Josh Ihrke returns for his fifth full season at the helm of the Becker Bulldog boys basketball program and he is excited about as his squad that is comprised of  50 athletes in ninth to 12th grades. Eighteen are on  the varsity roster.

Ihrke has Anthony Miller assigned to be the JV coach and Brian Kuseske will be the ninth grade coach again this year. The basketball program is adding Andrew Neuman as their JV-B coach this year. Joel Makarrall and Greg Koubsky are also going to be working with the ninth grade team this year.  

 

Becker’s section was re-aligned and St. Cloud Apollo has left the section and Delano has been added back in. 

 

“ I am looking forward to the season,” said the head coach. “We lost a number of seniors last year that played a lot of minutes. I feel that we are a contender in the conference again this year.” 

 

Ihrke says his team has solid athleticism, scoring and defense to contend with every team in the conference. 

 

“The biggest indicator on the number of wins we have this year will depend on how we work together throughout the season,” he said. “In the section I feel that we will be overlooked with the addition of Delano. Sections will be a tough race with any of the eight teams that could come out of it and go to state. We need to come together to challenge Delano and Monticello.”

 

 Ihrke’s team consists of seniors Caleb Quernemoen, Jordan Ulbrich, Bryce Boser, Ethan Holm, Justin Kringler, Lucas Dertinger, Cole Benson and Travis Myers. Juniors are Sam Ricker, Sam Koubsky and Brandon Gustafson. Sophomores include Nick Mittelsteadt, Josh Fobbe, Carter Hietala, Gabe Lindbom and Cade Callahan. 

 

Boser and Dertinger were named Ihrke’s captains. Dertinger  is the team’s returning all-conference player from last year. 

 

“I really enjoy being a head coach,” said Ihrke. “I get the chance to work with great kids from first grade all the way to seniors in high school. The relationships that are formed from being a coach is something that goes far pass the x's and o's of the game.” 

 

Ihrke says he enjoys seeing boys develop on-and-off the floor into great young men and leaders in their school. 

 

“The competition that we face is something that I like too,” said Ihrke. “As it pushes me to be better as a coach and help the team become better.”

 

Ihrke expects his team to utilize its quickness and balance rather than size since they lost some big guys from the last two year’s squads.

 

“I feel that I would like to utilize more balance this year on both ends of the floor,” he said. “We lose some size from last year but still return a number of guys who will be ready to fill that void. I see already that we will have a number of guys that will be able to score and get to the rim. Defensively, we will need to continue to improve and use our chemistry to disrupt the flow of our opponents offense.”

 

 Ihrke feels his guards and post-up shooters will have good height and will complement each other. 

 

“I hope that we develop into a solid defensive team that keeps teams off balance with our defense,” he said. “Our offense will be more focused on getting to the hoop to score. We want all guys on the floor to be threats to score at any point in the offense.”

 

Getting a head coaching job in a high school is not just about holding practices and shouting at referees during games. Ihrke says he’s learned a lot from when he took over the reins five years ago.

 

 “One of the biggest things that I have learned that we need to improve on is playing together as a team,” Ihrke said. “I need to improve on creating that climate where every player understands that we need everybody to be successful. Each player matters and needs to fill a role on the team. With teamwork we can compete with any team on our schedule.”