Edwardsville's boys basketball team sports enormous senior talent for upcoming season

EDWARDSVILLE – This year's senior class for Edwardsville's boys basketball team has already proven to be very special.

The six-member class of 2017 includes arguably the best all-around athlete in the area in A.J. Epenesa; his contributions to the Tiger athletic program will likely be talked about for years to come.

Epenesa, Oliver Stephen, Mark Smith, Nathan Kolesa, Zach Doornink and Jackson Best make up the seniors on this year's Tiger team.

“It's a very special group of seniors,” said Tiger coach Mike Waldo. “They work hard, they're all good kids and really like each other.

“They all pull for each other and their work ethic is very good.”

This year's senior class have been part of the varsity team since the 2014-15 season. “They've worked hard to improve the aspects of their games and get better,” Waldo said. “They prepare for everything the best that they can; they've created a very good culture on our team where everyone pulls for each other and supports each other.”

Epenesa led the team in scoring and rebounding last season, averaging 16.8 PPG and 13.4 RPG; Stephen led the team in three-point shots made, connecting on 98 of 168 attempts for a 58.3 percentage as part of a 14.4 PPG average. Smith averaged 14.1 PPG and hit 135 of 164 free-throw attempts for a 82.3 percentage. Both Kolesa and Doornink made key contributions throughout the season off the bench.

Edwardsville's season gets under way Monday against Waterloo in the Highland Bulldog tournament; they take on Carbondale Tuesday, Highland Thursday and Belleville Althoff Friday.

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