Hermantown Boys Basketball Begins Quest for 3rd Straight Section Title

Hermantown will have to wait two more weeks before they open up the regular season. And it's a big one as they'll host Duluth Denfeld on December 5th.

HERMANTOWN, Minn.- The quest for a third straight Section 7AAA title began earlier this week for the Hermantown boys basketball team.

The Hawks tipped off their season on Monday with their first couple of practices.

Andy Fenske is entering his 8th season at the helm.

He says this year’s team will need to replace some of the minutes and scoring that departed the program. That includes Blake Schmitz, Hermantown’s leading scorer who is now with Bethel University.

Fenske added though that the new look Hawks have been eager to get going all off-season long.

“The thing that excites me the most is how hungry these guys are. All summer long they kept showing up. They were the guys who were here at 7:30 in the morning, putting up the lifts there in the weight room there, down here on the court. They’re just guys who want to get after it. They’re guys who want to be here and they want to be here with each other. That makes it a lot of fun for a coach. We obviously have high aspirations for ourselves again,” said Fenske.

Fenske will rely on guys like Peyton Menzel, Abraham Soumis, and Nathan Hill to lead this year’s group. For Menzel, he says speed is the key for the Hawks.

“Yeah we’re going to be able to play the game fast again. Be able to move it down the court. We’re really good shooters so I think that will play to our advantage. If we can just play good defense like we have in the past, we’ll be set,” added Menzel.

Hermantown will have to wait two more weeks before they open up the regular season. And it’s a big one as they’ll host Duluth Denfeld on December 5th.