HILLSDALE COUNTY — Hillsdale County ISD basketball tips off this week with a slate of eye-popping headline matchups across the boys prep hoops scene.
It will be the first test for many of our MVP watchlist candidates, and the first chance to see how each team has improved from last year.
While there will be plenty of teams to spotlight in the opening week, none feel more primed for a breakout season than the North Adams-Jerome boys basketball program. The Rams, who won nine games and reached the district semifinals last year, believe this season could be theirs for the taking.
We Are One
In his third season as varsity coach, Nick Wagle has gone from alumnus (2008) to a coach steadily building the foundation of a lasting program at North Adams-Jerome.
The team went from three wins in year one to nine wins last season. Now, Wagle believes double-digit victories are within reach heading into the 2025-26 campaign.
“This year, I’d love to be around 12 to 15 wins, and I think it’s extremely possible with a chance at the district championship,” Wagle said.
Every season starts with a new emphasis — leadership on and off the court — and a renewed focus on fundamentals. This year’s slogan, “We Are One,” underscores the need for team basketball and how unity can translate into picking each other up and pushing individual growth.
“We picked that just because we’re trying to be a family,” senior Nathan Todd said. “We’re all just one unit as a team.”
Todd will be one of the returning players expected to fill the stat sheet for the Rams. He averaged 9.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last year on his way to honorable mention all-league honors.
Todd has been an anchor for the program, and the Rams have several other players cut from the same cloth.
Like many Division 4 small-school programs, North Adams-Jerome enters each season knowing the athletes on the practice court are the same ones they’ll go to battle with multiple times each week from December through March. That’s why Wagle wants “We Are One” ingrained in every aspect of the program.
“We’re a small school — we have to have each other’s backs,” Wagle said. “We don’t have another option.”
Career year ahead for Arsenault
Every breakout season begins and ends with a returning playmaker whose skill set can’t be matched by the opposition. For the Rams, that player is senior captain Conner Arsenault.
A four-year varsity standout, Arsenault has been a key figure in Rams athletics, including last spring’s breakout baseball campaign. But his home is on the hardwood, where he’s already etched his name in the school record books.
He ranks second in school history for points in a game with 40, a mark he hit early last season. Arsenault averaged 13.4 points per game in 2024-25, earning second-team all-conference and first-team all-area honors. This winter, he’ll look to surpass the 1,000-point career milestone while continuing to be one of the area’s top facilitators.
“Personally, I believe Conner Arsenault is the best player in Hillsdale County — his skill set is like no other,” Wagle said.
This is Arsenault’s third year playing for Wagle, and he hopes it’s his best yet — for himself and the team. He credits his coach for keeping the Rams locked in.
“He’s got us locked in for the season,” Arsenault said.
Arsenault will draw plenty of defensive attention. For a player capable of dropping 30-plus points, expect face-guarding and box-and-one schemes. That’s why North Adams-Jerome will lean on its other athletes who have proven their growth in multiple sports.
“I think we got a really great group of guys here,” Todd said. “We got a couple new kids coming in, a bunch of kids who can score the ball and play pretty good defense.”
Players to watch
Hillsdale transfer Gage Cain will be one of those new additions rounding out the Rams’ 2025-26 roster. Wagle described Cain as an all-around shooter. Cain hopes to make an immediate impact and help the team chase postseason hardware.
“I got high expectations for us, and I think that we can win a district championship,” Cain said.
Sophomore Desman Lawless, a baseball phenom and Daily News runner-up Player of the Year, brings elite athleticism that should exploit defenses focused on Arsenault. Carter Rader joins the basketball squad after competing with the core group in baseball and football. Riker Campbell has improved his jump shot and could contend for the school’s single-game three-point record.
First tests
Wagle says the team’s keys to success will be tested early.
“We’re looking to continuously score off mistakes, rebounds, and we just want to score in transition,” Wagle said.
The Rams’ December slate is loaded: they host reigning league champion Hillsdale Academy on Dec. 5, visit CAC champ Will Carleton Academy on Dec. 9, host Pittsford on Dec. 11, and close the month at Jackson Christian — a future district opponent. To battle through December, the Rams will lean on their small-town but dedicated community.
“We’ve got a small community, maybe not many help, but there will be always somebody that does,” Wagle said.
Fans can circle Jan. 21 for Alumni Night, when the Rams will debut record boards and honor past athletes. Expect at least one or two current Rams to join those ranks.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: North Adams-Jerome boys hoops sets sights on big season — ‘We Are One’
Reporting by Joseph Flaherty, Hillsdale Daily News / Hillsdale Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
