by Gunnar Davis

Success is something that comes to mind when one thinks about the PCM Mustang boys’ basketball team. The Mustangs have either won or had a share of the Heart of Iowa Conference championship four out of the past five years. This year, the Mustangs hope to again to be playing for that championship and look to make a deeper run in the playoffs as well.
“Well, we always have two goals every year,” Head Coach Fred Lorensen said. “One is we want to compete for the conference championship. The other is we want to be playing our best basketball when the tournament rolls around.”
Last year, the Mustangs went 17-5, winning a share of that coveted conference championship, but they lost for the third-straight year in the playoffs to Pella Christian, who eventually went on to place in the State tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.
Lorensen said that one of the biggest challenges for his team this year is the fact that the Heart of Iowa Conference will be good this season. Last year’s shared champion Gilbert will lose a lot of talent from graduation and athletes moving away, but teams like Nevada and South Hamilton return a decent group of strong capable athletes.
The Mustangs overall lost five seniors who played a strong amount last year, three of them starters. But for the first time in a couple years, PCM returns two starters this season. They return a junior honorable-mention All-Conference pick Luke Greiner, who looks to build on last year’s strong sophomore season. They also return Logan Gilman, a recent Grand View basketball commit who will be a three-year starter for the Mustangs and was a unanimous All-Conference pick last year. Gilman averaged 17 points and eight rebounds a game last season and will look to lead the team in his senior year.
“The team looks really good right now and we’re meshing together well,” Gilman said. “There’s a lot of excitement for the up coming season and I think we’re all ready to go and show what we can do.”
Others who received playing time during the 2015-16 season were incoming senior Austin Brown and incoming junior Mark Bruxvoort. Lorensen will most likely lean heavily on a few varsity newcomers.
Your first chance to get a look at the new Mustangs will be on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at South Hamilton, with girls starting at 6 p.m. and boys starting at 7:30.