Brandon Rinta and the Lewis-Clark State men’s basketball team experienced a season of highs and lows in Rinta’s first year at the helm of the Warrior program.

The team jumped out to an 11-3 start in non-conference play, but wasn’t able to sustain that success once the Frontier Conference schedule began.

The Warriors finished the season 16-13 and were eliminated from the conference tournament in the first round by Montana Western.

LCSC won three straight games in early February, including a comeback win at Carroll, but lost their final four regular-season contests to drop to the No. 7 seed in the tournament.

“We like to think that we came pretty close to maximizing our potential,” Rinta said. “We really struggled shooting the ball in conference. Our field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage all dipped. That will be something we hopefully improve upon this year.”

Rinta and his coaching staff brought in a eight-player recruiting class for the 2012-2013 season – two freshmen and six junior college transfers – to pair with the seven returners.

“That’s going to be one of the challenges we face,” Rinta said of integrating so many newcomers into the system. “But during the recruiting process we identified guys that we knew would fit in with what we wanted to do. They all have the mindset that we’re looking for.”

Rinta hopes that combination will turn this year’s Warrior squad into a quick, defensive-minded club that will push the tempo on offense and employ a lot of pressure on the other end.

“For us to be successful, we have to be one of the better defensive teams in the league,” Rinta said. “We set the tone for what we want to do defensively last year, and that’s something we’re always going to hang our hat on. Defending will be our emphasis and held with the utmost importance.”

One of the incoming transfers, 6-foot-7 post Travis Van Diest from Wenatchee Valley College, will likely redshirt the season, leaving the Warriors without a player taller than 6-foot-6.

The Frontier Conference was as strong top-to-bottom as it’s ever been in 2011-12, with Montana Western and MSU-Northern both going to the national tournament.

“It was a very competitive, senior-laden league, and I think’s that’s something that will be tough to replicate,” Rinta said. “You can’t count on that because there are such good coaches in the league, but I think it is wide open. I think we’ll be there competing.”

The Warriors open earlier than any team with which Rinta has been associated, playing back-to-back games against the University of Alberta-Augustana at the Activity Center on Oct. 19-20.

Other highlights of the non-league schedule are exhibitions at Montana on Nov. 1 and at Gonzaga on Nov. 29.

“It’s one of the great environments in the country,” Rinta said of Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center. “It’s a great opportunity for our program to play there.”

The Warriors will also play seven teams from the Cascade Conference, including defending NAIA Division II national champion Oregon Tech on Nov. 23.

Rinta is hoping that in his second year with Lewis-Clark State, he and the 2012-13 Warriors can take the next step toward being a perennial Frontier Conference contender.

“We’re blessed with a beautiful facility and great community support, which makes things a lot of fun for our guys,” Rinta said. “We want to continue to build on that.”