2013-14 record: 12-7, 13-10
Coach: Matt Graves
Top players: Seniors Gary Sandler (G) and Charlie Thomas (F); junior Mike Heitzmann (G).
What you need to know: All eyes will be on Thomas, who signed his national letter of intent to play collegiately at Division I powerhouse Wisconsin after he graduates. Before then, though, Thomas and the Hawks have plenty that they hope to accomplish this winter. A lengthy playoff run, after being eliminated early in the postseason three straight years, is at the top of the list.
"It's no secret, this is the year we have been building toward ever since Charlie and Gary were freshmen up on varsity," River Hill coach Matt Graves said. "If we are able to run our stuff, control the tempo of games, it has the potential to be a really fun year."
Thomas is a 6-foot-7 forward that can beat teams on the interior and as a 3-point shooter (20 made threes as a junior). He was top three in the county in scoring (20.2 points), rebounding (11.3) and blocked shots (2.1) last winter.
Sandler is the other half of the senior leadership tandem, having averaged 9.4 points and 3.1 assists last year. In the early going, as junior Mike Heitzmann nurses his way back from a sports hernia, Sandler could slide over and play some point guard but Graves would ideally like to have him in more of a scoring role.
Heitzmann may be the key to everything, though, as he hit 29 threes last year as a sophomore on his way to almost eight points a night. His presence opens the floor a little more for guys like Thomas to operate.
The rest of the cast, outside of guard Cole Gabel (who will return in mid December), is a bunch of new faces that will be asked to fill a number of roles from rebounding, ball handling and maintaining the team's tradition of lock-down defense. In their 13 victories a season ago, the Hawks held their opponents to an average of just 47.4 points a game.
Some new names to keep an eye on are seniors Richard Mentle,and Ben Borucki (6-foot-6) on the interior, along with freshman Jaden Martin and sophomore Jake Robinson in the backcourt.