prep basketball preview

2 Friday, November 22, 2013 The Southern Illinoisan

STEVE MATZKER / THE SOUTHERNEgyptian basketball coach Matt Mandrell (left) and Meridian coach Jeff Mandrell pose for a portrait at Egyptian High School in Tamms. The two are brothers coaching in the same conference.

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BY LES WINKELERThe Southern

Jeff and Matt Mandrell have alwaysbeen as close as brothers can be. Jeff,six years older than Matt, served as

his younger brother’s personal athletictutor in their younger days. Since theirfather was a coach, it seemed only naturalfor them to become teachers and coaches.

This is where the happy story takes atwist.

Jeff became basketball coach at MoundsMeridian High School. Matt becamecoach at neighboring Egyptian. Bothschools are members of the SouthEgyptian Conference, meaning thebrothers face each other at least twice ayear.

They join the ranks of the Herrinbrothers Rich (Benton) and Ron (Olney)and the Lusk brothers Paul (TrentonWesclin) and Gary (Breese Central), whocoached against each other.

“It’s just kind of uncomfortable,” Jeffsaid. “I just like to get the game over with.

“A lot of games, you’re ready. That’s

one game I just like to get it out of theway. We play more than once a year. Wejust go through it. We both want our teamto win.”

“It’s the most miserable game of theyear,” Matt added. “You want yourbrother to do well all those other games.It’s one of those you just survive andmove on from it.”

Discomfort aside, the brothers havebeen wildly successful at their respectiveschools. Jeff is 317-125 in his 15 years atMeridian. Matt is 118-75 in seven years atEgyptian.

Unfortunately for the brothers,Meridian vs. Egyptian is a natural rivalry.Fans from the region get caught up in theexcitement. The game took on evenhigher stakes last year when the teamsmet in the regional championship.

The situation is so uncomfortable thattheir parents or siblings have neverattended a Meridian vs. Egyptian game.

“We’ve always been close,” Jeff said. “Ihave two brothers and a sister. Other thanyour minor disagreements, we’ve alwaysgotten along very well as adults. Therehas always been a friendship. He’sprobably just like me. We’ve beeninfluenced by my dad. You just try to putit in perspective when you play eachother.”

“We’ve always gotten along very well,”Matt said.” We’re both competitive, butit’s always been respectful. He’s six yearsolder. He must have treated me prettywell because I don’t have any deep-seatedissues with him.”

The Mandrells accept the annualmeetings between the two schools, butthey attempt to minimize the impact.There is no prodding, no trash-talking, nostanding bets. And, no one keeps score.

“Not really,” Jeff said. “If we do talk, weprobably rarely even talk about our teamat that time.

“We end up texting each other sometime after the game. It’s just kind ofworked out. You kind of leave it there. Itworks out. Texting kind of works outbecause you’re not really talking to eachother.”

“We don’t talk about that too much,”Matt added. “We just kind of take itindividually. We’ve both had some decentteams when we went against each other.If you do things long enough, it kind ofgoes in cycles.”

At the same time, the brothers areaware of the uniqueness of the situation.

“I think the kids have more fun with it,”Matt said. “It’s kind of been exciting. Acouple years ago we were both ranked inthe state. It is fun when that happens,from the standpoint that both teams aredoing well. That was somewhatenjoyable.”

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The Southern Illinoisan Friday, November 22, 2013 3

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Mandrells’ sibling rivalry doesn’t extend to basketball court2013-14 High School Basketball Preview

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTOEgyptian coach Matt Mandrell shakes his head at a call against Benton during theGoreville Invitational Tournament in 2012.

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTOMeridian coach Jeff Mandrell talks to his teamduring Woodlawn's win over the Bobcats in2012 at SIU Arena.


Anna-JonesboroLast year’s rough season

could turn out to be a bless-ing for the Anna-JonesboroWildcats in 2013-14.

Coach Mike Chamness’team returns four startersfrom a 5-23 campaign, withJay Kemp (6-foot-3 for-ward), Ben McFarland (6-7center), Colton James (6-foot guard) and DamianReed (6-2 forward) back asseniors to start the turn-around.

