The Bishop Blanchet men’s varsity basketball team began their 2016-2017 campaign with a 61-46 defeat against the Kentwood Crusaders on November 29.

They have many new faces this year, with no less than seven Braves will make their varsity basketball debut this season, having to bear the load of filling some of the holes left be some key departures. 5 seniors have graduated and two-star recruit Keegan Crosby transferred to Nathan Hale for academic purposes. However, spirits are still high.

“We hope to be very competitive,” said head coach Chris Bilanko. “Metro League is loaded this year, but we think we can hold our own.”

The team allows themselves to be quite confident due to their belief in the new group they have this season. Senior captain and starting power forward Liam Eberhardt is the most experienced player on the roster; this is his third season on varsity, but he is quick to praise the new additions.

“Maui [Sze] is the truth,” said Eberhardt. “He’s the future of Blanchet basketball.”

Sze showed that this praise was merited, dropping 15 points in the aforementioned defeat to the 4th in state, Conquerors of Kentwood. While this is not the ideal start to the season, the Braves are not letting it damper their spirits.

“The first game of our season was an eye opener for us,” said senior captain and point guard Will Merriman. “Only a day later we have learned from our mistakes and are fully confident we can go to the island and dominate.”

The Braves look to notch their first win of the season in a Metro League matchup on December 2, as the travel to Bainbridge Island to face the mighty Spartans.