Palmer boys, the underdog of the Valley

The Palmer boys' basketball team heads into the 2002-03 season with a completely new starting lineup.

The Moose lost five senior starters, but according to head coach Brandon Blake, the Moose have returners with varsity experience as well as a solid group of junior varsity players from a year ago ready to fill the vacant positions.

"It is just a matter of a really talented J.V. group to get experience at the varsity level," Blake said. "We have good senior leadership."

The Moose have not completely filled those vacant positions quite yet.

"We have about eight different guys in the mix," Blake said. "We are still tinkering around the lineup."

Among those who are expected to contribute for Palmer this season is junior Stanley Ratcliffe.

"He is a very good creator," Blake said.

Dustin Dubois is expected to be a primary scorer for the Moose.

Robbie Johnson should be Palmer's starting point guard.

"We have really good depth," Blake said. "They play hard and play well together. Of the three schools in the Valley, we are figured as the underdog and that is a role we like.

"We figure we can compete and we like the challenge of being the underdog," Blake said.

Palmer finished 15-10 last season.