“Really, we’ve got every-body back,” Chamness said.“Tyler Vaughn started forus last year and is not play-ing this year. The nucleus ofguys is back and we’re pret-ty excited about that.”

Entering his fourth sea-son at the helm, Chamnessis looking for some early-season victories to build theteam’s confidence. The 23losses last season were themost since former coachBrian Matzenbacher went7-23 in 2006-07.

“Last year, as the seasonwent along, they startedpicking up on some things,”Chamness said. “We werein a lot of games, but justdidn’t know how to win.”

Anna-Jonesboro is look-ing at either a nine or 10-man rotation this seasonand having nine players 6-foot or taller gives theWildcats some options.Kemp, McFarland, juniorNoah Fuller and sophomoreZach Parr are the team’sreturning starters.

Coach: Mike ChamnessSeniors: JAY KEMP, 6-3, f; BEN McFARLAND, 6-

7, c; Colton James, 6-0, g; Damian Reed, 6-2, f.Juniors: Noah Prater, 6-0, g; Derek Harvell, 6-

2, g; Dallas Marks, 6-3, c; NOAH FULLER, 6-1, g.Sophomores: ZACH PARR, 5-8, g; Collin

Prather, 5-8, g; Dakota Earnhardt, 6-2, g; BryanStark, 5-7, g.

CartervilleDespite the loss of six

seniors, Carterville returnsfour players with startingexperience this season asthe Lions seek to take thenext step forward afterback-to-back 15-win sea-sons.

“I think we’re in a greatsituation in having a lot ofexperience coming back,”said Carterville coach ScottBurzynski, now in his 16thseason as coach. “We’ve gota collection of guys whohave played a lot of varsityand JV ball and that’s defi-nitely an advantage for us.”

Michael Aschemann (5-11guard), Matt Bigelow (6-4center), Blake Watson (5-10guard) and Matt Galik (6-1guard) are the team’sreturning starters, comingoff a 2012-13 season inwhich Carterville lost toChester in the

Murphysboro regionalchampionship game.

“I think our athleticism isone thing we can takeadvantage of,” Burzynskisaid. “Our ability to shootthe basketball has reallyimproved and we’ve got fiveor six good shooters.”

Coach: Scott BurzynskiSeniors: MICHAEL ASCHEMANN, 5-11, g; MATT

BIGELOW, 6-4, c; Britton Herrin, 6-1, g; Ian Tacderas,6-0, g.

Juniors: BLAKE WATSON, 5-10, g; MATT GALIK,6-1, g; Will Galik, 6-3, f/g; Gavin James, 6-1, c; DylanSamuel, 6-1, f; Jake Turner, 5-10, g.

Sophomores: Justin Parson-Nalley, 6-1, f;Austin Swalls, 6-2, g.

Du QuoinWendell Wheeler returns

for his second go-around asDu Quoin coach, replacingGabe Sveda, and has tobegin from scratch in 2013-14.

Wheeler coached theIndians from 1993-2003,with regional titles in 1999,2000 and 2003, and has noreturning starters, plus theremnants of a junior varsityteam that won two gameslast season.

“We had a good summerdoing what we could do,”Wheeler said. “We’ve gotno experience back at all.Two guys dressed (varsity),but it’s a clean slate foreverybody.

“We’ve got two seniors inSpencer Cook and CamdenMercier who are great kidsand good leaders.”

Cook was a linebacker onthe Indians’ football teamand Mercier hasn’t playedbasketball since his fresh-man year. They are part of ateam with four juniors andfive underclassmen in thevarsity rotation.

“We’re going to have tobuy into how hard we canplay,” Wheeler said. “We’renot very big and we’re very,very young.”

