The idea was intentional, and it will be far from easy for the Champlin Park boys basketball team, but that was what head coach Mark Tuchscherer was looking for.
The Rebels will play a schedule as difficult as any team in the state this winter, and that's just in the first seven games.
Champlin Park opened its season last Friday night with a 80-72 loss to defending state champion and fifth-ranked Minnetonka.
Before the calendar flips to 2009, the Rebels will play ninth-ranked Wayzata twice and face top-ranked Hopkins, which is just what Champlin Park wanted.
"We have a beefed up schedule, but that is by design," said Tuchscherer, who was scheduled to take his team into that brutal stretch with a home game vs. Wayzata Dec. 16 before visiting 2007 state champion Buffalo Dec. 19."
The thinking with these non-conference games was let's play some of the best teams in the state and get prepared. Win-lose-or-draw you are ready for the conference.
"A year ago, that is exactly what took place. Champlin Park opened up with three straight losses, but was better for it by seasons end, finishing with a 15-12 overall record and a second place finish in the Northwest Suburban Conference.
This year, the expectation is to be right back in the NWSC race, which on the front end should include Osseo, Blaine, Maple Grove, Centennial and Champlin Park.
For the Rebels to stay in that picture, they will likely have to shoot their way to the front. Size isn't something they posses, but they have the shooters.
"We are small, but we are pretty tough, athletic and quick, so it is going to be a different style," Tuchscherer said. "We are going to run and gun on offense, and we have the players to do that."
Junior Scott Theisen heads that list. He averaged 13.1 points per game as a junior and opened his senior season by dumping 31 on Minnetonka Friday.
"Scotty is lights out," Tuchscherer said. "If he is given time, there is a good chance it's going in. On the flip side, defenses are going to be aware of him and going to be after him, but hopefully we have some things in play where that will create other options for other people then."
Against the Skippers, Jasper Duberry did that with a 16 point performance, and the Rebels also got eight points from Kyle Zimmermann, seven from Ty Munneke, six from Josh Pella and two from Brandon Marquardt.
Duberry and Zimmerman both started last year as sophomores, and the latter will join Pella and D'Andre Williams in providing some sort of presence down low.
"We don't really have size in the post this year, but we are crafty with Zimmerman and Pella and Deandre Williams," Tuchscherer said. "That will be nice for us, because if they decide to come out and double the shooter, then hopefully we can get some easy buckets down low."
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