After a delay to the start of the season, the St. Louis U. High basketball team is set to kick off the 2020-2021 season with a back-to-back slate vs. MICDS on Dec. 11 and vs. Miller Career Academy on Dec. 12. 

MICDS, who began its season with a 13-point win against Whitfield, will pose an early challenge for the young Jr. Bills team in their first game. The Rams returned all of their players from last year’s 23-5 squad, including the 10 seniors on the roster, in contrast to SLUH’s senior-less roster. MICDS boasts a balanced offensive attack with three of their players scoring in double figures a season ago and—much like SLUH—are a threat beyond the three-point arc at each position. Six of their current players shot well over 35 percent on triples last year, led by senior Hasani Spann, who knocked down four threes in MICDS’ recent victory.

“We aren’t a very big team but almost every kid on our team can shoot threes,” junior forward Nick Kramer, who shot 35.0% on three-point attempts last year, said. 

The Rams’ height could cause issues for SLUH, a team very reliant on its guard-play. MICDS returns three forwards who all averaged over 5.0 rebounds per game, including Nick Roper, who posted a double-double in the team’s win over Whitfield with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jack Pronger, its leading rebounder from last year with 5.4 rebounds per game.

“We have a small unit this year,” said junior guard Luke Johnston. “We have to be in shape and give everything we have every play and execute.”

“Our biggest challenge is going to be our size,” Kramer, the team’s leading rebounder, said. “The only way to overcome that is with our toughness.”

After Friday’s matchup vs. MICDS, the Jr. Bills will take on Miller Career Academy, a team that finished 14-11 a season ago against a less challenging schedule. It will be the teams’ first game against each other since 2014.

After months of hurdles to overcome and uncertainty on the status of this season, the Jr. Bills are grateful to return to the court and play games for the first time since last March.

“It’s been a little more difficult with the masks and postponing games,” Kramer said. “We usually have some preseason games before every season, but this year we couldn’t.”

“Since we were really unable to get pre-season workouts in, when the season started we bought in every day to make the most out of every practice,’’ junior point guard Jaden McClain said. “Our team's biggest strength is that we have a pretty strong relationship. Having a healthy relationship helps create trust and confidence through the team which leads to success.”