The squeaks of sneakers against the hardwood of the Albert Lea gym are back for the winter and so is the Albert Lea boys’ basketball team.

With three starters back, two of whom were sophomores, the Tigers return some experience, but still face an uphill climb in the conference.

Albert Lea is coming off its second one-win season and has a new head coach at the helm. Lucas Kreuscher, a Lake Mills native has taken over the program. Kreuscher last coached at Tri-County Thornburg in Iowa and faces the task of rebuilding a program that hasn’t had a winning season since the 2004-05 season.

The Tigers will get their first test of the season Thursday when Waseca comes to Albert Lea. Last season the Bluejays beat Albert Lea in Waseca 71-53.

The Bluejays had four players score in double figures and started the second half on a 15-2 run. Nick Hanson scored 13 points in that game and Kreuscher had an opportunity to scout Waseca and Hanson.

“Their team runs through him offensively and defensively,” Kreuscher said.

The Tigers return senior Colby Strilaeff, the team’s leading scorer last season, who averaged 11 points. Strilaeff set a school record last season for most 3-point field goals made with 73, eclipsing his own record set the previous season.

Albert Lea also returns its top rebounder in junior Aaron Klatt, who averaged 6 rebounds a game and was one of the team’s best defensive players. Alik Smed, Damian Montes, Silas Randall, Cam Solie and Josh Eisenbraun also return after seeing time on the varsity floor.

The Tigers added two players who moved into the area this summer. Kyle Ooms, a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward moved from Aplington-Parkersburg and Taylor Bordelon, a junior guard moved from New Richland. Both players have helped give the team depth.

Kreuscher’s motion offense will involve a lot of screens and players moving without the ball.

“There’s not a lot of dribbling in our offense, which puts a lot of pressure on us moving without the basketball,” Kreuscher said.

Kreuscher wants the team to focus on finding high-percentage shots.

“What we’re really trying to do is make all five guys responsible for finding the mismatch,” he said.

With this year’s group Kreuscher said he has depth and balance. The starting five could look different on night-to-night, opponent-to-opponent, depending on how the team plans to attack the opponent offensively, Kruescher said.

“I do think we’re going to have a lot more balance than there has been in the past,” Kruescher said. “I honestly could see us having a different leading scorer from night to night.”