Cohesion and on-court familiarity will be a strong point for the Novi Detroit Catholic Central boys basketball team this winter.

And it's a good thing.

Due to their school's run to the state finals on the gridiron, the Shamrocks will enter the 2011-2012 campaign having held precious few practices, if any at all, with a full roster.

Unfortunately for their opponents, it probably won't make much of a difference.

That's how good, experienced and primed this season's squad is.

Bringing back the core of last year's district title team, a CC cage contingent that was seconds away from playing in the Class A quarterfinals, the Shamrocks are expected to be one of the top teams in their league and in the state this season.

"I've had a group of real good and tough kids playing for me these last couple of years and they'll have a chance to have another real special year if they just do what I know and they know they're capable of doing," CC's sixth-year head coach Bill Dyer said.

The mighty trio of seniors and multiple-year varsity letter-winners Kyle Cooper, Matt Doneth and Chase Janer, are set to spearhead the charge, both in the stat sheet and in the huddle with their superior collective leadership.

All three have size, heart and intelligence by the boatload and do an array of different positive things on the floor for Dyer.

Cooper (6-foot-7) and Doneth (6-foot-5), a pair of two-sport stars and all-league selections in basketball and football, could be the most fearsome forward tandem in Oakland County. They each averaged close to double-doubles last season. Being recruited as a Division I tight end on the gridiron, Doneth started as a freshman on the Shamrocks' Elite 8 squad back in 2009 and Cooper, the football team's starting quarterback this year, is signed to play hoops in college at Hillsdale.  Both go inside and out with ease and are as technically sound as possible for prepsters.

Janer (6-foot-2), a jack-of-all-trades guard who will take on more scoring responsibility this winter and will definitely be playing in college somewhere in 2013, leads Dyer's backcourt rotation alongside starting senior point guard Richard Katkic, a savvy floor general that served as a valuable and often-used reserve last year.

Ryan Skowronek, a 6-foot-5 senior scrapper in the post, will most likely start at center and cement an intimidating and aggressive CC frontcourt assault.

Fellow seniors and returning letter-winners David Racey, Jack Dillon and Mike Kovanda are slated to fuel the Shamrocks' bench unit. Racey, an all-league defensive back-wide receiver on the football field, will see minutes in the backcourt spelling Katkic and Janer, while Dillion and Kovanda, a duo of hard-working role players, will sturdily augment Doneth, Cooper and Skowronek in patrolling the paint.

Dyer and his ball club kickoff the season on Tuesday at home against Warren Fitzgerald.

"We've still got some lagging injuries from football but once we get healthy and get some games under our belts, I think we'll be fine and back on track before you know it," Dyer said.