The Mayville boys basketball team hopes to continue their climb up the Wisconsin Flyway Conference standings with a new coach this season. Zach Jahns takes over the program from Matt Hurtienne who stepped down after last season. For Jahns it’s his first varsity head coaching position, after spending time as an assistant at, Kettle Moraine Lutheran, Wisconsin Lutheran and Brookfield Academy.
The Cardinals return good group of players from last year’s squad that went 10-14 overall and 5-7 in the Wisconsin Flyway Conference. Sophomore Addison Mittelstadt (13p 5r) returns after a freshman season that saw him collect Honorable Mention All-Flyway honors. Seniors Zach Weiss (2p, 3r), Aaron Anderson, Alex Borkenhagen, and Hunter Traver also return. Junior in the mix this season include Braedon Vollmer, Jimmy Held, Andrew Thom, and Reilly Nadolski.
“For us it’s got to start with defense. We know we are not going to be scoring 70 to 80 points a game.” Jahns told DailyDodge.com. “So we’ve really been challenging our guys in practice. Your defense has to fuel our offense. We’ve got to win the toughness battle, the rebounding battle, the physicality battle and do the little things.”
Mark Miller’s Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook picked Mayville to finish 5th in the Wisconsin Flyway Conference his season.
After spending the first week of practice in quarantine, Mayville is off to a 1-1 start this season, dropping their season opener to conference favorite Laconia 61-53 last Friday, then knocking off Waupun 62-57 on Monday night . Through the first two games this season, Traver is averaging 20.5 points per game and Mittelstadt 15.5.
“I’ve been really impressed and really proud of how we’ve played so far. The first week of practice we were quarantined, so going into the start of the season you have the team picked to win your league Laconia on Friday night, then you have to come back on Monday and go play at Waupun.“ Jahnz said. “So far I’ve been really impressed that we’ve challenged the kids and they’ve been responding very very well.”
The Cardinals travel to Fond du Lac for a matchup with St. Mary’s Springs on Thursday night.
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Click the link to hear a full interview with Mayville boys basketball coach Zach Jahns
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