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THERMOPOLIS - With a young and largely inexperienced group, Hot Springs County boys basketball coach Kevin Gerber knew the early part of the 2017-18 season was going to be a learning experience as the younger players became more familiar with varsity level basketball.

At the East-West Classic in Douglas, the young Bobcats gained plenty of experience and more than they initially expected. Senior forward Noah Schwalbe, last season's leading scorer, was lost for the weekend when in the first game of the season he suffered an eye injury.

"We played some pretty tough competition. One of the biggest hits we took was losing Noah in our first game against Lander. It was a tough blow because we had waited a week to play and right in the first game you lose one of your seniors for the weekend.

"I think that made everyone a little bit nervous because besides Hudson [Roling], Noah and Cade [Zupan] we didn't have anyone with varsity experience. So our younger guys were asked to step up and fill in," said Gerber.

With the loss of Schwalbe, senior guard Hudson Roling guided the Bobcats and provided excellent leadership throughout the tournament.

"Hudson for the whole weekend averaged about 18 points per game and played very well for us. He knows this year we're going to need him to step up on both ends of the court and he did that in a big way in Douglas. He's also a great leader out for us. He's always been my coach out there for us and that's huge for us because he can read what's happening and get guys where they need to be," said Gerber.

Gerber also saw junior Sean Miller and the team's group of sophomores step up in Schwalbe's absence.

"Sean Miller played really well and has a never-ending motor. It's a lot of fun to watch him play and he is going to get better and better with each game.

"Our younger guys, we have quite a few sophomores, that's our largest group this season, and I'm so blessed that one of them is my son [Sterling Gerber]. Seeing the competition between them and the team to make each other better has been a lot of fun to watch. They all got to see some time on the court, they produced and I was really happy to see them step up like that," said Gerber.

The 'Cats did go 0-3 during the Classic, losing to Lander 65-38, Lovell 59-42 and Riverton 75-45. From the looks of the scoreboard, it was a rough outing for the team but Gerber saw it live, then again on tape, that there were a lot of positives for them to build off of.

"The scores I didn't feel were indicative of how well the boys were able to execute. Defensively, we'll need to hold teams to lower scores than 70-plus, but I think as we move forward as a coach it's that clichéd thing that you want to say be better than you were yesterday. We did see that which was really encouraging," said Gerber.

One of those positives from the Classic was his team's ability to drive to the basket with purpose and not settle for a quick outside shot like they did last season.

"This year I've challenged the boys to not settle for shots. I felt like last year we did that a lot settling for shots because we thought we had a shot clock or something. In Douglas they were attacking and it was fun to see that and we'll have to keep being that aggressive," said Gerber.

Added Gerber: "Overall, I felt really good about the boys and what they were able to do. We got better each game and against really strong competition, they're a fun team to coach."

The adversity will be a constant throughout the season for the 'Cats and Gerber has been stressing the importance of coming together with each win or loss. And in Douglas, he caught a glimpse of that bond forging as his team was disappointed after each loss but were not lashing out at one another. Instead, they were picking each other up and talking about how they can improve.

"We've talked a lot about staying together as a brotherhood and showing our hearts all the time so people know what we are about. They get upset about the losses but it's not an upset where they're throwing chairs or yelling at each other. They channel the disappointment to working on what they can do better on the court and how they can better help the team," said Gerber.

Coming out of the Christmas break the 'Cats will host the Lovell Bulldogs on Jan. 4, and on Jan. 5-6 will play in the Big Horn Basin Hoops Fest in Thermopolis and Worland.