ADVANCE ENCOUNTERS SMOOTH TRANSITION WITH NEW CAST

Considering his team lost virtually every key player from last year, Advance coach Derek Urhahn is fairly pleased with the way the Hornets have been playing so far.

The Hornets were 2-3 prior to last Friday's game against Scott City and drew the 12th seed for the tournament. Advance will face No. 5 Delta at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the opening round.

"We lost all five of our starters (from last year's 16-10 team) and most of our top reserves," said Urhahn. "I knew we were in for kind of a transition year because we only have seven varsity players and two of them hadn't played since junior high.

"Overall, "I've been pretty happy with the way we've been playing. We just have to learn how to play four quarters. But the guys work hard, they're always trying and they do things you want them to do."

Urhahn said one thing hampering the Hornets has been a lack of depth, with the starters having to play most of the time.

"Being low in numbers, sometimes the fatigue factor gets us," he said. "The first five have to play quite a bit, although the other two have been pitching in and doing a pretty good job."

Urhahn is confident the Hornets will continue to be competitive and he has high hopes for the future, since Advance's JV is 5-0.

"I think if everybody keeps improving and working hard, then we can win some games this year," he said. "And our JV is looking real good. I'm trying to keep them together, but I might bring up some guys later in the year."

Gary Ahern, a 6-1 senior who is the only Advance player that saw much varsity action last year, has been averaging nearly 19 points per game to lead the Hornets.

Tommy Tucker, a 6-1 senior, is scoring about 10 or 11 points a contest while 6-1 junior Seth Cantrell is nearly in double figures.

Rounding out Advance's starting lineup have been 5-9 senior Tyler Hitt and 6-1 senior Shannon Bennett.

Coming off the bench have been the team's other two players, 6-0 senior Ryan Schrader and 6-0 junior Jeremy Westbrook.

Looking ahead to Friday's game with Delta, Urhahn said, "They're a good ballclub, fundamentally sound. They play the game the way it should be played and coach (Nate) Crowden does a real good job."