This winter, the Sharon High School varsity boys basketball team hopes combining a talented group of seniors with a solid corps of youngsters will help it compete for the Hockomock League Davenport Division championship and a berth in the MIAA Division 2 South Sectional Tournament.

The Eagles lost seven seniors from last year, but return a trio of talented senior captains: point guard Josh Parness, guard Eric Tung and forward Eric Bennett.

Sharon will look to get off to a good start to the season, despite having to play five of its first six games on the road. The Eagles will open the season in Medford for a non-league game at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Sharon will begin its league slate in Canton for a division contest at 6:45 p.m. Friday.

"We will have very good leadership this year," said Bruce Jackman, who is in his 12^th season as Eagles head coach.

"We are on the rise as a team. We have some good seniors and some good, young players. We have good size and a lot of experience at guard. I'm concerned about our depth, though. We are eight deep, but after that I'm concerned."

Senior forward Alex Simard will also look to be a major contributor this winter, as will junior forwards Sam D'Arcy and Mitchell Goldenberg. Senior swing player Jake Dennis has Achilles tendonitis, but hopefully will return to the lineup soon.

"We will play good defense this year," Jackman said.

"We spend a lot of time working on our defense. We are rebounding the ball better. We were terrible on offense last year, but we are shooting the ball better. We are starting to score some points. But we still have some work to do on offense."

The Eagles finished the 2009-10 campaign with a 3-19 overall record and a 2-14 mark in the Hockomock League. Sharon earned a non-league victory over North Quincy and league wins over King Philip and Canton.

This year the league will be split up into two divisions. Sharon will be a part of the Small School Division, called the Davenport Division, along with Oliver Ames, Foxboro, Canton and Stoughton.

"We feel we have the experience to compete for the division title this year," Jackman said.

"Stoughton and Oliver Ames will both be very strong, but we think we can compete with them. Oliver Ames is a strong team and Stoughton has great guards, but all the teams in the Small Division can definitely compete with each other on a nightly basis. And we certainly feel we can contend for the division title this year."

The league's Large School Division, called the Rex-Kelley Division, will consist of Franklin, Mansfield, King Philip, North Attleboro and newest league member Attleboro.

"North Attleboro, Attleboro and Mansfield all look to be very strong," Jackman said.

"Overall it will be a war in that division every night. They will beat each other up."

The Eagles have two avenues by which they can reach the Division 2 South Sectional. A first or second-place finish in the division would get them to the postseason. If Sharon finishes with a .500 record or better that would also send the locals to the tournament.

"We feel we have a good shot at making the tournament this year," Jackman said. "We definitely have the potential. We just have to put everything together."