Highlands 2012/2013

Basketball season for 2012/2013 should provide another exciting year. What should we expect from Highlands ? Remember, please be constructive.

They will struggle early in the year as they always do as the football team goes deep into the playoffs. I look for Whitte and Turner to lead the way in their senior campaign. The Jr. class is loaded with talent. Big man True along with Hergot, Houliston, Hope, lightning quick Buten and the very athletic Greene. Solid depth for the upperclassmen, I know they have some younger talent too, but Highlands typically goes with upperclassmen. They will have a solid year but better hope they do not draw NCC in the first round of the district.

Nice assessment TAC and pretty spot on.

Witte has put on about 15lbs to his frame, he's up to around 6'2 190 now and loves to play around the basket. I can see him posting up guards when he plays the 2 spot and really banging down low when he plays the 4. He led the team in 3 pt shooting percentage last year so dont be surprised to see him spot up and drain some shots from behind the ARC. I would also expect him to defend the other team's best player due to his increase in strength. He was benching 150lbs back in February and is up to 240lbs now. Gym rat pretty much.

Turner is a great slasher with excellent length. He will put the ball in the basket this year mixing pull up jumpers with slashing moves to the basket down the lane. He's a tough kid who plays WR in football and also looks to have gotten a little more size. Also a very good defender he will cause fits for good offensive players.

Houliston has a ton of potential to add scoring punch. He had a pretty good summer, showed a lot of aggressiveness in attacking the rim and finds ways to get the ball in the basket. He will be counted on heavily this year to not only add scoring but to defend on the perimeter. A very good athlete who will be counted on heavily.

Hopefully Nick True brings his 6'6 240lb frame to the hardwood this year once again and can provide some rebounding and defense on the blocks. He is a hard worker and very coachable. Hergott is a top notch athlete who can shoot very well. IF he steps up his defense and aggressiveness he will see the floor a lot as well. Greene, Buten, Sr's Hinkle/Gronotte will also play significant roles this year. Greene has springs in his feet and plays very solid defense, Buten is an excellent playmaker who gets up and down the court quicker than anyone. Hinkle will provide Sr. Leadership at the guard position and may have the biggest heart of the whole bunch. Gronotte goes around 6'2 180lbs and plays well around the basket. Luke Brockett is another player who shot the ball well over the summer and with increase strength and confidence from football season could step in and give good minutes off the bench.

Apparently there is a transfer who will be coming out this year as well. He has been playing at the Ft. Thomas Armory with the players this summer and I believe is an incoming Junior. 6'1 and plays the Point Guard position and has some very nice hops. I dont have a name or former school yet.

One thing is for sure, the Birds will need to make up for their lack of bigs by sending everyone to the boards and playing aggressive basketball. Should be a fun season to watch.

Originally Posted by Qryche11

Nice assessment TAC and pretty spot on.

Witte has put on about 15lbs to his frame, he's up to around 6'2 190 now and loves to play around the basket. I can see him posting up guards when he plays the 2 spot and really banging down low when he plays the 4. He led the team in 3 pt shooting percentage last year so dont be surprised to see him spot up and drain some shots from behind the ARC. I would also expect him to defend the other team's best player due to his increase in strength. He was benching 150lbs back in February and is up to 240lbs now. Gym rat pretty much.

Turner is a great slasher with excellent length. He will put the ball in the basket this year mixing pull up jumpers with slashing moves to the basket down the lane. He's a tough kid who plays WR in football and also looks to have gotten a little more size. Also a very good defender he will cause fits for good offensive players.

Houliston has a ton of potential to add scoring punch. He had a pretty good summer, showed a lot of aggressiveness in attacking the rim and finds ways to get the ball in the basket. He will be counted on heavily this year to not only add scoring but to defend on the perimeter. A very good athlete who will be counted on heavily.

Hopefully Nick True brings his 6'6 240lb frame to the hardwood this year once again and can provide some rebounding and defense on the blocks. He is a hard worker and very coachable. Hergott is a top notch athlete who can shoot very well. IF he steps up his defense and aggressiveness he will see the floor a lot as well. Greene, Buten, Sr's Hinkle/Gronotte will also play significant roles this year. Greene has springs in his feet and plays very solid defense, Buten is an excellent playmaker who gets up and down the court quicker than anyone. Hinkle will provide Sr. Leadership at the guard position and may have the biggest heart of the whole bunch. Gronotte goes around 6'2 180lbs and plays well around the basket. Luke Brockett is another player who shot the ball well over the summer and with increase strength and confidence from football season could step in and give good minutes off the bench.

