ROCHELLE — The Hubs sophomore basketball team doesn’t begin the 2017-18 season for roughly five months, but the boys are already rounding into form after picking up a pair of exhibition victories at Rochelle Township High School Tuesday evening.

Rochelle hosted Ashton-Franklin Center and Kaneland for a three-game set on Tuesday, with the Hubs defeating the Raiders 56-37 before slipping past the Knights 36-33. Head coach Josh Johnson said he’s happy with how the boys have approached summer workouts, and he’s looking forward to seeing them take the court in the winter.

“We have a lot of really athletic kids,” Johnson said. “These guys have been playing with each other for a while now and they’re starting to learn how much quicker, faster and stronger everyone is in high school.”

The sophomore group is set to return three players from last year’s squad including Austin Brown, Seth Gould and Traevon Voss, who all gained sophomore experience as freshmen. The trio played a key role in Rochelle’s two exhibition wins on Tuesday, with Voss leading the charge against on the defensive end against Ashton-Franklin Center and Brown sinking a late free throw to ice Rochelle’s victory over Kaneland.

“I really expect leadership from those guys and I expect them to be able to take control of the game when things aren’t going well,” Johnson said. “Last year they were the freshmen so they didn’t have to say much, but this year I expect them to take on more of a leadership role.”

The sophomore boys went 15-10 last season, with many victories coming behind strong offensive performances by forward Johnny Beck, who is expected to take on a larger role with the varsity basketball team this coming season as a junior. Beck’s absence leaves a big hole for Johnson and the Hubs to fill, but one player who could step up is newcomer Ethan Wooten, who did not play basketball last year as a freshman but possesses the physical traits to be an impact player down low.

“He’s a big, strong kid and we’re really hoping he can come in and give up an inside presence,” Johnson said. “Ben Hickey can play some inside post as well so we should have two kids who can do that, and even Seth can go down there and help us out inside.”

While Wooten and Hickey didn’t score much on Tuesday, their impact on the glass was noticeable, as Rochelle gained several second and third-chance opportunities from offensive rebounds. Johnson said the sophomore group’s aggressiveness will be a strength going into the regular season, and he’s looking for the boys to take better control of the basketball in order to limit mistakes during games.

“These kids like to run and push the ball which is going to be really good,” Johnson said. “We should be able to really get after some people… We’re starting to dribble a little too much and so something we have to clean up is trusting teammates a bit more.”