James and Collin Allen.
One newcomer to watch for is sophomore Owen Smith.
“We lost some key seniors from last year so this will be a rebuilding year for us,” said head coach Michael Edison, who is assisted by Jack Edison and Jason Breden. Codee Kimbel and Drew Dutoi are the JV coaches. “Rebounding will be a top priority of ours as we lost some post players down low that helped us in that category. Losing Connor Wieczorek, a three-year starter at point guard, will also be tough to fill for us.”
The Lancers open on the road at Bremen on Dec. 3, followed by two home games (Dec. 5 vs. Goshen, Dec. 8 vs. Argos). The first Hoosier North Athletic Conference game is Dec. 11 at Winamac.
“We will have some very solid teams in our conference this year,” Edison added. “North Judson, Knox, Triton, Pioneer, Caston and Winamac should all be very solid.”
One slight change to the schedule, not counting any other craziness due to COVID, is a 17-day break between games during Christmas break.
“This will be the first year in a while that we will have a little break over Christmas,” concluded Edison. “It will be nice to practice and work on different aspects that we need extra help in.”