Apparently there is a transfer who will be coming out this year as well. He has been playing at the Ft. Thomas Armory with the players this summer and I believe is an incoming Junior. 6'1 and plays the Point Guard position and has some very nice hops. I dont have a name or former school yet.

One thing is for sure, the Birds will need to make up for their lack of bigs by sending everyone to the boards and playing aggressive basketball. Should be a fun season to watch.

Should be an interesting season. Will be interesting to see who comes out. Also, who mans the point. Could be Buten. Small but has handle. Could be Hinkle, who lacks size as well. Could be Houliston, but I think they need his scoring...more of a 2. I liked what I saw out of Witte last season. He could run the point. His size would create some mis-matches as well with his size and strength. A lot of athletes- will be interesting. Could be very thin in the middle, particluarly when you look at the likes of New Cath, who will be the class of NKY IMO. I could see them (NCC) going very deep into the state tourney. The wings will be very talented with the likes of Turner, Hergott, Greene, etc. Gronote and Hinkle should contribute. They might be the keys. Brocket is another that could contribute, I agree, likely to play the 2 I think. Should provide some bench depth. Time will tell. Don't know enough about the transfer to contribute.

A few other kids i forgot to mention are sophomore Justin Weyer ,who is one of the most fundamentally sound players in the program. with increased strength may see some minutes as well as 6'1 soph Parker Harris and 6'2 athlete Jensen Feggins. Jensen looked strong over the summer mixing it up inside and Harris can stroke it from the outside.

As far as the PG spot, imo they would be better off running it by committee and off different matchups. .

I am waiting to chime in until I hear from some of the other Birds faithful, especially IMSAYS. Perhaps he can give us an indepth analysis on this upcoming season.

I was very impressed with the schedule of workouts and the number of scrimmages that HHS had this spring and early summer. They have 8 footballers that will play a lot of the JV and Varsity minutes. Of those eight, seven were at all the workouts. Pretty impressive knowing these boys were conditioning/lifting for football MWF, then on the hardwood Tuesday/Thursday and Saturday.

This years team will be competitive. While most every other team will open basketball tryouts in mid October with the majority of their roster, HHS will barely have enough kids available to scrimmage. With up to 8 of the top 12 players in football uniforms, it puts the program behind the other schools in the region. By January the Birds should be ok.

I think the Birds are going to struggle to score. PG play was an issue last year. Might be again this year. The big boy's lack of footwork and offensive moves will limit him to putbacks.

There aren't a lot of quality true bigs in the 9th (maybe 4 true good bigs). I'd consider letting Witte occasionally bang down low (Conner does it with Barker) and play an open post offense and push it more.

The make-up of the roster will all but force Witte to play down low. He will have to play a ton of minutes at the 4. The Birds just do not have a lot of other options.

PG play last year was all about defense and running the offensive sets- not being an offensive threat - average less than 2 points per game - that will definately need to improve - Buten and Hinkel look to shoot much more often than Carter did.

Points will need to come from Turner, Houliston, and Witte. If the point guard rotation can average 10 points per game that would help. True will need to stay out of foul trouble- little to no size backing him up - he will not be as important on the offensive end as he will be on the boards and defending the paint.

Originally Posted by stinkyboy II

The make-up of the roster will all but force Witte to play down low. He will have to play a ton of minutes at the 4. The Birds just do not have a lot of other options.

PG play last year was all about defense and running the offensive sets- not being an offensive threat - average less than 2 points per game - that will definately need to improve - Buten and Hinkel look to shoot much more often than Carter did.

Points will need to come from Turner, Houliston, and Witte. If the point guard rotation can average 10 points per game that would help. True will need to stay out of foul trouble- little to no size backing him up - he will not be as important on the offensive end as he will be on the boards and defending the paint.

PG play prevented HHS from getting their offense going the few times I saw them play.

10 PPG would be huge out of the PG position.

Originally Posted by Clyde

I think the Birds are going to struggle to score. PG play was an issue last year. Might be again this year. The big boy's lack of footwork and offensive moves will limit him to putbacks.

There aren't a lot of quality true bigs in the 9th (maybe 4 true good bigs). I'd consider letting Witte occasionally bang down low (Conner does it with Barker) and play an open post offense and push it more.

2 happen to be on the same team in their district. Lots of good athletes for the Bluebirds. They should make the transition from football to basketball and be ready by tourney time.

How many seniors will the team have this year and is there any chance that Jac Collinsworth comes back out for the team this year? Know that he is not the most skilled basketball player, but I think that he would be able to help out around the basket with his athletic ability.

