BETHALTO - Civic Memorial's boys basketball team has plenty of experience returning to the team for the 2016-17 season, which began with the Stove Top Stuffing Classic tournament over Thanksgiving week.

“We've got plenty of experience back,” Eagle coach Doug Carey said. “We've got (Jaquan) Adams and David Lane – we think they're going to get double figures (scoring averages) - and (Jaxsen) Helmkamp and (Brandon) Hampton are back, (Camryn) Gerhardt is back and (Caden) Clark is back – I mean, we've got a lot of guys with experience.

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“I think we're a good-shooting team; I think we're going to be able to shoot it well throughout the season.”

Lane and Adams led the team in scoring last year, Lane averaging 10.6 points a game and Adams 10 points; Clark led the team with a 77.8 free-throw percentage and Adams led with 4.3 rebounds per game as the Eagles finished last year with a 18-12 overall record, 6-4 in the Mississippi Valley Conference before bowing out to eventual IHSA Class 3A state champion Belleville Althoff in the Triad Regional.

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Four seniors – Gerhardt, Hampton, Helmkamp and Lane – are on this year's edition of the Eagles.

Carey is optimistic that the Eagles can win the MVC title this year. “We think we've got a chance to win the conference; we know we're going to be right in the middle of it for sure,” Carey said. “Triad's got a lot coming back too; they're good.

“When we step on the floor, we think everyone on our schedule we can beat. We'll be ready to go.”

That schedule includes the home-and-home contests in the league, with the games against defending league champion Highland coming Dec. 6 at Highland and at home Feb. 21, with games against Jersey coming Dec. 9 on the road and Feb. 3 at home. Non-conference highlights include games against Roxana at home Dec. 16, a visit to McGivney Catholic Dec. 20 and a visit from Collinsville Jan. 27. In-season tournaments include the Freeburg-Columbia holiday tournament Dec. 26-29 and the Litchfield Tournament Jan. 14-21.

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