Coach: Wendell WheelerSeniors: Spencer Cook, 6-1, f; Camden Mercier,

5-10, g.Juniors: A.J. Smith, 5-10, g; Jon Harsy, 6-2, f;

Jordan Clarson, 6-4 f/c; Nolan Shoewalter, 6-1, f.Sophomores: Brock Bullar, 5-10, g; Jacob

Wright, 5-11, f; Tucker Kuhnert, 6-1, f.Freshmen: Caleb Vogel, 6-1, f; Jared Thomas, 6-

0, g.

NashvilleThe defending

Mississippi champions arehoping three returningstarters, and two otherswho saw significant playingtime, can help Nashvillebuild on last season’s 24-8campaign.

“We graduated threestarters in Scott Brown,Devin Holle and ChanceReuter and they all playedsignificant roles,” saidNashville coach BradWeathers. “There are bigshoes to fill. We’ve got kidswith the potential to dothat, but guard play is goingto be a question mark.”

Six-foot-six All-South

forward Royce Newmanreturns for his sophomoreyear and has KeeganAnderson (5-11 guard) andDaniel Thorson (6-0 guard)to help steer the ship in2013-14.

Newman led the Hornetsin scoring last season with12 points per game and onlyadds to a team with signifi-cant size in 6-7 forwardClint Johannes, 6-5guard/forward DylanMueller and 6-5 forwardHunter Cooper.

Coach: Brad WeathersSeniors: Clint Johannes, 6-7, f; KEEGAN

ANDERSON, 5-11, g; Hunter Beetley, 6-3, f; WalkerJohnson, 6-0, g; Garrett Guest, 6-0, g/f; ChrisMeyers, 5-11, g; Kyle Jasper, 5-11, g.

Juniors: Dylan Mueller, 6-5, g/f; Troy Pedtke, 6-3, f; DANIEL THORSON, 6-0, g; Hunter Cooper, 6-5,f.

Sophomore: ROYCE NEWMAN, 6-6, f.

PinckneyvilleIt’s a bit of a fresh start for

Pinckneyville coach BobWaggoner, as the Panthersgraduated seven seniorsfrom a 20-9 season.

“I think that last year’ssophomore and juniorclasses got to play quite a bitand we try to play at leasteight kids in our rotation,”Waggoner said. “We hopethat experience will helpthem this season and we’lltake another step forward.”

The 2013-14 version ofthe Panthers seems to be abit more fundamentally-sound group than in recentyears and improved teamchemistry has Waggonerencouraged.

2013-14 High School Basketball Preview

Boys: SIRR Mississippi Division

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Anna-JonesboroAfter an injury-plagued

season in 2012-13, Anna-Jonesboro is looking tothree returning starters andincreased athleticism to getthe Lady Wildcats back onthe winning path this season.

“Last year, we wereunhealthy,” said Anna-Jonesboro coach BrianClark. “We lost our pointguard to a concussion, welost another starter to anACL tear and two sixth manstarters also missed time toinjuries.

“We probably lost sevenor eight games because wedidn’t have enough gas inthe tank.”

The Lady Wildcats fin-ished 9-21 last season andlost leading scorer KimMixen and two other quali-ty players in BrookeChamness and Katie Grantto graduation. Returningstarters Cara Ferris (6-foot-2 center), Erica Friebel(5-8 forward) and 5-3 juniorguard Balyie Denny aretasked with filling theholes.

Coach: Brian ClarkSeniors: CARA FERRIS, 6-2, c; Krista Pender, 5-

10, f; ERICA FRIEBEL, 5-8, f; Suzanna Cohen, 5-7, f;J.J. Ford, 5-9, f.

Juniors: BALYIE DENNY, 5-3, g; Natty Hepburn,5-4, g; Sammy Brimm, 5-4, g; Erikah Parks, 5-7, g;Haliegh Lawrence, 5-7, g.

Sophomores: Erica Ralls, 5-8, f; HannahSchlenker, 5-8, f.

Freshmen: J.C. Pender, 5-7, g; Ellie Bosler, 5-10,g; Lexa Sharp, 5-6, g.

CartervilleWith a new coach in Matt

Crain and three returningstarters, Carterville is

looking to take the next step forward after a 21-11 seasonin 2012-13.

