Warren County Boys Basketball Head Coach Danny Fish said the Pioneers are ready to take the next step towards a state title.
After graduating several players from last season’s team that advanced into the district tournament, Fish will turn to a new group of starters to keep the Pioneers competitive. The Pioneers started the season strong last year at 23-5, but dropped its final three games and fell two games short of the first state tournament appearance in program history. Fish said he saw last season as a spark for the new group.
“The guys got to learn how to do that,” Fish said. “I’ve done it before as a player and a coach and everybody can tell you how to walk the walk but very few can walk it too, and they had to walk it, and they didn’t do as well as they wanted to in February but I got a feeling that stoked their fire for this year.”
Fish said the late-season struggles tested his players in ways the early months of success could not.
“We started off really well last year,” Fish said. “Then in February, the guys had not hit a road of hard, no pain. It seemed like everything we did early and up to February had done well for us and we had done really well and it felt like we were battling some inner demons in February.”
Fish said he believes the lessons he provides will pay off during the winter.
“It’s good for everybody to get back together,” Fish said. “I’m hoping that the guys will come out and get a little bit better at some things but more so just to get back to the gym, get reacclimated and pick up where we left off last year.”
Fish said he prioritized his fourth off-season on conditioning, team chemistry, and sharpening fundamentals. The Pioneers open their season November 18th against Ravenwood.
