Bremen seniors laying groundwork for the program
BREMEN — Bremen’s senior class is a large one, and experienced, and in a position to set a tone for years to come.
“We have eight seniors and seven of them are returning guys that have played together since fifth grade and we have one guy who moved in,” said Bremen coach Matt Miller. “There’s a bunch of guys that know each other well, can play a lot of positions that will help us out.”
Seniors Carson Miller, Trevor Devine, Tit’s Hardin, Dawson Hickman, Ty Feldman, and Marty Manges return with a move-in senior from Wawasee Gavin Hunsiker.
“They stuck together they have a love for the game and for each other its a good corp of guys,” said Miller. “I’m hoping that we can keep that ‘we over me’ mentality. We want the best for us, we want the best for each other and we’re banking on that intangible.”
A year ago the loss of Devine about half way through the season was a big turning point.
“It was almost like two seasons in one. We had a really strong start and then we got real thin real fast when we lost Trevor, I think, at game ten,” said Miller. “We can’t really go direct replacement with a guy like that. You can’t replace the things he did with his athleticism and speed.”
“We had a win against Penn, we had a win against Washington which are teams that we traditionally haven’t done well against in our conference,” said Miller. “I think our guys stepped up and they learned that we can win some games.”
In the NIC there is no mercy in the schedule. “It’s a big conference so a lot of your schedule is conference games and it’s a grind,” said Miller. “It’s tough night in night out. I feel we can be more competitive every night in our conference, but you don’t get any nights off.”
The early going has been encouraging.
“I’ve been coaching in some capacity for the past 15 years and this might be the weirdest two weeks I’ve ever had,” said Miller. “We didn’t have to install very much. These guys already know it and they are doing it at a higher level, so we decided to emphasize the competitive side and the energy side on defense and they are getting after it hard.”
“On a night in night out basis we can compete with anybody and we have to get there as a program, believing that,” said Miller. “We need to grind for 22 games that would be a successful season. We need these guys to lay a foundation for our program on how we want things done from here on.”
Bremen Lions Coach: Matt Miller, 9-14 in 2nd year at school
Nov. 24 Argos 1A 7:30 pm
Dec. 2 at Laville 2A 7:30 pm
Dec. 4 at South Central (Union Mills) 2A 7:30 pm Dec. 10 New Prairie 3A © 7:30 pm
Dec. 17 at Penn 4A © 7:30 pm
Dec. 21 Central Noble 2A 7:30 pm
Jan. 6 South Bend Washington 3A © 7:30 pm Jan. 8 Bethany Christian 1A 7:30 pm
Jan. 11 at Elkhart Christian 1A 7:30 pm
Jan. 14 Elkhart 4A © 7:30 pm
Jan. 18 N Bi-county Tournament TBA thru Jan. 22 Jan. 25 at South Bend Adams 4A © 7:30 pm Jan. 28 South Bend Clay 3A © 7:30 pm
Feb. 3 at Mishawaka Marian 3A © 7:30 pm Feb. 5 at Oregon-davis 1A 7:30 pm
Feb. 8 Jimtown 3A © 7:30 pm
Feb. 11 South Bend Riley 4A © 7:30 pm
Feb. 15 at South Bend St. Joseph 3A © 7:30 pm Feb. 18 at John Glenn 3A © 7:30 pm
Feb. 22 Triton 1A 7:30 pm
Feb. 25 at Culver 1A 7:30 pm
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