It’s always hard at first glance to know what a team will look like when it’s dipping its feet into the water. However, though it was June 30th and not November 30th, the Carrollton Hawks basketball team already looked like a seasoned team in the middle of the summer.
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The Hawks defeated North Greene 49-42, Staunton 75-32, and Pleasant Hill 59-51 at North Greene to close out their summer. The JV Hawks won their three games as well. With the victories Carrollton ended its summer basketball campaign with a fantastic 22-2 record. The Hawks losses were to Pittsfield by 6 points and Edgewood High School in Indiana by 5 points.
“I don’t know if we learned anything new that we didn’t already know other than to reinforce what we knew before tonight. That is we can’t afford to let our guard down or we’re going to be in tight games with people who are always looking to give Carrollton their best effort,” Carrollton head coach Jeff Krumwiede said.
One of those teams that will always give Carrollton its best effort is their Greene County rival, the North Greene Spartans.
“No matter what the situation would’ve been - summer or winter - anytime it’s Carrollton, with North Greene it’s going to be the same way. We’ve had the upper hand lately, but they’re wanting to show that they can compete with us, nip at our heels, and get us if we don’t play our best.”
Carrollton got out to a 9-point lead in the first half, but the Spartans cut it to 5 by the end of the first frame. Cole Brannan played a big part in expanding the Hawk’s lead to as big as 13 by scoring 11 points in the 2nd half and 18 for the game.
North Greene boasted a dynamic trio of Chase Bushnell, and sophomore twins Jonah and Josh Hopper. All three players showed how dangerous they can be in the paint and have good mid-range games.
The Spartans won their remaining two games over Staunton and Pleasant Hill.
The Hawks appear to be loaded with talent, speed, and depth once again. Including Brannan, Luke Gillingham, Jerrett Smith, Jeremy Watson, and Levi Hinderhan were in the Carrollton starting rotation for all of the summer. Brannan and Gillingham, who will be expected to be leaders, are the lone starters from last season, but the Hawks do return everybody else on the roster and then some.
“Cole and Luke have had tremendous summers. Cole especially has done some things as far as scoring is concerned and using his athleticism defensively. He’s taken another step in his level of play, but I think everybody else has gotten more comfortable,” Krumwiede said.
For the past several seasons Carrollton has been among the top teams in the WIVC and if the summer form progresses into the regular season in November then the Hawks will be at it again. It also means that they will have a target on their back.
“If these kids have learned anything this summer it’s had to be that we have to be at our best because people are coming after them,” Krumwiede said. “For the most part we have stepped up.”
On another note, when Carrollton played against Staunton it marked a symbolic occasion for the Krumwiede family. Josh Krumwiede is the new head coach for Staunton, while his younger brother Tanner was one was the officials on the court. Meanwhile the person who raised them was coaching the team, whom they both played for in their high school days.
“It’s neat,” Krumwiede said. “Josh has talked about coaching over the last few years as he was preparing. We didn’t know for sure if that’s something he’d want to go into and we still don’t know. It’s something that you can try for a while and find out that you want to do something different, but he’s getting his feet wet this year at Staunton.”
“Tanner has become a pretty good official and he’s still in college, but it’s a little side job for him,” Krumwiede said. “Taking our family and extending it to our basketball family, literally is kind of neat,”
There still is one more Krumwiede kid to come. Hannah will be a freshman for the Lady Hawks varsity basketball team this up coming season. That also means coach Krumwiede will have another thing to do this summer as he will be with the Lady Hawks team camp this month in Rolla, Missouri.
“It’s a neat thing that our family can get involved in what we do as a profession and what we love that the whole family is involved with it,” Krumwiede said.
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