With the hockey State tournament kicking off tonight, Assistant Coach Mr. Eric Glanders said he feels good going into the playoffs, but said about his team’s chances, “Our draw isn’t the easiest.”

But despite that draw, Glanders expressed optimism about the Central Indiana Knights’ chances. “To be honest, I think our best is yet to come,” Glanders said.

“Anytime a team is playing the best toward the end of the season, that is exactly what you want. All season long we prepare for the league and the State tournament, and and I really think we are playing at our best right now.”

Both inexperience due to a roster full of younger players and injuries have affected the squad, the assistant coach said. “We’ve played 55 games all year, and I do not think we’ve played a single game where we’ve had a full roster of players,” Glanders said.

According to Glanders, the team drew Westfield first, a team it has lost to twice. Next up in the tournament will Lake Central, also a squad that has defeated the Knights on two previous occasions, before taking on Hamilton Southeastern, which the team defeated earlier in the season 7-4.

Glanders mentioned junior Andrew Fralich and senior David Bedich, who serves as the team captain, as individuals who have provided leadership to the Knights, whose members include student athletes from this school as well as Bishop Chatard, Guerin Catholic, Noblesville, Park Tudor and Pendleton Heights.

The ice hockey team opens tournament play this afternoon at 4 p.m. against Fishers, with all games taking place at the Fishers Fuel Tank. The squad plays Lake Central tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. and Hamilton Southeastern Sunday at 1:15 p.m.