Originally Posted by Jack of all Trades

How many seniors will the team have this year and is there any chance that Jac Collinsworth comes back out for the team this year? Know that he is not the most skilled basketball player, but I think that he would be able to help out around the basket with his athletic ability.

4 Seniors- Witte, Turner, Hinkle and Gronotte

Highly doubt Collinsworth comes back with all the issues he is having with his hamstrings. I think they could use his length around the basket for sure.

Originally Posted by Qryche11

4 Seniors- Witte, Turner, Hinkle and Gronotte

Highly doubt Collinsworth comes back with all the issues he is having with his hamstrings. I think they could use his length around the basket for sure.

Witte and Turner are solid. Hinkle and Gronotte should serve as role players. I presume that Zac Carter is not coming back?

What Juniors will they have this year? Houliston will definitely be a major player. Will True come out for basketball? Buten has chance to take over point guard spot, but needs to be more consistent. Greene and Brockett would be role players in my estimation. The real wildcard is Brandon Hergott in my eyes. Can score when given the chance to play, but needs to be a little better at the defensive end. Any other juniors that may have an impact at the varsity level and will any of the above named kids be playing JV?

Originally Posted by Jack of all Trades

Witte and Turner are solid. Hinkle and Gronotte should serve as role players. I presume that Zac Carter is not coming back?

What Juniors will they have this year? Houliston will definitely be a major player. Will True come out for basketball? Buten has chance to take over point guard spot, but needs to be more consistent. Greene and Brockett would be role players in my estimation. The real wildcard is Brandon Hergott in my eyes. Can score when given the chance to play, but needs to be a little better at the defensive end. Any other juniors that may have an impact at the varsity level and will any of the above named kids be playing JV?

I think Hinkle will provide adequate minutes as PG but not sure how coach will go on that angle. Witte is not a PG but could be used at that spot if they go to an offense that allows him to pass and post up on his man. Hergott is a solid offensive player but like you said needs to step up his game in other areas namely defense. True will be needed on the defensive end of the floor for sure, his size provides mismatches with teams that do not have Big's over 6'3.

Zac Carter is not playing this season.

I would think they will have a pretty decent JV squad with Weyer/Harris/Feggins/Buten/Greene/Brockett/Hergott.

My guess is the Varsity only guys will be 4 Sr's, Houliston/True (Jr's). Pure speculation though.

I know that the frosh team was way down in numbers last year, so how many soph's will be in the program? Jensen Feggins is a nice athlete that works hard around the basket, but struggles outside of the paint. Look for him to get some varsity minutes just because of his all out play. Justin Weyer should be solid at the JV level, but will need to get a little stronger to compete this year at the varsity level. Parker Harris is about 6'4" or so now and he needs to work on his game in and around the lane. Josh Watson will probably come back this year, but how effective will he be having had to sit out last year due to injury? Others (Jackson Hall, Kenny Ball, Josh Salter and Reilly O'Hara) are role players, but will benefit greatly from the fact that they do not play football. Any other sophs that will be a part of the program this year?

Really hope that so many Juniors do not take up valuable JV minutes for this group as they did have some success last year.

Also heard there was a transfer from Woodward or somewhere in Cincinnati, anyone know anything about him?

Know that the incoming frosh have some basketball talent as well and wonder if some of them may get some spot duty at the JV level if for nothing more than the experience. The problem is that all of them except for one are a part of the football program.

Here is Highlands schedule for this season.


11/17 Casey Sorrell Memorial Shootout (SK) A (Scrimmages)
11/24 Turkey Bird Shootout H (Scrimmages)
12/7 St. Henry H
12/8 Bellevue H
12/11 Dixie A
12/14 Brossart A
12/15 Bracken Co. A
12/20-22 Woodford Co. Invitational Tournament A
12/27-29 Pikeville Invitational Tournament A
1-3 Villa Madonna A
1-5 Cooper A
1-8 Newport A
1-10 Ryle A
1-14 CovCath H
1-17 Campbell Co. H
1-19 Boone Co. H
1-22 NCC H
1-24 Seven Hills (OH) H
1-26 Conner H
1-29 Shroder (OH) A
2-1 Holmes A
2-5 Holy Cross A
2-8 Lloyd A
2-12 Scott H
2-15 Beechwood H

District Tourney at Highlands

Villa?

Originally Posted by Clyde

Villa?

Every other team in NKY was covered I guess.

I would have much rather seen Walton Verona or Ludlow in that slot but should be a good warm up for the Birds heading into a tough January.

Did highlands get a new floor this year? Any other upgrades to the birds nest?