Rosholt, A-B try to stay at top of CWC small By MIKE KEMMETER of The Gazette For the last three seasons, either Rosholt or Almond-Bancroft has finished the season at the top of the Central Wisconsin Conference small division standings and the two teams may be in the mix again. The Hornets have some big holes to fill in order to win their third straight title while the Eagles have a senior-filled team that hopes to return the conference crown to A-B for the first time since 1998. Rosholt The Hornets have seven returnees from last year's conference championship team but are missing Ryan Zdroik, the 1999-2000 conference player of the year, and starting forward Joe Kluck. One of those seven returnees, point guard Brad Zdroik, may not be back until late in the season, if at all, after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in football. Seniors Luke Lane (forward) and Kevin Flick (guard) are back after starting last year. Senior Nathaniel Miller (center), juniors Bryce Domask (guard) and Dane Zdroik (guard), and sophomore Randy Printz (forward) also return from last season's team. Junior Cole Firkus (center), sophomore Kody Karch (forward), senior Dean Groshek (guard) and freshmen Matt Zdroik (guard) and Adam Macht (forward) are the team's newcomers. "I expected, before Brad's injury, we were in the top three in the conference. We think he will be back, we're hopeful," Rosholt coach Steve Schoofs said. "I think we have the talent to be a top three team. We have experience. I think we have a lot of experience." In the conference, Schoofs said he thinks Wild Rose and A-B are "pretty much the top two. Iola always has talent too." There are four new coaches in the conference - at Wild Rose, Iola-Scandinavia, Tigerton and Port Edwards - so Schoofs said it is hard to say what will happen this season. A-B coach Curt Lamb is in his second year, meaning five of the nine conference schools have had new coaches in the last two years. Without Ryan Zdroik, it is the first time in several years that Rosholt hasn't had a dominant force inside. That means Schoofs is changing the team's system a bit. "We're going to have to speed up the game," Schoofs said. "We don't have the horse inside. We're going to have to do things differently." With Brad Zdroik out indefinitely - Schoofs hopes to have him back before the season is over - Dane Zdroik or Matt Zdroik will start at the point guard spot. "How those two handle early pressure will be important," Schoofs said. Their early season schedule, which opened at Wittenberg-Birnamwood Tuesday, includes games against Amherst, Port Edwards, Iola-Scandinavia and Tigerton before mid-December. Schoofs said it's important that the Hornets don't do what I-S did last year. The Thunderbirds started slow, fell four games behind first place and never recovered. "I'm optimistic we will gel, I just don't know when," Schoofs said. Almond-Bancroft The Eagles, who finished second to Rosholt in the conference last year, have a senior-laden team and will try to fill holes left by three starters. Seniors Matt Cummings (guard), Chris Leary (guard), Joe Rendell (guard), Gavin McIntee (guard/forward), Brian Warner (center/forward) and Daniel Bradley (center) will have major roles. Senior forward Mike Johnson will come off the bench for A-B. The Eagles will try to replace cousins Trevor (center) and Kent Dernbach (point guard), as well as Blake Schultz (forward), who all started last year. Cummings is slated to take over the point guard spot. Junior Matt Beigel (guard), and sophomores Adam Berry (center) and Joel Erickson (guard) are the team's newcomers. "I expect us to compete for the conference title," A-B coach Curt Lamb said. "I expect us to be very competitive in every game." Wild Rose, Rosholt and Port Edwards are the other teams to watch in the conference, he said. "Our defense will keep us in every game and it will come down to our perimeter shooting and our ability to take care of the ball." Lamb said the team's strengths are "defense, senior leadership, our work ethic and our unselfishness." Offensively, A-B will try to be an up-tempo team with a lot of ball movement, he said. The Eagles open their season at Montello next Tuesday.