The Sartell boys’ basketball season kicks off at Rocori High School on Tuesday, December 3rd.
Sartell split games with Rocori last year going 1-1 so it should be a fun season opener. The Sabres have their home opener Thursday, December 5th against St. Cloud Tech. The guys in the locker room are excited and ready. It’s looking to be a big year with high expectations from the players for this season. The Sabres went 8-0 in fall league breakdown over these last few weekends and are ready for the big season ahead. Most of the guys from last year’s rotation are back and hungry.
The schedule has some tough competitors on it, which will be a great test to see what type of season they will have. There should be many great games this year. The top competitors are Alexandria who went 21-5 last season and is led by senior forward Chase Thompson who is committed to Clemson for basketball. Thompson scored 32 points in his one appearance against Sartell last year where the Cardinals defeated the Sabres 47-83. Rogers was 18-8 last year and beat the Sabres in the playoffs; Sartell has marked this game on their calendar. Buffalo went 12-14 last year and was led by a strong senior class. STMA was also 12-14 and went to the section championship last season. Sauk Rapids is Sartell’s biggest rival and played in two competitive games last season. Sauk Rapids went 18-8 last year and is ranked #7 in class AAAA in a preseason ranking. They are led by a strong senior class featuring Division II basketball commit Keller Hanson.
Some stats from last year’s team. The team averaged 56.5 PPG, 30.6 RPG, and 12.6 APG. The Sabres have spent time over the offseason working to improve all of these numbers. The main focus was to improve scoring as the Sabres fell short in plenty of close games last season. They lost five games by a margin of under five points, including a one point loss vs Sauk Rapids. Sartell has gained a lot of experience in close games and are ready to turn those close games into wins.
The players and coaches are eager for the season to begin and showcase the work they have all put in over the offseason.
Head Coach Marcus Oistad is heading into his 12th season as head coach of the Sartell Sabres basketball team with a career record of 128-165.
Coach Oistad thinks the team has developed over the offseason: “I think we have had great commitments in our offseason with guys getting in the gym pretty consistently, we’ve had a lot of numbers and great turnouts. I also think our chemistry is really solid and we’re looking forward to a great season.”
The Sabres have a lot of varsity contributors from the 2023-24 season returning, making them a lot more experienced than they have been in recent years. The experience of the players along with Coach Oistad’s leadership should pair for a successful season.
Oistad also shared the team’s strengths: “I think we have a lot of guys who are great shooters, we have a high basketball IQ, we have a lot of guys who are very versatile and can do a lot of different things well. I think we are deeper than we have been in years past, we got a lot of guys who can contribute on a varsity level and that should make practices really competitive.”
Junior guard Bennett Bommersbach says his goals for our team this year are to have a winning record and win a playoff game. The Sabres are coming off a 6-20 regular season record and have hopes of improving that.
Bommersbach has some specific personal goals: “I’d like to improve my averages for points, rebounds, and assists, and have a good assist to turnover ratio.” Bommersbach averaged 8.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 2.9 APG in his sophomore year.
Bommersbach has a go-to favorite pregame hype song: “It changes from time to time but right now it is “WHAT TO DO?” by JACKBOYS & Travis Scott feat. Don Toliver.”
Junior captain Maddox Lewis will be stepping into a bigger role as a leader this year.
Lewis explained, “My goal is to be able to lead on and off the court. I also want to include everybody and make them feel at home, and really bring the Sartell basketball community together.”
Lewis said attendance has been at a high throughout the offseason and he has high expectations for the upcoming season.
Lewis also commented on his individual goals: “I want to be all conference this year.”
This goal is very attainable for Lewis as he was the team’s leading scorer last year at 9.4 PPG, and he earned all conference honorable mention honors last season.
Senior center Andrew “BIG KAT” Nelson says he is excited to win games this year.
His individual goal is simple, yet very important: “I want to score more points.”
Nelson averaged 8.7 PPG and led the team in RPG with 5.9 in his junior season.
Nelson also hopes to stay healthy throughout this season as he missed multiple games last year due to sickness and a back injury.
Nelson explains how he deals with fan interaction on the road, and how it boosts him at home: “On the road, I try not to think about it, and at home it is nice to hear encouragement and it makes me feel like we’re doing better, even if we’re not.”
Nelson’s statements show how beneficial it is to have support at home.
You can follow the Sartell Sabres on Instagram @sartellhoops
