Scouting Christian Liberty

Christian Liberty

Coach: Jed Bennet (7th season)

Last year's record: 5-20, 2-8

Graduated players: Jesse Castro, Steve Ringstrand, Joel Roberts, Jeremy Ligon, Isaiah Jaime, Matt Schuster

Returning players: Gabe Jimenez (Sr., F), Matt Merrill (Sr., F), Rob Litzenberger (Soph., G), Matt Umlauf (Sr., G)

Newcomers: Brandon Mihaila (Sr., G), James Tina (Sr., G), Jacob Thomas (Sr., G), Josue Alas (Sr., G), Titus Bennett (Jr., G), Miguel Perez (Jr., G), Justin McHugh (Jr., C), Breckin Aiello (Jr., G), Dylan Veigel (Soph., C)

Outlook: The Chargers will have a big hole to fill with the graduation of Jesse Castro, who scored 1,025 points in his career. But head coach Jed Bennett is optimistic about his team this season. "We had a great JV season last year," Bennett said. "They are very athletic and I am excited to see what they can do at the varsity level." Gabe Jimenez, Matt Merrill, Rob Litzenberger and Matt Umlauf all return and should pick up some of the scoring slack to replace another 29 points besides Castro's 14 points per game thanks to graduation. Bennett thinks that this year's team has more weapons. "We have a lot of players on our team who have been in the program for a while," Bennett said. "They all have been working very hard to get ready." Bennett thinks that his inexperienced group of Brandon Mihaila, James Tina, Jacob Thomas, Josue Alas, Titus Bennett, Miguel Perez, Justin McHugh, Breckin Aiello and Dylan Veigel will step into their roles quite nicely. "Our depth is very good," Bennett said. "With 13 guys on the roster that should help us to get out and pressure more consistently on defense." Bennett thinks with that, his Chargers can compete very well in their conference this season. "It will be an interesting year in the conference," Bennett said. "We should be in the top five with a lot of competitive games throughout the year."