Building a foundation

By BROCK RADKE

VIEW STAFF WRITER

The Centennial High School boys' basketball team finished its inaugural season with a 6-16 record, which is to be expected for a first-year school with no seniors.

The good news is, the Bulldogs have some seniors this year. The bad news is, they've lost seven players from last year's roster.

So it's almost like another inaugural season for head coach Greg Bohls.

"We're definitely still building," Bohls said. "We have a lot of new faces and guys moving up to this level. But we have long-range goals, and building (a program) is a multi-year process."

With so many new players on the roster, Bohls said the emphasis has been on fundamentals.

"There's been a lot of re-teaching, so that has kind of slowed our process," he said. "We're not where we want to be just yet. But fundamentals is what you have to focus on with a relatively young team. We're going to be disciplined."

Assisting that effort is Pat Condron, who was the head coach at Silverado High last season and has joined Bohls' staff as an assistant.

"He has helped tremendously," Bohls said.

The Bulldogs are not without some talent, some size and some quickness.

Meanwhile, the leadership role should fall on the shoulders of senior forward Justin Oglesby. Anchoring the pivot with him will be senior center Erick Wright.

Mike Smith, a junior, and Marcus Blair, a senior swingman, are expected to pace Centennial's perimeter attack.

"We do have talent, but we're not going to out-talent many teams," Bohls said. "We have some guys with big hearts.

"I think we'll be kind of a scrappy team. We'll just try to hang around until the fourth quarter and then scratch and claw and see what we come up with."

One of the most promising new faces for the Bulldogs is John Mosier, a versatile senior who can play anywhere from shooting guard to power forward. Mosier attended Palo Verde as a sophomore but lived out of state last season.

"He's very versatile, really one of our top players," Bohls said.

Senior Gabe Renineger, who played tight end for the Centennial football team, is also expected to contribute this year.

Bohls said he expects a tough second year, but the program's development hasn't hindered scheduling.

The Bulldogs will head to Utah in December to play against two state contenders, Mountaincrest and Logan. Centennial is also set to play in a post-Christmas tournament in Carson City, as well as the annual Holiday Prep Classic in Las Vegas.

"Come conference time, we will have been through some battles," Bohls said. "But we'll stay positive. We're going to face some top-notch teams all season."