High school boys basketball coach Cody Angerman is ready for a new challenge and is curious to see how the new season develops.

The team is entering a rebuilding phase. They lost five seniors after last season, which ended with a sixth-place finish at the state tournament.

This year’s squad numbers about 13 and represents a healthy mix of different players, the coach said.

“I think it’s difficult to tell because basketball is kind of the last sport to get going during the school year,” Angerman said during new year’s week. “We haven’t managed to have a full practice yet because of weather, student illnesses, holidays and other things.”

He hopes to have everyone in place for the season opener Friday, Jan. 9.

Despite the turnover from last year, Angerman said the goal remains the same: The team wants to stay focused and finish at the highest level possible.

“We know there will be struggles, but we want to be the best team in the region,” he said. “I think we can be pretty demanding of the kids, and we’re just focused on maintaining a positive attitude throughout the season.”

Wrangell isn’t alone in its rebuilding efforts. Angerman noted that other schools also lost multiple players to graduation from last year.

“I’m interested to see what our competition will look like,” he said. “I really think it could all be up in the air.”

However, he knows one thing for sure. The level of competition will be stiff between Division 2A teams Wrangell, Petersburg, Metlakatla, Haines and Craig.

“We’re setting individual goals, but we’re also making sure those individual goals align with the team,” he said. “We succeed and fail together as a team.”

Angerman isn’t quite ready to rate the team’s defense, however, he has a good feeling based on what he has seen so far.

“A couple of players have started to really surprise me,” he said.

This is a common trend for the coach, who said there are consistently about five student-athletes who stand out from one season to the next. This year doesn’t appear to be any different.

“We have a pretty balanced group,” he said. “There’s some good depth.”

The current priority is conditioning. The goal has been to get all the players into “basketball shape.” Practices started in early December.

“We have so many kids that are athletes in multiple sports, but basketball shape is different than being in cross-country shape or wrestling shape,” he said. “And it’s very important for all athletes to be focused on every aspect of the game.”

The end goal is simple: Angerman wants the team to finish as high as possible.

“We’ve been very competitive the past few years, and we’re just going to continue to be like that,” he said.

Fans can catch the first glimpse of the new squad soon. The Wrangell boys basketball team will open their season with games Friday and Saturday, Jan. 9-10, against Haines, at the high school gym.