Guhr steps in to lead Goessel boys’ team as coach

Written by Katie Morford Tuesday, 29 November 2011 16:31

The Goessel Bluebirds’ core of seniors and letter-winners this year includes, back row (from left), Drake Sterk, Davis Cook, Peter Voth and Braden Unruh; front row, Stephan Goertzen, Trey Schmidt, Nic Buller and Josh Booth.

An experienced boys’ basketball team welcomes long-time assistant coach Curtis Guhr as its head coach this year.

“I’m pretty excited about the whole thing,” Guhr said. “We have quite a few guys back this year, so I’m looking forward to keeping going what we did last year and hopefully adding my own stamp to the program.”

Last year the Bluebirds went 11-11, losing in the semifinal round of substate.

Goessel has eight seniors and letter-winners returning, and Guhr is looking to them to be key to the Bluebirds’ success.

“All these guys played last year, so I look to them to step up,” Guhr said. “I also have some younger guys who will hopefully step in and fill some shoes.”

Among them is senior Braden Unruh, who provides leadership and scoring potential.

Trey Schmidt returns at the guard position, and Nic Buller and Davis Cook also are expected to be key contributers.

The Bluebirds graduated five seniors, but they have six freshmen coming in.

“Hopefully, they can fill some holes and pick up the slack left by the seniors graduating,” Guhr said of the first-year players. “It’s a new situation for them, so they’re all learning and it’s taking a little while to get in the flow.”

Guhr said one of his team’s strengths is defense. Another is experience at guard.

“We have some pretty good guards and some pretty good shooters,” he said. “Hopefully, that’ll be a strength for us, too.”

They’ll need all that experience as they look to a league that should be competitive from top to bottom.

“It’s going to be a pretty tough season,” Guhr said. “But we’re looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can step up to it.”