Boys basketball preview: Can Woodland build on 17-win season? Warriors believe they can

Connor Kaminke, now in his eighth season as Woodland boys basketball’s head coach, has been around long enough to realize every team is different.

Even with the loss of a couple of cornerstone players to graduation and a resulting learning curve, the former Woodland standout player likes what he’s seeing from his 2024-25 Warriors.

“It was an interesting summer,” said Kaminke, his team coming off a 17-14 season than included an above-.500 (5-4) record in the Tri-County Conference. “We feel like we got off to a little bit of a slow start, and no matter how much you think you’re bringing back, everyone is a year older, guys’ roles are different, and guys who were there last year aren’t here anymore.

“But by the end of the summer, we got our feet wet, got the feel of the new program, and this preseason and the first seven days of practice have been fantastic. It’s been exciting.”

Woodland will open its season Monday, again hosting familiar foes St. Bede (the Warriors’ Monday night opponent), Ridgeview (Tuesday) and Flanagan-Cornell (Wednesday) in its own Woodland Pool of the Route 17 Classic ahead of Saturday’s crossover finale in Dwight.

When the Warriors take their home floor, they will be led by a trio of returning starters and what looks to be a promising cast around them.

Last year’s leading scorer, Nick Plesko (13.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game in 2023-24), returns for his senior season after a junior year that saw the 6-foot-1 wing earn second-team honors from the Tri-County Conference and honorable mention to The Times All-Area Boys Basketball Team. Fellow senior starter Connor Dodge (8.3 points, 1.5 assists) also returns after being second on the team in points scored last winter.

“We’re pretty lucky, pretty blessed to be in a position where we have two guys who not only are that talented, but are that good of leaders and human beings, leading us on the floor every night,” Kaminke said of the pair. “Those two are by far our bread-and-butter guys who are going to make everything go every day.”

Zandar Radke (2.1 points, 2.9 rebounds) is the third returning senior starter from last season, a true post player who has always been a strong, physical defender but is showing flashes of a stronger offensive game this preseason. Junior guard Nolan Prince (3.6 points, 1.6 rebounds) also returns and projects to be a starter after filling a sort of sharpshooting/defensive spark plug sixth-man role last year.

From there, Kaminke sees three or four strong candidates for that fifth starting spot/first spots off the bench. Quentin Porter (1.0 ppg in 2023-24), a senior, brings high energy and an ability to attack the rim; junior Noah Decker (1.5 ppg) is being groomed to take over some of the do-everything team glue duties handled so well the past four years by now-graduated team leader Jonathan Moore; junior Jaron Follmer (2.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg) offers a high ceiling thanks to his size and raw skill; and senior Connor Decker (2.2 ppg) provides perimeter shooting outside of the starting five.

Senior Kyle Bliss as well as juniors Zane Drysdale and Ethan Pennell will provide depth, with a pair of up-and-coming underclassmen – sophomore Brezdyn Simons and freshman Nate Berry – having the potential to contribute increasingly as the season goes on.

In Kaminke’s mind, a key to the Warriors reaching their goals of a 20-win season, a high finish in the TCC and winning the program’s first regional championship since 1989 will be mastering a skill that has eluded Woodland teams in recent history – finishing competitive efforts against quality teams with clutch, game-winning plays.

“There were some times last year where we were hanging around with good teams or even up on good teams, and then those good teams finished strong,” Kaminke said. “I think this year to take that next step, to beat those good teams and get where we want to go, we have to learn how to put teams away.”