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NEGAUNEE — Coming off an atypical Miners year, the Negaunee High School boys basketball team is looking to take their place among the best in the Upper Peninsula.

Negaunee went 8-8 last year, falling 62-52 in the MHSAA Division 2 district tournament finals at the hands of eventual regional champion Escanaba.

Heading into this year after losing two key pieces, the Miners won’t wow anybody athletic feats, according to head coach Dan Waterman. To combat that, they’ll have to be tough.

Negaunee's Mason Sager saves the ball from going out of bounds as official Steve Ayotte looks on in the third quarter of a game played against Manistique at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on March 12. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

“The way that smaller, less athletic teams have to do it is by being fundamentally sound and we have to be physical,” Waterman said. “We’re not the thickest team either, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be the toughest.

“Our drills, a lot of 1-on-1 stuff trying to instill that toughness (is) because I think that’ll carry us a long way. We shoot the ball pretty good, we just need to figure out how to stop people and finish possessions with a defensive rebound.”

Negaunee does have experience coming back, but one of their best players, Gerald Johnson, continues to battle a football injury. If he is out for awhile, it may speed up the development of younger players on the team, Waterman said.

However, the hope is to get Johnson back sooner rather than later.

“Thankfully, Gerald Johnson’s probably the toughest kid in Negaunee High School, (and) we’ve got that working for us,” Waterman said. “It’s going to be a pain tolerance thing for Gerald, and I know that if there’s any kid capable of getting out there and contributing, it’s gonna be him.

“But it’s kind of a good thing for our young guys because it’s been an opportunity early in the season in practice to step up in that role and get reps that they probably wouldn’t get.”

Negaunee has only eight players on the varsity roster but will utilize a couple of JV players with the fifth-quarter rule, according to Waterman. However, it’s a group that the coach thinks has the goods to get things done when it matters most by the end of the year.

“As for our eight fulltime guys we’ve got, I wouldn’t rather have any other eight guys,” Waterman said. “They are intelligent, they work really hard, and by March, we’re going to be a team that nobody wants to play.”

Johnson and Jackson Gladwell are the team’s only two seniors, which means a lot of youth will step on the floor. Mason Sager returns after starting every game as a sophomore, and it’s safe to say that Waterman expects a lot out of his junior point guard.

“He’s operating at the hardest position on the court, that’s point guard, you’re the coach on the floor,” Waterman said. “He’s responsible for breaking the pressure, with some help obviously, and getting us into the sets that we want to get into, and oh by the way, he has to score in double figures for us, too. He’s done an excellent job, he’s always been a great ballhandler and he’s starting to become more vocal, which we need out of the point guard position.”

Like every other year in recent memory, Negaunee starts off the season by playing Escanaba. It’s been an early test between two good programs, but now since they’re in the same district, it might just mean a little more.

“We try to challenge ourselves with nonconference games that will prepare us for the tournament, and that’s Escanaba,” Waterman said. “Now that we’re in Division 2, we’re in the same district as them and they’re always big and athletic.

“This year’s no different, we got our hands full for sure. It’s a good litmus test for us early in the year, win or lose we’re going to come out of that game with a little more experience and we’re going to have some film to show our kids on the things that we did well and the things that we have to clean up in order to be successful.”

Travis Nelson can be reached by email at tnelson@miningjournal.net.