Editor’s note – This is the ninth in a 17-part series of high school basketball previews counting down to the scheduled opening night of the regular season Nov. 29.

It’s a new era for Warren East boys’ basketball, with Kyle Benge taking the reins as head coach.

Benge faces an enormous task, trying to guide a program that has lost 25 straight games to District 14 opponents and hasn’t made the Region 4 Tournament since 1997.

That challenge is why Benge was eager to take this job.

“The first thing people talked about was how difficult the district was,” Benge said, “I made reference to the old high school I was at the last four years (LaPorte High School in Indiana). They had 1,900 kids and we were the smallest team in the conference. I am used to being the small underdog. I think it is the role we have at Warren East.”

Benge inherits a roster that features three seniors and seven juniors, returning the bulk of last year’s team – including leading scorer Isaiah Andrews.

Warren East’s roster did take a hit in the preseason with 6-foot-6 senior Devaughn Williams suffering a knee injury in August. Williams is hoping to return late in the season.

Even without Williams, the Raiders have experience and are adversity-tested after being limited to 14 games last season due to COVID-19 protocols. The team was quarantined four times, unable to get any sort of flow to the season.

“It was basically a lost season,” Benge said. “For these juniors and seniors, they basically haven’t played in a real game with fans in the stands for two years. I am excited to get back to a little bit of normalcy here.”

Andrews averaged 13.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in nine games last season, giving the Raiders a potential go-to scorer and rebounder. Senior guard Kaleb Matlock brings experience in the backcourt, while sophomore Tray Price saw plenty of time as a freshman.

Senior Trey Colson and juniors Isaiah and Simon Ghee are among the other returning players.

“We are going to have to play a different style of basketball to compete in our district,” Benge said. “Our guys understand that. Our mentality, grittiness, toughness defensively, those are the type of things we are going to have to buy into to play with the great teams that we have in our district and region.

“It’s going to be a process. We kind of know where we are at, trying to build a culture, build a foundation of winning. It’s not going to happen overnight. I think these guys know that. I know that. I want fans, I want our parents to come to games and see how hard we play.”

And the players are hopeful that hard work can lead to the program’s first Region 4 tournament appearance since 1997.

“I think that would be the objective for any team,” Andrews said. “You always want to try to make it. You always want to try. I think that would be the goal. State would be the goal. I think we can do it. We have the potential to do it.”