Coach Speak: Yankton Basketball

<p>PHD caught up with Yankton Coach <strong>Chris Haynes</strong> for the first of many "Coach Speak" articles that will preview the teams in South Dakota as well as North Dakota this year.  </p><h2>Haynes on Returning Talent</h2><p><strong><u>Reid Sawatzke</u></strong>: 6’ senior. Averaged 6 points per game as a freshman and 11 points per game as a sophomore. Missed his entire junior season with a knee injury.</p> <p><u><strong>Tanner Frick:</strong></u> 5’11 senior. Averaged 8 points and 4 assists per game as a junior. All ESD conference.</p> <p><u><strong>Keenan LaCroix:</strong></u> 6’3 senior. Averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds as a junior.</p> <p><u><strong>Brady Sorenson:</strong></u> 6’2 senior. Averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds as a junior.</p> <p><u><strong>Blake Savey:</strong> </u>6’3 senior. Missed entire junior year with a knee injury.</p> <p><u><strong>Alex Withrow: </strong></u>6’2 senior. Missed last season with a knee injury.</p> <p><u><strong>Nate Stephenson</strong></u>: 6’1 junior. Averaged 2 points and 2 assists last year as a sophomore.</p> <h2>Haynes on what graduated:</h2><p>"The Bucks lost 5 key seniors from last year’s team that went 14-9 overall, 13-7 in the regular season, and 12-4 in the ESD which was good enough for 2nd place in the conference.</p> <p>"<strong>Brady Hale</strong> was one of those seniors. He was a first team All-state selection. Brady averaged 17 points and 6 rebounds a game in 16 games played for the Bucks. Brady missed the last 7 games of the Bucks season with a knee injury.</p> <p>"Also gone from last year’s team is 6’7 <strong>Evan Greeneway</strong>. Evan’s size and athletic ability made it hard for opposing teams to score around the basket against the Bucks. Evan and Brady were both all ESD selections a year ago."</p> <h2>Haynes on what lies ahead:</h2><p>"The 2015-2016 Bucks will rely heavily on their seniors. This class of seniors has some valuable varsity experience that should help the Bucks be competitive against one of the toughest schedules in the state.</p> <p>"The Bucks will play in 16 conference games with their 4 non-conference games being against the 4 Sioux Falls AA schools. Yankton feels like if they can defend and rebound at a high level they have a chance to have a successful season."</p> <h2>Haynes on the ESD:</h2><p>"The ESD conference will be extremely competitive this season. Most would probably say that Pierre, Aberdeen, and Watertown have the best chance to win the ESD championship this season.</p> <p>"However the other teams all return key players from last year’s teams. It should be a fun year in the ESD and will probably come down to the last week of the season."</p>