As fall sports are in the past, boys basketball vastly approaches and with new alignment, as Greene County teams will finally reunite in the same conference. However, that doesn’t include Waynesburg Central

Of those four teams, Carmichaels did not move up in the alignment. However, they did move from section four to section three. Carmichaels finished last in their section last season with a section record of 1-10. To go along with that,Carmichaels is losing four starters from last season.

“This will open up a lot of opportunities for guys to step up and compete,” said Ian McCombs, Carmichaels boys head basketball coach.

 However for the Mikes, they are still trying to figure things out during preseason practice.

“We are still in the middle of seeing our guys competing for minutes in practice, and testing out new lineups,” McCombs said. “I want for all our guys to give it their all every night, and support each other.”

For Carmichaels, they have played against fellow Greene County opponents through the season. However, it has been out of section games. 

“I think the new alignment is a great thing for our school and the County as a whole,” said McCombs. “Not only does it make the local rivalry games more meaningful on paper, but it allows fans of each team to be able to easily travel to the game and fill the stands.”

West Greene is among three teams in the County to move up in the alignment. But according to coach Romanus, it might not be an easy transition. 

“We were only a couple kids over, and some of the teams up north have way more kids,” said Jim Romanus, West Greene boys head basketball coach. “Plus, we split kids which makes it harder.”

Monnesen won the section last season, but West Greene was only one game behind with a section record of 8-2. However, for the Pioneers, they are returning their top 10 players from last season.

“We were successful last season, so hopefully we can build off that,” Romanus said. “We have the experience of losing games too, but the kids have been working hard, so hopefully we can change that.”

The other two teams include Jefferson Morgan and Mapletown. Both teams were in Class 1A section 2, however, neither of them made the playoffs. Jefferson finished with a conference record of 5-5, one game behind California.

Mapletown finds themselves bumped up to class 2A but not on enrolment. The Maples voluntarily went up a class to stay in the same section as their County rivals. 

Now that practice has begun for teams, scrimmages are right around the corner, with the first set for Nov. 23.