Streator boys basketball coach Beau Doty summed up his Bulldogs’ mindset toward the season ahead in a single, succinct sentence.

“Whatever outside people’s expectations are for us,” he said, “our expectations are higher for ourselves.”

Those would be some high expectations indeed, as this winter’s Bulldogs — coming off a 10-3 season — are forecasted to do quite a lot led by 11 seniors and an experienced, three-man core Doty calls as talented if not more so than any he’s had in his 13 seasons (176-150 record, second only to hall of fame coach “Pops” Dale’s 500 victories) at the helm.

“We really want to be as ready as we can and see everything by the time February rolls around, and I think our kids are in a good frame of mind right now when it comes to that.”

—  Streator coach Beau Doty

Senior shooting guard Jack Starkey has been electric during his four-year varsity career when healthy; which he is entering the season, and looking better than ever. Sophomore point guard Christian Benning didn’t just fit in during his limited minutes playing varsity as a freshman last season; he stood out, both physically and in terms of production.

And then there’s athletic, 6-6 forward Jack Haynes, also a four-year varsity player and already a two-time Times All-Area First Team selection coming off a COVID-shortened 2020-21 season in which he averaged 15.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest. At 593 points, he’s on a trajectory to become the first Bulldogs male basketball player to reach 1,000 career points since school all-time leading scorer J.J. Cravatta flew by the milestone 11 years ago.

“Jack Haynes has really come along and developed his all-around game,” Doty said. “He’s confident handling the ball, he’s confident is his ball-handling, his footwork and his jump shot looks great. He’s put in a lot of time to becoming an all-around, complete player. ...

“Jack Starkey is eager to show everyone exactly who he is. He’s one of the most dynamic players I’ve coached in terms of sheer ‘wow’ factor when you watch him play. Injury shortened his season last year, but through three games he was our best player. ...

“Christian has really taken the reins and been solid for us. We’re asking a lot of him this season ... and I think his ball-handling, his ability to defend multiple positions and his physicality are going to be huge assets for us. ...

“We expect a ton out of those guys leadership-wise and establishing the culture we want to build, establishing also the pace we want to play at and the way we want to compete.”

While that trio is expected to be at the center of what the Bulldogs do, they won’t be alone, supported by a large senior class “competing for the lion’s share of the rest of the minutes,” Doty said, and three juniors rounding out the varsity roster and also expected to contribute.

Inside/on the wing with Haynes will be the likes of seniors Tyler Luckey, Blake Ewing, Cade Stevens, Dane Winterrowd and Alex Ward, as well as juniors Jake Luckey, Cooper Spears and Austin Taylor. Competing for time on the perimeter are 12th-graders Nolan Barr, Noah Colter, Davey Rashid and Sean McGurk.

“I think a lot of those guys, especially the seniors who were juniors last year in a shortened season, are hungry,” Doty said.

With an eye on being prepared for a run at a postseason title, the Bulldogs have bulked up their schedule. SHS added the St. Joe-Ogden Shootout (Jan. 8), DeKalb (Jan. 22) and Washington (Jan. 29) in addition to a slate that includes Ottawa’s season-opening Dean Riley “Shootin’ the Rock” Tournament (Nov. 22-27), a trip back up Route 23 to face the Pirates (Dec. 11), a more concentrated Plano Christmas Classic (Dec. 27-30), a visit from La Salle-Peru (Jan. 11) and the usual Illinois Central Eight Conference slate.

“We challenged ourselves with our [summer schedule filled with] shootouts and some upper-echelon teams we played,” Doty said. “It really opened our eyes. I think we have an athletic group ... and we’re a team that has high goals for ourselves and wants to challenge ourselves, because you want to be ready when you have to face those teams. ...

“We really want to be as ready as we can and see everything by the time February rolls around, and I think our kids are in a good frame of mind right now when it comes to that.”