Graduation may have claimed a ton of points and leadership off of last year’s boys’ basketball team, but Aberdeen Roncalli is working hard to ensure that it will put a competitive team on the floor this season.

Gone are eight seniors, including four starters from a year ago.

“Definitely replacing not just talent, but experience, great leadership. I loved coaching those guys, but I got to commend our group,” said Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher. “They’ve done everything that they can to make sure that our group is ready to go for Friday night and every game beyond that.”

The Cavaliers, who open their campaign at Redfield on Friday, will be led by lone returning starter Jesse Hernandez. While the senior can still shoot the ball, he will be tasked with doing more things as a leader of this year’s squad.

“He’s starting to understand that his role last year was shoot the ball and don’t stop shooting the ball when you’re open,” Gallagher said. “He’s stepping up as a reliable defender. He’s an incredible ball handler. He’s really stepped up his finishing game, so really looking forward to what he’s able to do this year.”

He will be part of a strong backcourt that also features Austin Fisher, who saw major minutes a year ago.

“He’s really improved. He’s one of those guys that he’s the classic second child who wants to avoid his brother’s shadow. For years he’s been compared to Aiden, and one of the first things we told him is, we don’t need you to be Aiden, we need you to be Austin,” Gallagher said. “He’s a heckuva ball player. He can do a lot of really good things. He’s a … great ballhandler, so he’s going to do a lot bringing the ball up for us, push the pace a lot.”

Additional help will come from Sam Larson, who can also shoot the ball from the perimeter.

Interior strength can be found in the form of 6-foot-4 seniors Bryson Olson and Mason Berndt.

“(Bryson) saw a lot of time in the past two years,” Gallagher said. “Had to sit out some games from time to time, but he’s really proving himself. We’re excited to see what he can do with a full season, too.”

Berndt will proved some physicality for the Cavaliers close to the basket.

“He is what we’d call a football player on the basketball court, and he is perfectly fine with that,” Gallagher said. “He loves the physicality of the game. He understands his role is to the rebound the ball, his role is to set good screens, and finish around the rim.”

Ezra Feickert and Quinten Shelton will both be vying for major minutes and “both guys who can shoot the ball pretty well,” according to Gallagher.

Freshman Creighton Fisher is expected to make a big impact on this year’s team, despite his lack of size.

“He’s one of those tenacious players, 5-6 is all he is, but he plays like he’s 6-5,” Gallagher said. “He crashes the boards like crazy, shoots the ball really well.”

Fellow freshman Paul Barr-Kvapil will also be counted on. Gallagher said he is “kind of like a Bryson, just not as experienced, but plays well inside, but a really strong perimeter game as well.”

Put it all together and the Cavaliers will look to take advantage of mismatches on the perimeter, push the pace when possible and force opponents to take contested shots.

“We’re going to do what we can to get an advantage early in the clock,” Gallagher said, “and to do that you have to push the pace.”

On the other end of the floor, Roncalli will try to offset a lack of height by pressuring the ball out front.

“Our Achilles heel is going to be rebounding because of size. We feel like if we can force them into some off-balance, contested shots, that we’re going to see a lot of success,” Gallagher said. “It’s going to be a different brand of basketball than our guys have been accustomed to defensively.”

Gallagher said the Cavaliers have a motto of “choosing hard” this season, knowing that they will have to do the hard things to make up for a lack of experience.

“We’ll be the most inexperienced team out there as far as varsity playing time from last year,” Gallagher said, “but we also understand to be a good basketball team, you’ve got to be willing to do the things that other teams aren’t willing to do. … That’s really where we’re going to judge our success is are we doing everything in our power to become the very best that we’re capable of becoming.”

At the end of the day, the Cavaliers will rally around each other to bring out the best in each other throughout the course of the season.

“It’s not the best five individuals, it’s the five that play the best as a team,” Gallagher said. “We’ve got to be able to play selfless basketball. We’ve got to be able to play family-oriented, where we do everything we can to look out for the guy next to us. If we can play together, we have the potential to do a lot of great things.”