Trending
WOODSFIELD -- As far as inherited situations go, first-year head coach Mason Lang has a pretty good one.
The Monroe Central Seminoles went 15-9 last year, and while they graduate three seniors, they bring back their leading scorer and rebounder, and carry starting experience into 2023-24.
"This year we just intend to get better and improve upon last season," Lang said.
For Lang, who takes over the Seminoles as his first high school varsity head coaching job, his roster starts with the 6-foot-1 Tucker Howell, who averaged a double-double last year and will have a chance to eclipse 1,000 points in his junior season.
From there, the Seminoles will have to put the pieces together with players who Lang believes can hit the ground running in large roles.
"Tucker Howell returns, he was our leading scorer, leading rebounder last year," Lang said. "We also have other returners, players who've started games– Lane Demchak, he'll be a senior coming back, Zander Potts, Dylan Parden, Jacob Fogle, Tyler Whitacre, all those players started some games last year."
Outside of varsity returners, Monroe Central could see some new faces, including 5-foot-7 sophomore guard Caedyn Silva.
"As far as some JV kids who didn't get a lot of minutes last year, Kaden Silva could be somebody to look forward to."
Lang said a couple freshmen had also caught his eye in the offseason.
Outside of Silva, the Seminoles have a team made up of similar builds, with all of the returners between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-2, leading Lang to think that his team can have a cohesive play style that translates between pieces in a lineup.
"As far as this team goes, we're a little bit smaller, and I like our depth," Lang said. "We're going to try to play fast at a high tempo and with a little bit of pressure defensively."
"I'd like us to move the ball a little bit quicker. Quicker in our reads, quicker in our movements, I'd like to see a lot of urgency on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball."
The Seminoles got all the way to the OVAC Championship in last year's conference tournament, and in Lang's first year heading the 'Noles, his expectations is for his team to improve year-over-year, every year.
"As a team our goal is always to improve on the year before," Lang said. "Last year they won 15, so we're trying to win 16 this year. We played in the OVAC Championship last year, we'd like to get back there, and we'd like to compete throughout the state playoffs."
Monroe Central starts their season against Tuscarawas Central Catholic in a road outing on Dec. 2.