Young.

That's the best word to sum up what Greencastle boy's basketball coach Bryce Rector saw from his Tiger Cubs last season, as they finished 7-17. 

"Looking back on last season, the thing that probably stands out the most was our youth. It showed quite a bit throughout the season, both in good ways and bad ways. I thought we probably lost several games that we were in position to win, and I attribute a majority of that to our lack of experience," Rector told The Putnam County Post. 

Not all was negative, however, for the Tiger Cubs, according to Rector. 

"I saw a tremendous amount of growth in players as the season progressed," said Rector, who is 97-76 heading into his eighth season. 

The Tiger Cubs used the offseason to develop both in terms of basketball and physical skill sets, Rector said. 

"Our kids have put a lot of time in the gym and have improved their game and have also spent a lot of time with Coach T in our weight program and we have seen excellent progress athletically in a lot of our players," Rector said. 

The Tiger Cubs will be paced this season by sophomore guard Sam Gooch and sophomore forward Cody Evans. A season ago, Gooch averaged 11.5 points per game and 4.2 rebounds, while Evans averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 rebounds. 

Also back are junior guard Anthony Adams, who averaged 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds, junior forward Jake Simmerman, who averaged 2 points and 3.3 rebounds, junior forward Ian Williamson, who averaged 1.3 points, and sophomore Nathan Sutherlin, who averaged 2.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and just under two assists. 

Rector believes the Western Indiana Conference, the Putnam County title chase and the sectional are all "wide open."

"I expect Greencastle to be competitive with everyone on our schedule this year and be in a position to win games with most of our opponents. We will still be relatively young this year, so it will be fun to watch our guys continue to grow throughout the season. I think the Greencastle team you see in the first game of the year versus Crawfordsville will be vastly different than the team you see at the end of year come tournament time. It should be a lot of fun to watch that progress and growth throughout the season," Rector said.