St. Vincent boys preview: St. Vincent has rebuilding job after state runner-up showing

~ The Indians return one starter from a run to the Class 2 final.

To say that St. Vincent's boys are facing a rebuilding challenge would be an understatement.

The Indians, coming off their first state final four appearance -- they finished second in Class 2 -- return only one player who averaged more than two points per game.

But coach Bruce Valleroy still believes the Indians can win their share of games.

"With the team we had last year, we definitely have some holes to fill," Valleroy said. "But I still feel like we can be pretty competitive."

The Indians, 23-7 last year, return just one starter in 6-foot-3, 250-pound senior forward Waylon Richardet, who averaged 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds per game.

"He's going to have to probably step up more this year than he did last year," Valleroy said. "We had a great bunch around him, but we look for him to carry the load this year."

The Indians return five other seniors who were on the varsity last year, led by Ben Buchheit, who was the first player off the bench.

St. Vincent will count on several players up from a successful junior varsity team, including that squad's top three scorers in Greg Finger, Chris Fischer and Chris Wengert.

Valleroy said Richardet and point guard Finger are his only sure-fire starters entering the season, as competition for spots is close.

"We'll probably have about eight or nine kids who can start," Valleroy said. "We'll play a lot of people. We've got 13 players on varsity, and on any given night all of them could play."

---

ST. VINCENT BOYS

Coach: Bruce Valleroy, 13th season

Assistant: none

Last season: 23-7, lost to Marionville in Class 2 state championship game

Conference: Jefferson County Conference

Returning starters

Waylon Richardet 6-3 Sr. F

Rest of roster

Jon Buehler, 5-10, Sr., G; Chad Wheeler, 6-0, Sr., F; Mark Hotop, 5-10, Sr., G; Ben Buchheit, 6-1, Sr., C; Eric Clements, 6-0, Sr., F/C; Nick Schremp, 6-0, Sr., F; Greg Finger, 5-10, Jr., G; Scott Blythe, 5-11, Jr., G; Zach Richardet, 6-0, Jr., F; Chris Fischer, 6-0, Jr., F/C; Chris Wengert, 6-1, Jr., F; Derek Sutterer, 5-5, Jr., G

Schedule

Dec. 9 -- at Kelly, 6 p.m.

Dec. 10 -- Oak Ridge (Heartland Hoopfest), 11 a.m.

Dec. 13 -- North County, 6 p.m.

Dec. 16 -- at Leopold, 6 p.m.

Dec. 20 -- at Festus, 6 p.m.

Dec. 22 -- Notre Dame, 6 p.m.

Dec. 28-30 -- Saxony Lutheran tournament

Jan. 3 -- at Oran, 6 p.m.

Jan. 9 -- at Marquand, 6 p.m.

Jan. 10 -- De Soto, 6 p.m.

Jan. 13 -- at Crystal City, 6 p.m.

Jan. 17 -- at Windsor, 6 p.m.

Jan. 20 -- St. Pius, 6 p.m.

Jan. 28 -- Perryville (Perry Park Center), 3 p.m.

Feb. 3 -- at Hillsboro, 6 p.m.

Feb. 7 -- at Herculaneum, 6 p.m.

Feb. 10 -- Grandview, 6 p.m.

Feb. 13 -- Fredericktown, 6 p.m.

Feb. 15 -- at Ste. Genevieve, 6 p.m.

Feb. 17 -- Meadow Heights, 6 p.m.

Feb. 24 -- Valle, 6 p.m.