Crain was hired in Augustto replace Lions athleticdirector/coach ToddRogers, and spent five yearsas an assistant underGoreville coach Todd Trippbefore making the movenorth.

It is his first job as a headcoach.

“At the back of yourmind, you want to see if youcan do it,” Crain said. “Thisis an opportunity that’sbeen presented to me and Ihope I don’t let anybodydown and get the job done.”

Seniors Kelli Hicks (5-7guard), Savana Jones (5-9guard) and Jordan Gaston(5-10 forward) are theteam’s returning starters,but sophomores AveryEnglish (5-6 guard) andMaddie Meyer (5-6 guard)could also be in the mix.

Coach: Matt CrainSeniors: KELLI HICKS, 5-7, g; SAVANA JONES, 5-

9, g; JORDAN GASTON, 5-10, f; Sidney Smith, 5-9, g;Carly Callahan, 5-11, f.

Juniors: Lauren Ballestro, 5-8, f; BrookeHewlett, 5-7, g; Taylor Dunning, 5-7, g.

Sophomores: Maddie Meyer, 5-6, g; AveryEnglish, 5-6, g; Cora Gurrieri, 6-0, c; KammiHankins, 5-5, g.

Freshman: Megan Barrett, 5-6, g.

Du QuoinWith the loss of Rebekah

Maddox, Taylor King andAlexis Kohrs to graduation,the Du Quoin Lady Indians

are looking to be a bit dif-ferent than the team thatfinished 9-22 last season.

“We don’t have a ton ofexperience, or a ton ofscoring, but we hope tomake up for that with howhard we play,” said DuQuoin coach Shawn File.“(The players) have beenpretty dedicated duringthe summer and we’rehoping to carry that overinto the season.”

It is up to senior return-ing starters Bailie Caldwell(5-7 forward) and AbbyMyers (5-4 guard) to helprun the show in 2013-14, asDu Quoin has no juniorsand 11 freshmen and soph-omores to contend with inthe varsity rotation.

Coach: Shawn FileSeniors: ABBY MYERS, 5-4, g; BAILIE

CALDWELL, 5-7, f; Katrina Whitley, 5-4, g; AshantiWarren, 5-8, f.

Sophomores: Alaina Caldwell, 5-6, g/f; JordynBullar, 5-7, f; Andrea Morgan, 5-3, g; TimbraMansfield, 5-3, g.

Freshmen: Kate Smith, 5-4, g; Sadie Day, 5-7, f;Tarynn Mays, 5-3, g; Emily Born, 5-7, f; Kat Robison,5-3, g; Hannah Baxter, 5-3, g; Grace Bailey, 5-6,. f.

NashvilleAfter his first state cham-

pionship, Nashville coachWayne Harre has threereturning starters back todefend the team’s Class 2Atitle.

Hannah Yung (5-6guard), Shawn Rennegarbe(5-11, forward) and Harre’sdaughter in Jordi Harre (5-6

guard) will attempt tomaintain the Hornettes’stranglehold on the SIRRMississippi Division.

“I think our athleticism isone thing we can takeadvantage of,” Harre said.“Our ability to shoot thebasketball has reallyimproved and we’ve got fiveor six good shooters.”

All Wayne Harre teamsare known primarily fordefense and the 2013-14squad doesn’t look to be anexception. But while theHornettes’ guard core fig-ures to be strong again thisseason, post play could be aconcern.

“We’ll have Shawn backin there and after that, I’mnot sure,” Harre said.“We’ve played without apost before and may play bycommittee. Sometimes you

play posts you may notthink are posts just to seedifferent matchups.”

Coach: Wayne HarreSeniors: HANNAH YUNG, 5-6, g; SHAWN

RENNEGARBE, 5-11, f; Katy Kosydor, 5-5, g; KileyPelker, 5-6, f.

Juniors: JORDIE HARRE, 5-6, g; Rachael Reid, 5-10, c; Alli Kellerman, 5-10, f; Emily Thompson, 5-6,g.

Freshman: Janie Hollie, 5-9, f.

