Dec. 9—BIRD ISLAND — After advancing to the Class A state tournament for the first time in school history, things are going to look much different for the BOLD boys basketball team.
It has lost 79% of its scoring between six graduates, led by stars Jack Gross and Will Penkert, after going 20-12 overall and 6-7 in the West Central Conference in 2024-25.
Gross, the school's all-time scoring leader with 2,032 points, was an All-Area First Team selection. Penkert, who finished with 1,286 points, was an All-Area Third Team pick.
BOLD will look like an entirely different team.
It also has a new head coach in Alex Smothers. His assistant coach is Michael Landquist.
"The overall expectations for this team are going to be different from last year's team when you consider the amount of success of last year's team, the turnover we have, the little varsity experience for most of our players this season and the tougher regular season schedule we play," Smothers said. "However, I fully believe this group has the potential to be a very competitive team come playoffs with the ability to surprise people's initial expectations."
Owen Baumgartner and Tyler Ruschen are the only two returners who logged significant minutes last season for the Warriors.
BOLD will have seven seniors and a couple juniors on its roster to start, Smothers said.
Baumgartner is the sole returning starter. The 6-foot-4 post averaged 8.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in his junior year.
Ruschen, a senior guard who primarily came off the bench, tallied 5.0 points per game.
Tyce Weigel, a junior who had limited varsity minutes, is expected to take on a larger role, as is Brody Kaufenberg, a senior who played junior varsity a season ago.
"Overall, I am very excited to start the season and see how this team progresses throughout the course of the year," Smothers said, "being essentially a brand new varsity team."