Carmel basketball

Carmel Padres (23-5, 12-2)
 Like most of his players, first year head coach Kurt Grahl came up through the ranks, having been Carmel's freshmen coach in 2015 and the junior varsity mentor last season.
 Now he's in charge of retooling a program that won 23 games, yet lost the most prolific scorer in school history in John Stivers, now playing football at Harvard.
 "John is not a replaceable type player,'' Grahl said. "Players like that come around infrequently. The good part is it leaves a vacuum and gives guys a chance to start from scratch and define their roles.''
 In other words, everyone is on the same playing level as Grahl attempts to redefine the Padres and lay down his own foundation for the future.
 "I'm trying to establish my own culture and expectations,'' said Grahl, who spent four seasons as an assistant coach at CSUMB. "A lot of roles have yet to be established.''
 Don't mistake the Padres for an underdog this year. No doubt, losing 70 percent of their offense to graduation will be difficult to replace.
 Yet, Grahl got an early Christmas gift when 6-foot-5 Kevin Cook transferred from Stevenson over the summer. Last year as a sophomore, he averaged nearly 12 points and 10 rebounds a game.
 "He's getting used to playing the entire floor,'' Grahl said.
 Grahl may put the ball into the hands of sophomore Joey Garello, who played sparingly last year as a freshmen for the Padres.
 "He's rising to the challenge,'' Grahl said. "He certainly showed us something over the summer. He's embraced the opportunity."
  Matt Luch gave the Padres energy last season, and has shown he can be a weapon on offense as well as apply pressure on defense.
 After spending last year overseas,  Alex Michel is back. The senior was a contributor as a freshmen and sophomore for Carmel.
 Grahl has preached execution and discipline in his system. While he'll emphasize a half court game, he wants to extend pressure on the ball and push it up the floor.
 "You can't skip steps,'' Grahl said. "It takes a little time. There are progressions that need to come with this style of play. It's a system I've used at a lot of my stops. I am real comfortable with it.''
 Essentially Grahl wants to make use of the entire court, utilize the teams skill level and establish a new look.
 "We're not rebuilding, we're reloading,'' Grahl said. "We expect to compete at a high level. I'm not going to compare them. If you have kids that believe, you can go pretty far.''