Maine-Endwell boys basketball is coming off their best finish in the programs history featuring both a sectional title and a state final four appearance. The team just getting practices underway but head coach Bill Ocker says they have the right pieces to go far yet again this season.

"We got a bunch of guys that were a part of last year's run," said Ocker. "We have been in the fire a little bit and that is where you grow, we will be as competitive a group as there is once we get our feet under us".

Many of the players on this squad were on the Spartan football team hence the delayed start to the season. One of them being Preston Ocker, a junior shooting guard who acknowledges the beginning takes time to kick some rust off; but it is all worth it if they are peaking at the right time.

"the first couple weeks are always super hard, my dad makes it really hard to get us ready," said Ocker. "There are no championships until later in the year like January and February so we just got to battle for that."

Where despite a younger team, the hunger to get back to where they were a season ago still remains the same. 

"Now we know what that level is like and now we're doing our best to try to get back to that level again." said Ocker.

Another big factor will be Luka Ioannisci, a junior who plays just about everywhere and says the chemistry as well as their high pressure offense could translate to finding the win column.

"We definitely want to get out and run," said Ioaninisci. "We definitely want to shoot a lot of threes and get up and down and rebound the ball, get out and go"

Maine-Endwell will open up their season on the road on Wednesday at Corning at 7:15 P.M.