After a nine-win season in 2022-23, the Greenwood boys’ basketball team took a step forward and was a respectable 14-10 against non-District 14 opponents.

But it’s that record against district foes – 0-7 – that Greenwood is most eager to erase.

The Gators have lost 16 straight against district opponents, but there is still cause for optimism that the streak can end this season. Greenwood returns a senior class that has gained plenty of experience the last two years and adds more talent underneath that has head coach Will McCoy excited about the potential this season.

“We had an interesting season,” McCoy said. “We thought and reflected on it a lot. (We had a) 14-16 season that could have very easily (been better). The key thing was we learned. We got better from those. These guys have been around. They’ve been through it. They were sitting on the bench as freshmen for a real special team a few years ago and got to experience that. They got thrown into the fire as sophomores and realized that it is pretty hard around here.”

Greenwood returns its top three scorers in Nick Simpson, Garrett Hatcher and Asher Pettus. The senior trio accounted for 54% of Greenwood’s points last season – with Simpson leading the way with 15.3 points per game. Pettus and Hatcher were the top two rebounders, with Pettus setting the pace with five boards a night.

Senior Ryan Troutman gives the Gators another option on the wing, while senior Tyler Reiter is expected to see more time – adding depth to the backcourt.

McCoy said Ojare Murrell, a 6-6 junior post, has had a really good summer. Junior Landon Meador came on late last year and will provide a perfect complement to Murrell.

McCoy is also excited about a deep sophomore class that is expected to provide depth for the Gators.

“We’ve got a really competitive gym,” McCoy said. “I am not going to make any crazy predictions, but it’s been a couple of years since the gym over there has looked like this. We are excited about that.”

And the mixture of youth and experience has McCoy and his staff excited about the season, and ready to step up to the challenge of what should be another deep and talented District 14.

“(Warren Central and Bowling Green) are all going to be really good again,” McCoy said. “I know that and they know that. South has been super competitive. We are hungry. We know we went from being right there in the mix to kind of being the bottom feeder in the district. We don’t like that and we want to do all we can to change that.”