The last time Adam Bontreger competed in Class 2A basketball, he earned back-to-back state titles at Westview High School. Now Bontreger, 27, returns to 2A competition as the new head coach at Tri-West Hendricks High School.
Tri-West hired Bontreger in the second week of May after a three-step interview process that evaluated eight different coaches. Eighty coaches applied for the job.
“[We hired him because of] his experience as a player, the fact he won a state championship, competed at the collegiate level, and how he turned around a program at Southern Wells,” Tri-West Principal Jim Diagostino said. “They (Southern Wells) were typically a football school and they were able to get things done basketball-wise. I think he will bring in some fresh and new approaches that the kids and our community can buy into.”
After graduating from Huntington University in 2005 and leading the Foresters to two NAIA national tournament appearances as a point guard, Bontreger coached at Class 1A Southern Wells for three years. When he took over the program, the Raiders were 2-19 the year before and averaged 30 turnovers a game.
“Honestly, when I first got there, we couldn’t do a simple three-man weave properly,” Bontreger said. “That’s how much we struggled at the simple fundamentals.”
The Raiders finished 5-18 his first year as head coach, 8-13 his second year, and 10-11 his final year. He also led Southern Wells to the sectional championship game in his third season. Next year, they are favored to win their sectional.
When Bontreger arrived in Lizton, he began building a “full program,” one of the main goals he stressed in the interview process. He wants to invest in the junior high, the freshmen, and the junior varsity along with his varsity players.
“He hasn’t let me down in any way, shape or form,” Diagostino said. “He has definitely backed up his talk with action, and the program has had a great summer.”
The varsity had a 15-6 summer record, the junior varsity played in two weekend tournaments, and the freshmen played in one weekend tournament. Two weeks ago, he took all three levels to team camp in Ohio. He also holds weight training for junior high and high school players three times during the week.
“I feel a lot better now after playing during the summer with him,” said senior point guard Randall Lowe. “It’s been a lot of fun. I think we will be really good. We will be small but the style of play he is bringing into the program will benefit us.”
Bontreger plans on playing a different style than former head coach Eric Rauch, who coached Tri-West for 11 years and will take the head-coaching job at Westfield High School next year.
The Class 4A Shamrocks were 8-13 last season and have yet to capture a sectional title.
“He was a flex guy; I’m a motion guy,” Bontreger said. “He ran a lot of sets; I run a lot of transitions. They played a lot of zone last year; I want to play man-to-man.”
Tri-West finished 13-11 last year and fell to Covenant Christian in the sectional final. The Bruins won a sectional title in 2008 — their first since 1991 — and a county title in 2006.
According to HickoryHusker.com, the Bruins are the dark horse in 2A basketball this year.
Bontreger will teach English at Tri-West in the fall and is getting married on Oct. 3 to his fiancé Stephanie.
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