After the highly touted Bulldogs varsity basketball team came up short for the Northern Buckeye Conference title last year, the 2022-23 team will look to return to conference supremacy.

Last year, the Bulldogs— winners of the league the previous two years—finished behind a talented Eastwood club. For the second straight year, however, they return enough talent and experience to be back in the conversation.

Head Coach Brian Vorst returns for his 18th season at the helm of the Bulldogs and will try to build off a 16-7 overall campaign last year. This year’s squad returns five seniors.

Brenden Revels will control the tempo of the game as he mans the point for the second year. He has the ability to penetrate and score as well as bring some intensity on the defensive end. On the wings, the team brings back Jake Morrison and Garette Murphree. Morrison, a versatile athlete, can be counted on for rebounding and is a threat to score from anywhere on the floor. Murphree will provide the long-range jumper.

In the middle is 6’10 center Derek Vorst. He is a presence in the post who can dunk off the block and also step back and shoot the three. Defensively, he is a shot-blocking force underneath. Also returning is Brandon Swope, a scrappy and athletic post player, whose hard-nosed attitude adds competitiveness.

Coach Vorst believes that the team has the tools to compete for an NBC championship. “That’s our goal every year,” he said. “We want to win the league and we want to make a deep tournament run.”

Vorst added, “We have a lot of experience. We shoot well from the perimeter, and we are strong in the post.” He believes these strengths should contribute to the team’s overall success. But to see this success come to fruition, Vorst knows the Bulldogs need to commit to improving their defensive effort. “We need to be really good defensively. In fact, we keep saying that we need to be the best defensive team we’ve had at Rossford, so that is our focus.”

Vorst also recognizes the need for the team to develop some depth. Last year’s team only went about seven players deep, an issue that had an effect come tournament time. Vorst is not interested in repeating that. The majority of the team’s bench will be made up of players who have had limited varsity experience. They will need to step up and adjust to the speed of the varsity game. Vorst is confident they will make the most of this opportunity.

The Bulldogs have several key matchups on the schedule this year. For non-league opponents, the team travels to Ottawa-Glandorf, Perrysburg and Wauseon. They also will play Defiance and will face Onsted, from Michigan, in the annual MLK Showcase.

In the league, Vorst believes that games against Genoa should be good contests.

“I think Genoa has the ability to be pretty good,” he said. He also acknowledged that Eastwood lost a lot to graduation and that they could take a step back.

“Genoa and Fostoria both have the players returning to really compete. It should be between them and us,” Vorst added.

Currently, Rossford is sitting on 1,199 total wins in school history. At press time, they had the chance to notch 1,200 program wins when they faced Kalida on November 23 at home. They will play again on Tuesday, November 29 when they host Fostoria for the first league game.

“We’re looking forward to the year,” said Vorst.