Low on experience and with only one of its first eight games at home, the Renton boys basketball team was bound to struggle somewhat at the start.

The Indians started 3-5 with a challenging non-league schedule. All three wins came in early league play.

“It was a little bit rocky, a little inconsistent from the beginning,” said Renton coach Rick Comer. “We had a lot of away games and we knew that would be a challenge.”

Since then, Renton has come into its own more. The team is now 8-7 and, more importantly, 6-3 in Seamount play. That mark has them sitting in third place and tops among 2A league teams.

Darren Briggs is the only returning player who started last season. Briggs is leading the team with 13.7 points, 1.6 blocks and 8.9 rebounds per game.

The Indians also got Justin Bennett back a couple of weeks late after a knee injury sustained in football delayed his start to the season. Bennett is averaging 6.0 points per game, but has three games of 14 points or more.

“That slowed us down a little bit,” Comer said. “We had to move people around until he got back on track.”

Colton Hafey is averaging 7.6 points per game taking over for Achoki Moikobu, who started at point guard the past couple of years for Renton.

“He’s a really sharp player,” Comer said. “He’s doing a great job running the point.”

D.J. Eubanks, Earl Cheatham, Donovan Saario and Malik Roper are all playing key roles.

Sophomore Jonathan Patterson also has the tough duty of starting in Comer’s system as a young player.

“It’s a really tough spot for him, but he has to play as if he’s a junior or senior,” Comer said.

“We’ve been inconsistent from the beginning, we’ll be a little more consistent by the end of the year,” Comer said. “We’re more of a work in progress.”

Renton plays Kennedy Catholic tonight and has Tyee, Foster, Evergreen and Hazen left in the regular season.