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WELLSBURG -- It's a new season in Wellsburg for the Brooke boys' basketball team, but it'll be another rendition of next man up, albeit, with a slight wrinkle.
In 2022-23, the Bruins took the court down a pair of 20-point scorers with an entirely new starting lineup.
Then-junior Leyton Toepfer responded with a breakout season, finishing with an honorable mention All-W.Va. Mention in Class 4A in helping the Bruins hover around the .500 mark against a daunting schedule.
What "should" have been a season with four returning starters and some added additions has quickly devolved into a string of bad luck.
Head coach Adam Shinsky isn't about to go burning sage in the locker room to rid the Bruins of any theoretical bad ju-ju, but a little luck going the Bruins' way wouldn't hurt.
In the span of 24 hours, the Bruins lost not one, but two starters. On top of that, returner Braelyn Sperringer's late-season football injury meant no senior basketball for the embattled Bruins' QB.
"Unfortunately the injury bug hit us early and it's not looking good for us to start the season at full strength," Shinsky said.
"Peyton Toepfer is out but hopefully we get him back at some point and we had a transfer come in from Meadowbrook in Garret Milam, but he got hurt too."
Two returning starters down, but there's at least two returning for the Bruins in Leyton Toepfer, along with senior post Nate Kimball.
Shinsky is counting on the healthy Toepfer to toe the line for the team until injuries heal and Brooke can return to somewhat of full strength.
The coach has zero doubts he's up to the challenge.
"He put on a lot of muscle and gained about 15 pounds while improving his speed and continuing to work on his ball handling," Shinsky said.
"He's improved his all-around game and we're expecting big things out of him.
Also back at guard is Nick Cipoletti, a quality shooter whom Shinsky noted also hit the weight room is a lot stronger with the ball and more versatile.
Look for Cipoletti to attack the basket more to go with his shooting abilities.
That's wherethe next-man up mentality comes into play this season. Some Bruins are going to be receiving a lot more PT than they previously planned.
One such player has certainly earned that playing time in senior Nick Sagan.
A crafty lefty shooting guard, Sagan has put in the work and bided his time first as the sixth man on the freshmen team, then serving as the sixth man the last two seasons on junior varsity.
An All-Valley soccer player, Sagan will now get to make the most of his opportunity to shine on the hardwood as he has on the pitch.
Andrew Murdock and Aiden Provenzano will also see increased minutes, along with Noah McMahon, a sizeable player at 6-3 who's worked hard and accepted his role on the team.
Sophomore Jamiel McKennan possesses some athleticism and will see some varsity PT as well.
The trick will be how these new pieces fit into the puzzle that Shinsky, at least initially, though he and his fellow coaches had figured out.
Such is life in basketball.
"That's the thing about basketball, it's always changing," Shinsky said. "When we praticed early, we were shooting well and had a nice offensive flow going, and then within 24 hours, we lost two players.
"But we're prepared and always taking that next-man-up approach. You plan for the worst and, hopefully later in the season, we'll be back closer to full strength."