By JESSE TEMPLE
jtemple@muncie.gannett.com

GASTON — Technically speaking, if Wes-Del’s boys basketball team wins even two games this season, the Warriors will have surpassed last year’s output.

Realistically speaking, a two-win season just wouldn’t be all that fun, either. Really, players say they’d like something a little more.

“I want to be above .500,” Warriors senior guard Jordyn Lemons said. “We play 18 games in a (regular) season. I would want to win way more than nine games. We can look at last season and say, ‘That’s not going to happen again by any means.’ ”

What happened last season was that the Warriors struggled mightily to compete over the course of their 20-game slate.

They finished 1-19, losing by an average of 29 points per game. They lost in several ways, but hardly ever by single digits — that occurred only twice.

Wes-Del coach Joel Roush said the bulk of those struggles came because most of his players had little to no varsity experience.

“At one pointhink I started two sophomores and a freshman,” said Roush, who begins his second season at the helm of Wes-Del’s program. “The two sophomores had come off of an 0-20 JV season. It’s just a situation where they were having to play a year ahead of where they were ready to play. That’s not the case anymore.”

With more seasoning, Roush says he believes the Warriors should be able to compete at a much higher level, and he’s been pleasantly surprised by what he’s seen thus far.

“I knew coming in that it was going to be challenging,” Roush said, “but I didn’t know that these guys would be willing to work this hard, so it’s been rewarding.”

Wes-Del returns five players who started at various points last season. Leading the way once more will be Lemons, who averaged over 20 points per contest as a junior. Junior forward Drew Featherston provides the inside threat after averaging nine points and five rebounds a game in his sophomore campaign.

Senior guard Tyler Bennett tallied 5.5 points a game a year ago, and junior guard Kody Ledbetter contributed four points. Junior forward Duell Hatfield also saw varsity action as a sophomore.

Additions to the varsity mix this season are junior center Tyler Niccum and sophomore guards Austin Prather, Zach Burcham and Dakota Whittenburg.

Featherston said his team had found more of a comfort level working with Roush in their second season together, and he sensed changes in the mentality of the program.

“None of us really have had a lot of winning seasons, so we don’t have a whole lot of experience with it,” Featherston said, “but we’re just excited to have the chance to do it this year.

Wes-Del can match last season’s win total in the season opener at home against Cambridge City Lincoln on Nov. 25.

Contact prep sports reporter Jesse Temple at 213-5807.