The Fort Calhoun boys basketball team broke a 99-year state tournament drought last season.
It went 21-7 overall and finished fourth in Class C1 after a first-round upset of No. 1 Wahoo.
The Pioneers did all of that, but Grayson Bouwman and company aren't letting their successes go to their heads.
“I'd say not much is different,” the junior guard said Nov. 21. “We still have to prove ourselves coming into the year.”
Coach TJ O'Connor's FCHS squad opens its new season 8 p.m. Friday at Fremont Bergan. It returns two starters and six letter winners, but its not leaving behind the edge that got it to the heights it reached last March.
“Once games start, we have to have that chip on our shoulder and keep playing with that throughout the year,” Bouwman said.
The Pioneer finished his sophomore season with a 17.1 points-per-game scoring average to go with 2.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and two steals. Both the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star named him a first-team all-stater.
“Obviously, all-state is a big thing,” Bouwman said. “But it really doesn't matter as long as your team wins.”
Senior Austin Welchert helped produce Fort Calhoun's biggest win in a century when he sunk a state tournament game-winner against the top-ranked Warriors in Lincoln. The guard will rejoin Bouwman in the starting lineup this winter after averaging 5.1 points a night last season.
Bouwman expects Glenn Hunter, Zach Nelson and Wyatt Appel to be key contributors during the 2022-23 campaign, too.
“Glenn Hunter is going to be a big scorer for us this year,” he said.
The Pioneers' freshman class has also impressed the junior as he and his teammates look to continue their successes into a new year.
