Basketball season has begun in the PCHS gym, and the boys are ready to play. Coach Kyle Allen is in his 13th year of coaching here at Pine City. Coach Allen’s expectations for the season are like previous years: “Twenty or more wins, compete for a conference championship, host a first-round playoff game, and put ourselves in a position to make a run come playoffs.”
Challenges come and go each season, and this upcoming season presents challenges of its own. When asked about challenges, Allen said that every year they evaluate their process – what is going well and what needs improvement, and at the conclusion of last year, they saw some major flaws in their foundation.
“We attributed many of these cracks in our foundation to the fallout from COVID,” said Allen. “We, as a coaching staff, met with leaders in the program, alumni and valued coaches from around the nation to decide how to attack this. We are excited with the plan we have in place to help fix the crack in our foundation and bring our program back to the expectations that lead to relevancy. We are purposefully explaining this to our players and families to have as much transparency as possible. We are excited to take on this challenge and do the work needed to permanently fix this and continue to build forward.”
As a whole, the Dragon varsity boys team does not have many players with varsity experience. However, they do have depth. “We would like to have a very deep rotation,” commented Coach Allen. “It is always interesting to see how the pieces fall into place and what players earn. There will be a big group, at least on paper at the start, that will be given an opportunity to compete for minutes.”
Last year the Dragon boys earned a 13-14 record overall and a 9-3 record in conference. Allen added, “We fell short of our goals last season. We also graduated seven seniors so this team will look very different from last season’s team. We do not like to compare year to year; we often talk about how every season is a ‘lifetime’ and lives in its own vacuum. This year’s group will be allowed to grow and develop as they are willing to do.”
There is one senior on the varsity team this season, Matthew Blake. Allen said of Blake, “Matt has taken on a huge leadership role for us this year. His oldest brother, Andrew, was a senior for me in my third year at Pine City (2014 grad), so it is a very full circle experience. He will be tasked with leading our players not only into this season but also leading them to help return to the pre-COVID protocols and procedures of our program.”
Allen noted of the coaching staff, “Our coaching staff goes above and beyond to help both our student-athletes and the program. Our strength and conditioning staff made up of Jason Rademacher and Brittany Lakeberg are putting in early morning hours. We utilize a great group of student managers that do a ton of work behind the scenes.” He also wanted to thank the school staff including secretaries, activity director, janitorial staff, and others who help create all the opportunities they have. “Our youth hoops program and basketball booster boards who volunteer their time for the betterment of our youth and the program. And most importantly, my wife and kids who go along with all the craziness that comes with this position.”
Allen is assisted by Dylan Kringstad (JV), Wayne Hansmann (C-Squad), Adam Jensen (8th Grade), Ben Bloomquist (7th Grade), Jason Wiener (volunteer), and Jason Rademacher (volunteer).
The boys will begin their season on Friday, December 1 at home against North Branch at 7 p.m.
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