Royals Basketball Looks to Martin, Jorgensen and Stahl This Season

, the , looks to be very good for yet another season. What it won’t be is very big. So coach Ken Novak, who's seeking his seventh state title, is counting on three players to step up—especially when it comes to defense and rebounding.

Gone from last year’s team is , who is a freshman playing for Tubby Smith at the University of Minnesota, and , who is playing at Northern Iowa University. The Royals will need to find players who can rise to the occasion and fill in for two of the best players Hopkins has had in the past dozen years.

Hopkins starts practice for the 2011-2012 season Monday and kicks off play with a season opener Dec. 3 at home against Braham.

Demetrius Martin: “Our number two guard, Demetrius Martin is a veteran senior who will have to do a lot of different things for us,” Novak said.  “Offensively, he will need to be able to penetrate to the basket as well as hit the outside shot.”

Novak also looks for the six foot-one inch Martin to be responsible for guarding the opposition’s best perimeter player.

Nick Jorgensen: The senior forward was an outstanding sixth man off the bench last season. He'll start this year, and Novak expects the six foot-five inch veteran to guard the other team’s center.

“Nick can score, but just as importantly, he is going to need to defend and rebound for us to be competitive,” Novak said.

Zach Stahl: Novak called this six foot-six inch senior starter from last year’s championship team, ”a very unselfish player.”

He is the son of Dale Stahl, a long-time boys assistant coach.

“Zach is a great passer, but he will need to shoot more and there will be times when he will be called upon to guard players bigger than he is,” Novak said.