The sound of balls bouncing echoes through the near-empty gym. Footsteps of running athletes thud on the wooden gym floor. The Lewis-Palmer basketball team is getting ready for their upcoming season.

The team is working to compete for a conference championship, and the opportunity to go on and compete for a state championship.

The team is doing many things and working hard to prepare for this upcoming season.

“Guys have been in the weight room working out, doing agility exercises and lifting to prepare for this season,” Coach Bill Benton said.“They’ve also been in the gym performing in the open gyms and skill sessions.”

From the players perspective they have been getting well conditioned as a team to build their strength.

“The team is running a lot to get well conditioned, and we are doing a lot of team building exercises,“ junior Charlie Hovasse.

The team is in a great position for success, with nearly the whole squad returning for another run.

“We only graduated one senior last year, so we have a lot of guys coming back with a large amount of experience also,”  Benton said.

“We made it to the playoffs last year, and we are just going to work harder than anyone else to improve and win,” junior Kyle Owens. “The overall goal is a state championship.”

The Pikes Peak Athletic Conference has many tough teams, but in terms of rivalries there is few bigger than Lewis-Palmer vs. Palmer Ridge.

“Palmer Ridge is going to be one of our toughest match ups of this year,“ Hovasse said, “It’s a tough rivalry, and it’s always a good game when both teams come prepared to play.”

The team is getting ready for their first game against Pueblo Central fast approaching on Dec. 2, and the first home game will be against Pueblo East on Dec. 9.