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BELLAIRE -- When it comes to the 2022-23 season, one of the best ways to describe it for the Bellaire boys basketball team is a roller coaster ride.
"We finished up last year at 14-8," Big Reds coach J.R. Battista said. "We had a very up-and-down year. We started the year 10-0 or 11-0.
It was not quite the ending you'd like to have, but that's how it goes sometimes."
The Big Reds' varsity roster will comprise of all upperclassmen with four seniors and seven juniors.
Bellaire will be returning three starters including senior Mayson Socher, who averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds last season.
"He's a good player and good athlete," Battista said. "We expect him to have a bigger year, hopefully both offensively and defensively because he has the ability to block shots at the other end."
Classmate Mac Mac Pettigrew is also a returning starter who averaged 14 points, three assists and three steals per game.
"He's going to be our point guard," Battista said. "He's really good in our press. He turns a lot of guys over and causes a lot of havoc."
The final starter from last season is senior Luca D'Aquila.
"Luca is more of a glue guy," Battista said. "He does everything we need to be successful. He had a good year last year. He's always in the right spot both offensively and defensively."
The final senior Khalil Kimbro and juniors Keegan Davis, Maurice Webb and Kole Swierkos will round out the top seven rotation.
Also on the varsity roster for Bellaire are juniors Riley Robbins, Manny Garcia, Ethan Ostrander and Koltan Henthorn.
"I think if we can pressure our oppenent and get the press going like we did last year, cause the other team headaches, cause our opponents to turn the ball over and score in the transition, we will be a successful team," Battista said.
"If you look at our size, we're not very big, so we're going to have to create some havoc."
Also on Battista's coaching staff are Nathan Regel (reserve coach) and Nathan Steel (Freshmen coach).