The Atlantic Boys Basketball team will get started on a season with lofty goals tonight at home.  The Trojans play host to Winterset to start the 2015-2016 campaign at 7:30pm tonight at the Atlantic High School.

The Trojans hope to improve on a 2014-2015 campaign that saw them finish 12-10 overall and 7-3 in conference play.  The Trojans finished in a second place tie in the Hawkeye 10 Conference standings.  They also saw their season come to a close sooner than they had hoped with a close loss in District play to Glenwood 70-69.  The Rams went on a hot streak to make it to the 3A State Tournament after that win.  The Trojans have sights on trying to do that themselves this season.

The Trojans return many key contributors including Senior Forward Ryan Hawkins who was an All State and Unanimous First Team All-Conference honoree.  Hawkins is a versatile player that can handle the ball and shoot from the outside but also post-up on the block.  Hawkins is slated to play the 4-spot for the Trojans this season and recently signed a letter of intent to continue his basketball career at Wayne State College in Nebraska.

Hawkins will be joined in the starting lineup by All-Conference Second Teamer Garrett Franken, who is going to start the season at the Point Guard position. Franken also brings versatility to the floor because he can handle the ball and shoot the long ball, while his size at 6’7″ allows him to score inside and get rebounds.   All other anticipated starters bring at least some experience with them: Sophomore Austin Alexander and Senior Kyle Nelson are expected to play the 2 and 3 spots, while Sophomore Scott Leonard will fill the post.  Senior Brendan Holmes will come of the bench to start the season as the sixth man and is expected to log significant minutes as well.

We’ll have coverage of the game against Winterset tonight on KJAN AM 1220 and FM 101.1.  Pregame at around 7:20pm and tipoff scheduled for 7:30pm.  You can also listen online or on the KJAN mobile app.  And we will provide live streaming video of the game on the TV page at kjan.com.