Red Hawk boys hoping to compete in Coulee

A five-team late-season race for the Coulee Conference title last season ended up with Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau finishing a game out of the top spot, behind rival West Salem.

As the Red Hawks look ahead to 2020-2021, they embark on a new season without five of their top six scorers from a season ago. Head coach Jared McCutchen acknowledged the losses of graduated seniors Grant Beirne (23.1 points per game), Lance Lettner (6.7 PPG), Kyle Scherr (5.8 PPG), Tyler Hammond (5.3 PPG) and Trent Harshman (3.5 PPG) as a special group of leaders by example. Beirne was also a standout performer, named conference player of the year

“I had coached them all since they were freshmen in our program. They were quiet by nature but spoke loudly in actions,” McCutchen said. “They were at every open gym, every practice, every game...We will miss their dedication.”

Senior Sawyer Schmidt, a two-time First-Team All-Coulee Conference player, is the lone returning starter after finishing second on the team in points per game with 14.9. In addition to his ability to spot up a jumper, Schmidt was a valuable facilitator, compiling a school record 152 assists in 2019-2020. McCutchen said he anticipates Schmidt will eclipse the all-time school assist record with another strong season, which will require the lineup around him to finish open looks efficiently.

“We struggled shooting the ball as a team last year consistently,” McCutchen said. “To take a little pressure off Sawyer, we will need a lot of players to step up and make shots.”

The rest of the senior class filling out the rotation will be Luke Vance, Aiden Lee, Riley Kirkey, Jaren Miralles, Taisei Purney and Logan Teske. Among that group, only Vance saw time in all 24 games, compiling 2.6 PPG in limited action off the bench. Freshmen Cody Schmitz and Jack Beedle, as well as juniors Will Thompson and Zach Grams will look to contribute as well.

Despite limited experience returning at the varsity level, McCutchen said he will be counting on the senior group to set the tone early. With games against Coulee foes such as Westby, Viroqua and West Salem over the first month of the season, the Red Hawks are well aware they cannot afford a similar 1-5 start that plagued them late last year.

“I’m hoping that getting small spurts in the gym this summer and this fall will help our early schedule,” McCutchen said. “Not a ton of schools were able to get in their gyms over the summer or fall. We were fortunate to safely be able to get some skill work in before the season started.”

On staff, Scott Hovell returns as JV coach and G-E-T alum Tyler Scherr re-joins the program as C-team coach. Overall, McCutchen said the seniors are hungry to prove themselves and underclassmen will be up to the challenge as well. In a season shrouded by uncertainty, the Red Hawks anticipate to be competitive in the Coulee once again.

“We are pretty happy to just have the opportunity to be in the gym right now,” McCutchen said.