OSBA PRE-SEASON PREVIEW: LINCOLN PREP

Hamilton’s Lincoln Prep is looking poised for a breakout year. After finishing the regular season in the middle of the pack with a final record of 10-12, the Huskies battled their way to the OSBA semifinals they fell short to the eventual OSBA Champions Orangeville Prep.

“Last year we started off not knowing where we would end up. We had a bunch of players that needed to get to know each other, however we came together well and bought into moving the basketball on offense while playing for each other on defense,” said head coach Kenold Knight. “We over-achieved for the talent that we had and got to the semifinals, but lost a tough matchup against the very talented Orangeville Prep team that went on to win the championship. We were very proud of our efforts last season and look forward to this season.”

The program unfortunately must part ways with four of their key contributors entering this upcoming season who all aim to make a name for themselves at the CIS and Junior College level. Key contributors from last season who left Lincoln Prep for College or University include: Burlington’s Kevin Kangu (6’4 G)- Midland College in Texas, Hamilton’s Sam Jenkins (6’5)-McGill University, Mississauga’s Adnan Begovic (6’7 F)-Laurier University, and Oakville’s Cullen Welsford (5’11 SG)-Laurier University.

Despite a sub-.500 regular season record, the team is looking to capitalize on an opportunity to yet again surprise teams in the OSBA with their new and improved roster and hopefully land them a spot in the OSBA Championship in April, 2018.

Lincoln Prep welcomes a total of eight new players to their program including four guards to their back court to help carry the scoring load:

G - Joshua Primo (Oakwood) will provide both scoring and 3-point shooting

G - Blake Anderson (Bishop Tonnos, Hamilton) will provide both experience and scoring

G - Sami Jahan (St. Thomas More, Hamilton) is a pure scorer

G - Tyler Sagl (Oakville) brings scoring, and toughness on both ends of the floor

The Huskies have also added four new forwards to their frontcourt rotation to help fill the void of stretch shooters, rebounding and toughness - all areas which Coach Knight expressed the team needed to improve for next season:

F/C - Austin Burchat (Thunder Bay) brings size, rebounding, toughness

F - Igor Milkovic (St. Marcellinus, Mississauga) brings both shooting, length, and leadership

F - Andreas Skenderija (transfer from Bill Crothers) will bring a great deal of leadership, experience, and shooting

F Will Bazuk (Barrie) will bring scoring and athleticism

The Huskies will still depend on their key contributors from last year who helped the program make their deep playoff push including Tafari Simms (6’7 F) who exploded last year with a 34 point performance in an overtime win over Southwest Academy, Josh Noton (6’2 PG) who provides leadership and penetration to the rim, Tyson Cato (6’3 G) who brings toughness, aggressive defence, and rebounding every night, and lastly Lincoln Rosebush (6’9 F/C) who provides consistent rebounding and inside scoring.

 The Huskies are entering this season with a chip on their shoulder and are definitely looking to pick up where they left off from the 2016-2017 OSBA playoff semifinals. Keep your eye on Lincoln Prep this year, especially if both their new additions and their current seniors can develop together quickly.