After going to the district finals last season, expectations are high for success this winter at Bethel High School, as the Bees are not only looking to capture a prestigious Cross County Conference title, but much more hardware in the post season.

Bethel opens their 2016-17 season on Friday, as they host Ansonia in a league game right out of the gate.

“Last year as a first year coach, I wasn’t sure about what to expect, but this year we come back with 95% of our scoring, and we have high expectations,” said Bethel coach Brett Kopp. “Our goal is to just get better. If we look for a district title, we forget to keep things focused and that’s to win a league title. We have to beat Ansonia before we can worry about beating the next opponent. We are truly keeping it one game at a time.”

“My philosophy is simple, score as many points as possible,” Kopp added. “I would love if we scored 75 points per game. We are going to play good hard man-to-man defense and press a little bit. We will play what is going to win us basketball games.”

Bethel has a lot of depth back, and Kopp feels that could be of the strengths of his team this year.

“If they try to take Caleb away, we will have guys who are going to be able to score,” Kopp said. “We have enough depth.”

Seniors for the Bees will captains Ian Anderson and Tyler Terry.

“Two of the most athletic kids in the conference as far as length,” Kopp said. “They had a successful football season and I hope that translates into basketball. Ian is an outside threat who can still drive, Tyler is an athlete who can get to the rim or hit the midrange jumper.”

Christian White also returns, as does Nate Rimkus, who started the second half of last season, and returns as a shooter for the Bees. Two more seniors will be counted on this season including Jesse Nickell and Alex Allen.

Leading the way for the junior class is Caleb South, who according to Kopp is the player that will lead this team.

“In my mind, the best player in the league,” Kopp said. “His work ethic is top notch. I came in for an interview and he was in the gym, I interviewed for an hour and he was still in the gym working out.”

Another junior expected to contribute is Jacob Evans, who started several games last season.

Two other kids came into the district, Daniel Hagan and Ryan Rose, who both will help out the Bees shooting the basketball and defensively.

Korri Hamlin returns to help on the defensive end, while Kendal James looks for make an impact for the Bees.

“I think we set a bar last season that just getting to a net-cutting game is not good enough,” Kopp said.