By KIM NORTH

Times Leader Sports Writer

BRIDGEPORT – Entering his 19th season as the head coach of the Bridgeport boys’ basketball team, Donnie Cash finally has some height on his roster.

The past few years has seen the Bulldogs utilize a small roster which hurt them at the Division III level. They have dropped back down to Division IV this winter.

“We are looking to improve in the preseason and in our scrimmages,” Cash said. “We have a lot back from last year and a few others that came back out. We do have some length this season and most of the kids are athletic.”

Half-a-dozen players return as lettermen, led by senior Colin Jackson (6-0) who returns for his second season. He was second team All-OVAC.

“Colin is back as our leading scorer and we are looking for him to expand that a little bit this year,” Cash noted. “We need him to be our leader.”

Other returnees one-year letterwinners in seniors Gary Widmor, Daniel Spurlock and Kyle Kerns; and junior A.J. Gear and sophomore Avery Jackson.

“Gary will be with us for the entire season after missing part of last year after transferring in,” Cash said. “That should help us out. He needs to step up into a leadership role, as well.

“Avery and A.J. played valuable minutes last year as newcomers to the program. They have a year under their belts now, so that should really help them.

“We are looking for Daniel to really step up and help us out this year.”

Two players Cash is expecting big things out of are junior Lamar Kendricks Jr. and freshman Jaki Threet.

“Lamar played as a freshman and he will help us tremendously with his ball handling and quickness,” Cash added. “Jaki made an impact on the football team and we are hoping he can do the same in basketball. He is battling for time/starting spot on the varsity. He is a great kid who works hard.”

The remainder of the roster includes seniors Asher Stockwell and Hunter Hannahs; sophomores Lyrick Brown and Daniel Goff and freshmen Dane Cameron, Saylor Robinson and Dontaz White.

“There are some of those guys battling for spots and there are some that just need to be patient.”

New teams on the schedule are Edison and Steubenville Catholic.

“I like our length and team speed. We are a year older, and hopefully, the minutes the guys got last season will pay dividends,” Cash said. “Hopefully we can play 8-9 guys, but that’s not proven yet. We need to take pride at the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, we would like to play faster this season.

Lost to graduation were Aiden Tarr and Ciaran Flanagan.

Cash is assisted by Bailey Sieber.