FHN boys varsity basketball will be starting the season off competing in the St. Charles West Warrior tournament Dec. 9-13. Their first season game will be on Dec. 17 where they will face Ritenour. With a more mature team Coach Brian Davis and assistant coach Mark Wright are prepared for a good season.

“We have a much more experienced team, number of guys coming back from last year played a lot of minutes,” Wright said. “I’m optimistic about the season, we’ll be playing our best basketball when Feb. rolls around.”

According to the players, they’re a lot more athletic and defensive minded. They’ll be playing at a lot faster pace from last season. Instead of the 2-3 zone defense, they’ll now be playing man to man.

“It’ll be more fun for the players and the fans coming out to watch,” Wright said.

The team will be full court pressing, hoping it will open more fast breaks. They look to attack the basket more often and score more in transition.

“We’re going to be thinking about the fundamentals out there, and taking the best shots we can take,” point guard Elliot Montgomery said. “We’ll be making sure we execute our plays.”

Many were working hard and putting in work this offseason. With about 15 seniors and 10 juniors trying out, spots will be limited. Returning Senior James Gleeson and returning Junior Derrick Scarborough, hope to help out the team with their talent and experience.

“Give it your all, high school basketball goes by very fast,” Gleeson said. “We got to play like a team and treat every game like its our last.”

North will be playing in the Seckman Varsity tourney and the Fort Zumwalt North Invitational. They play Howell Central at home Feb.18 and face Howell High at home Feb 21. The GAC South conference is wide open and conference games will be evenly matched according to Wright. The conference consists of Holt,Troy,FZW,Timberland, FHC and FHHS.

“I think we’ll have have a couple losses but during the end of the season we’ll be definitely the best team in the area and will go far,” 6’2’’ forward Collin Toedtmann said.”Howell North basketball will be the biggest sport of 2014.”