Boys basketball preview: Marquette building young rotation around Alec Novotney, Griffin Dobberstein

It’s an odd coincidence that the two teams occupying Marquette Academy’s Bader Gym this winter have the exact opposite situation in regards to replacing losses via graduation.

While the Marquette girls basketball squad has just about everyone back except standout player Lilly Craig, the boys team has its ace returning in the person of Alec Novotney. However, the Crusaders are minus nearly all the rest of the rotation from last year’s club that went 24-9 and won the Tri-County Conference championship.

Moving on from that team were Denver Trainor, a TCC first-team selection after averaging 14.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals in his senior season, as well as fellow starters Pete McGrath and Carson Zellers, sixth-man Henry McGrath and reserves Daniel Hoffman and Stefen Swords.

That leaves Novotney – a strong perimeter shooter who netted 17.4 points per game, in large part on 110 3-pointers made – and part-time starter Griffin Dobberstein as the only two returnees with significant playing time.

Still, there are several standouts from last season’s sophomore team anxious to try out their varsity wheels.

“We did lose a lot from last year, a lot of very talented, hard-working players that we will miss,” said Hopkins, who has accumulated a 161-74 record in just over eight seasons at the boys helm. “But we do have Alec back and Griffin, both having played a lot of varsity minutes a year ago, so we’ll be counting on them to lead us, for sure.

“I’m pretty enthusiastic about this group. We’re young and inexperienced, so we’ll just have to take the hits at the start, get back up and keep fighting. If we can do that, we’ll be hitting our stride in February and be dangerous come the regional.”

Novotney – who earned all-state and Tri-County first-team honors while pitching Marquette to the 1A baseball championship last June – was also a unanimous Tri-County first-team pick in basketball a year ago. With two varsity seasons already behind him, the 5-11 junior is the unquestioned go-to player and is within range the second he steps across half court.

Dobberstein, a solid all-around player, showed talent last winter and will be leaned on more, given team circumstances. One who figures to step into a starting role with them is 6-3 Lucas Craig, the younger brother of the former MA girls star who is equally comfortable in the post or at the arc.

There is plenty of depth at guard, where seniors Ashton Grady and Charlie McGrath, juniors Austin Ferracuti and Matt Graham, and sophomores Caden Durdan, Easton Debernardi and Ben Walker have looked good over the summer.

The Crusaders will be a little short on game experience in the post, but expect 6-1 senior Jaxon Rix and 6-1 junior Marcus Baker to be big contributors while a couple athletic, 6-5 freshmen – Blayden Cassel and Luke McCullough – get used to the varsity game.

In the Tri-County Conference, Hopkins feels Seneca, led by returning league MVP Paxton Giertz, is the team to beat. He also feels Woodland and a “dangerous” Midland club have a good shot at challenging.

Marquette may as well, depending on how fast they younger players mature.

“Right now we’re lacking experience, and it’s going to show early, for sure,” Hopkins said. “We’re going to have to be real patient here the first couple months of the season, because I don’t want to overwhelm these kids right off the bat.

“As a team, all the kids are athletic, they’ve all gotten stronger. … We’re fast, and we’ll be able to do a lot of different things defensively – play man, play zone, press and play pressure zone when we have a certain lineup out there. … Hopefully by the middle of January when we’re going into the Tri-County Tournament, they won’t be as green and we’ll have things figured out.”