Senior Conor O’Brien-Piubeni briefly shared his thoughts on the team’s 2022-23 season.

“It sucked,” he said. “We don’t want to repeat that.”

The Eagles went 2-16 overall (1-11 at the Grand Canyon) and finished the season in 37th place in the 4A conference final ranking after losing 10 straight games.

But Flagstaff will be bringing back several talented players that they believe can turn the program’s fortunes around.

“I thought we had a lot of good players, but we didn’t perform well last year. Now we have that chance,” said senior Jake Sentener.

The Eagles had just two players with international experience coming in last year, but some of the starters and contributors were young players stepping into high-level play. Despite the turmoil, five of Flagstaff’s top eight top scorers are set to return to the roster.

There’s also an opportunity to build chemistry early in the offseason before players head out for clubbing, fall sports and other activities until the teams regroup for the winter.

Flagstaff will practice regularly in June and will participate in several tournaments and leagues throughout the month.

Flagstaff kicked off their preseason campaign Friday with a 39-27 win over Paige in a tournament hosted by the Northern Arizona University men’s basketball team in Flagstaff.

Flagstaff come from behind in the second half, tearing pages 39-27 at Roll Activity Center pic.twitter.com/9kY97blcN0

— Eric Newman (@enewmanwrites) June 2, 2023

But while some players who played for the Eagles are back, they need to continue adjusting to ensure a better fortune in the future.

“There are some similarities, but we need to make some big changes based on this season’s talent. It’s a different type of roster,” Eagles coach Nick Walton said.

Flagstaff graduated three of the tallest players from last year’s team and are noticeably smaller overall. As a result, new strategies are born.

“We’re going to play a little bit faster and try to push the drive and get the ball inside,” Walton said.

“We can switch everything and trust each other to play defensively because some of us are close to the same size,” added Centerner.

One potentially notable move is the addition of junior Kolten Anderson. Anderson, who came out of the 2A Northland Prep Academy, averaged 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game last season and was named to the Central All-Region second team as a sophomore. He may have to miss a few games over the winter due to transfer rules, but he could have an impact on the team if he’s ready.

“He complements us by talking about defense and his physique. He makes us a more balanced team,” said Centerner.

After a small setback last year, Flagstaff are still a few steps closer to their goal of becoming a postseason-ready team.

Inevitably, the Eagles will look a little different after the June and fall months of school. Still, there’s a foundation that could be improved if the Eagles reach some potential.

“I really want to run and hopefully win more games,” O’Brien-Piubeni said. “I believe that if we work together, we can do it.”