Bureau Valley’s first adventure in the Lincoln Trail Conference was a big success last year.

The Storm ran the table 11-0 to claim the LTC crown on the way to a 21-12 campaign.

While they graduated some major players to that success like Elijah Endress, Bryce Helms and Landon Hulsing, don’t overlook the Storm this year, BV senior post Brad Schoff said.

“I think people may look over us,” Schoff said. “We’ve still got a lot of strong players and guys who got a lot of varsity reps last year and a good amount of guys coming up from the JV level that I’d say are very skilled and can hold their own on varsity.”

“It will definitely be different this year having a bunch of different guys come in and play a lot more minutes since we graduated a lot last year. That’s how that goes,” BV senior Logan Philhower said. “Pretty big expectations for everybody. Hope it goes well.”

Junior forward Blake Foster started some games last year and brings the most varsity experience to the table. Marquis said the Storm will depend on him “to set a tone for how hard we play.”

Philhower also started some games last year and has improved his defense and athleticism, Marquis said.

“We’ll need him to be aggressive and score in multiple ways this year,” Marquis said.

While he didn’t play a lot of minutes last year, the 6-4 Schoff is expected to fill a big role for the Storm.

“He’s got leadership skills you simply can’t teach,” Marquis said. “We need him to shore up his body language. He has the talent and build to be very good. He didn’t get a lot of minutes last year, but he could be our ‘X’ factor.”

Other returning seniors are Zach Wiggim, a sharpshooting guard, and forward Brandon Carrington.

“Zach worked hard in offseason. Need him to be a menace defensively,“ Marquis said. ”Brandon is a physical post player. Need to get him healthy from a foot injury lingering from football.”

The Storm also gained senior Wyatt Novotny, coming off an IHSA state golf championship, who has returned to the hardwood for the first time since his freshman year and has “grown a foot since then,” Marquis joked.

Juniors Carter Chhim, a guard, forwards Wyatt Birkey and Drake Taylor and centers Dakari Martin move up after competing for the conference championship last year at underclassmen level. Classmates Shane Tucker, Tyler Donnelly, Aiden Litherland, Tristen Nelson and Marek Johnson, all guards, will play more of a supporting role this year.

One promising newcomer is freshman guard Carson Gruber. Marquis said he has “put more time in the gym over the past two years than most people do in a lifetime, and it shows.” The biggest task for Gruber, Marquis said, “is getting adjusted to the physicality of the varsity level.“

The Storm have left the Wally Keller Invite at Wethersfield to form a new tournament with Erie-Prophetstown, Rock Falls and Riverdale, with games at multiple sites. They’ll tip off at Rock Falls on Thursday, Nov. 28.

“The boys have had great energy and communication in drills,” Marquis said. “We’ve shown our youth and inexperience in some of our moments that are more ‘live.’ It’ll come down to whether we can translate the habits we are honing in skill work into our games.”