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Last season, the Bonner Springs boys basketball team was a group of mystery men to their Kaw Valley League rivals as they unveiled the Grinnell System on offense.

The system, which relies on a full-court trapping defense and a motion offense that uses a heavy dose of perimeter jump shots, caught opponents off guard. It also kept the Braves in games longer than they likely would have been due to their lack of size and basketball experience, Bonner Springs coach Ryan Hull said.

Hull had no doubt that he would bring the system back for a second season in 2009-2010.

“We are taking the next step within the system,” Hull said. “We are becoming more technically sound — which has been a pleasant surprise so far.”

Last year, Hull thought his team settled for shooting a 3-pointer far too often. If opponents stopped the outside shooters, the Braves had no other way of scoring consistently. He said this year the team is starting to read defenses and is finding other ways to score.

Does that mean another team will shoot more 3-pointers in a game than the Braves who once shot 54 treys in a game last season? Not likely.

“The outside shot is a big part of the offense, but I think we have guys that are willing to accept their rolls within our system,” Hull said. “We have the right people doing certain things. There are shooters, screeners, rebounders and assist guys — you need to have all that to play well.”

Leading scorers Juan Pichardo and Kyle Day return for their junior season, as do six other letter winners.

Guard and assists leader JJ Jackson showed flashes of brilliance during his freshman campaign, but he still is feeling the effects of a wrist injury he suffered during football season. In addition, sophomore guard Steve Williams has missed a week of practice because of a medical procedure, but Hull hopes to have Williams back after the Thanksgiving break.

With the injuries already piling up, Hull was more than happy to welcome three transfers into the program.

Senior Wole Imokhome transferred from Sumner Academy and is eligible to play from the beginning of the season. Hull believes Imokhome, who is a big-bodied 6-foot-3, will be a nice addition to a team that needs to get better at rebounding.

Another transfer from Sumner is sophomore point guard BJ Watson. Watson is only 5-foot-6, but he is quick according to Hull and will push for extended playing time when he becomes eligible in January.

The third transfer is Justin Sherbino who moved to Bonner Springs from Michigan. Sherbino is a senior who Hull describes as “100-percent effort and heart” and likes to shoot.

Sherbino and Imokhome are joined by the only other senior on the team, Ryan Morris, as the team’s leaders.

Morris gets high praise from his coach.

“Ryan Morris is an awesome kid,” Hull said. “He is an absolute pleasure to coach. He is a straight A student, he is the most coachable guy I have ever had, he is a great citizen. All around he is a great kid.”

Morris, who plans to play baseball in college, is not recognized as the most talented basketball player on the team, but he is not afraid to get his nose dirty. Last season he outhustled players to loose balls and garnered some second looks from opponents because of the mouthpiece he wore to protect his teeth. When the black mouthpiece was in, it appeared that Morris had all of his teeth knocked out, leaving just a little bit of doubt for guys that may try to jump into a scrum with Morris.

The Braves managed a 6-15 record last year and may improve upon that total this season, though Hull does not think wins and losses truly measure the success of his team.

“I keep telling the guys that we will be a different team as the year goes on,” Hull said. “We will build towards the end of the year and use all of the positives to our advantage. Sure, this year I expect better, more consistent play out of our guys.

“We play more guys than any other school in the area. We lettered 15 guys last year and this year we have 35 guys on the three teams (freshman, junior-varsity and varsity). They will all get significant playing time as long as they do what we are telling them to do. We get kids involved and excited about basketball. If we win or lose, every kid will have made a contribution to the outcome of the game.”

Fans can catch their first glimpse of the Braves at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, at the annual Black and Orange Scrimmage. Bonner Springs opens the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at Lansing.

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