Dogies show promise

The Newcastle High School boys basketball team gave fans a little preview of the season to come on Saturday, at the annual Meet the Dogies scrimmage. In two 10-minute halves, head coach Allen Von Eye’s crew gave everyone a glimpse into what promises to be a very exciting season of basketball.

“This crew is so much fun to watch and to coach,” Von Eye said. “They are competitive and they battle every day in practice.”

The Dogies graduated five players from last year’s roster, Wyatt Cole, JJ Lipp, Will Beastrom, Pate Tavegie and Marshall Merchen.

However, Von Eye is bringing back key players in Thatcher Troftgruben, Teddy Troftgruben, Mason Rawhouser and Kyan Allen. The team is also getting back Connor Stohlhammer, who was sidelined last season due to an injury suffered in football.

Other returning contributors include Drew Conzelman and Landon Hatheway, who saw varsity time. Freshmen who are expected to contribute to the varsity squad this season include Dustin McCarthy and Colten Hatheway.

Seniors include Thatcher, Stohlhammer, Dayne Evenson and foreign exchange student Levy Shultz, who is playing basketball for the first time ever.

Juniors include Teddy and Conzelman, sophomores are Allen, Rawhouser, Landon, and Coen Tavegie, while the freshmen include Colten, McCarthy, Landen Hill and Lukas Benshoof.

“There are only 14 guys out this year so our numbers are low,” Von Eye said. “We’ve seen this coming for a while and we’re going to be pretty slim for the next few years, but those who are suiting up are all-in and passionate about the sport.”

The Dogies have more offensive power than they have in the last couple of years, and Von Eye is bringing back the running game to take advantage of his team’s athleticism.

“We’ve always had kids who have played great defensively, but this year we have some guys who got into the gym and really improved their offensive game,” Von Eye said. “We have a few perimeter shooters that should help us out this season.”

According to Von Eye, the west side of 3A competition is very tough this season and the East Conference will be as challenging as ever. He anticipated that Douglas and Buffalo will be tough again this year, and noted that Wheatland is bringing back a lot of contributors. Rawlins has a new coach and a lot of new kids. Torrington will return most of their squad from last season, so they will be solid.

Glenrock also has a new head coach who will bring an interesting twist to the Dogie/Herder match-up. Adam Humphrey is Von Eye’s younger brother, so in addition to a conference rivalry, there may be a little brotherly rivalry between coaches as well.

“That will be a fun match-up,” Von Eye said, grinning. “My nephew is also a freshman so he will be playing for the Herders and he is a pretty good player.”

Burns is back up in 3A and is returning pretty much their entire roster from last season.

“It’ll be a good conference again this year, but I think we will really be able to battle,” Von Eye said. “We’ll take some lumps early because we are young, but we have the potential to compete.”

With low numbers, the Dogies will only be playing junior varsity and varsity contests this season, and will only take a varsity team to the East/West Tournament in Lander this weekend to open the season.

“Our schedule for this tournament is going to be tougher than nails, but I am so excited to see what these guys can do this weekend,” Von Eye said. “The guys are hungry, they are passionate, and they give everything they have when they step on the court.”

The Dogies will open up their season against Lander on Thursday, and will play Lovell on Friday and Pinedale on Saturday.