After a trip to the state tournament last year, the Hermantown High School basketball team has their sights set on greatness once again.

With the loss of some key players, such as Blake Schmitz, the Hawks will have to shake some things up on the court. Off the court, however, the mentality hasn’t changed.

“We’ve instilled in our guys that this is our section to lose,” said Head Coach Andy Fenske. “Again, you know, we graduated a lot, but we got to understand that it’s ours to lose and we got to take that championship mentality and do it as well. The fact that so many people are probably thinking, ‘Oh, well, this is Denfeld’s year,’ this is their chance now to say, ‘all right, that’s a chip on our shoulder. Let’s go. Let’s prove them wrong again.'”

Senior Guard Peyton Menzel will also play a big part in the Hawks success this season, and carries the same expectation set by Fenske. “We’re kind of the favorite right now because we’ve been to states the last two years. Expecting to go to state again, we’ve got to live up to that, be able to play to that ability, and hopefully we’ll do that this year.”

The Hawks will meet up with Denfeld on December 5th for a massive season opening matchup.