PinckneyvilleA great summer, and a

motivational boost fromformer Missouri Statewomen’s basketball legendJackie Stiles, hasPinckneyville headed in theright direction coming off a16-14 season in 2012-13.

The Lady Panthers havethree returning starters inAll-South guard KatelynMayer and forwards KeelynStein and Sophie Keith.

“I thought we had a great

summer where we got a lotout of our contact days,”said Pinckneyville coachAlan Engelhardt. “We wentdown to Branson (Mo.) thisyear and they had JackieStiles there and I think thekids came away from thatenergized.”

Mayer, a 5-10 senior,averaged 12 points per gamewhile leading the team inrebounding. She, and fellowsenior Alyssa Hirsch, will becounted on to help lead ateam with a large juniorclass.

“She’s so intelligent, bothin the classroom and on thecourt,” Engelhardt said ofMayer, who recently helpedpower Pinckneyville’s vol-leyball team to its firstregional title in programhistory.

“She’s got a great framefor basketball and you addin that competitive natureand athleticism and that’s agreat mix.”



Girls: SIRR Mississippi Division

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BentonThe Rangers endured a

rough a year ago and wonjust 11 games. But headcoach Ron Winemiller isoptimistic that things willget better this season.

“I like this team, and I feellike we’re more athleticthan we were last year,”Winemiller said. “One ofour main deficiencies lastyear was being able to shootthe ball from the perimeter.That’s something we reallywanted to work on in theoffseason. It’s miserablewhen you score 25 points. Ithink our guys have workedvery hard to do that.”

Nathaniel Higgins andTyler Owens are returningstarters at the guard posi-tion. Higgins is a goodshooter and will be reliedupon for quite a bit of scor-ing this year.

“Higgins is a very goodplayer,” Winemiller said.“He has really worked onhis game and spent a lot of

time in the gym. He’s com-ing back off the all-confer-ence team, so he’ll need tobig for us.”

Owens is also expected tobe a solid contributor in thebackcourt.

“Tyler is probably ourmost improved player fromthe end of last year to rightnow,” Winemiller said.“He’s spent a lot of time inthe gym shooting the ball.He had a good summer anda great football season, andusually those two thingslead to a good basketballseason in the winter.”

Trey McDaniel will see alot of action at point guard.Keegan Dawson and DakotaHead will also be factorsthis season.

Coach: Ron WinemillerSeniors: NATHANIEL HIGGINS, 6-2, g; TYLER

OWENS, 5-10, g; Keegan Dawson, 6-4, f; Mason

Bolen, 5-10, g.Juniors: Dakota Head, 6-1, g; Martin Ward, 6-2,

f; Gus Gibbs, 6-0, f; Jesse Vanhoerbeke, 6-2, f; TreyMcDaniel, 5-9, g.

Sophomores: Chase Owens, 5-10, g; KruzHayes, 6-2, f; Brendan Ritchison??, 6-4, c.

Freshmen: Derek Oxford, 6-2, g.

HarrisburgThe defending Class 2A

state champions lost quite abit of talent from last year’soutstanding team, but thecupboard is not bare.

Randy Smithpeters hastwo of the best players inSouthern Illinois back. EliTaborn-Scott and BahariAmaya will likely do quite abit of damage this season.

“I think we have a nicegroup coming back,”Smithpeters said. “We’llkind of try to fill in the holesaround Eli and Bahari, but Ithink they’ll provide goodleadership for us.”

Taborn-Scott, a 6-4 for-ward, has been a varsitycontributor since he was afreshman. The senior canscore in the paint and hitjump shots from theperimeter as well.

“He is the leader of theteam now, and I think he’sprepared for that. He ismuch more mature andphysically stronger now,”Smithpeters said. “He’sreally never had the oppor-tunity to showcase what hecan do because of the peo-ple he’s had around him. Ithink a lot of people aregoing to be surprised atwhat all he can do.”

Amaya, another big guardat 6-4, mainly came off thebench last season as a soph-omore. He plays top notchAAU competition and isprimed for a breakout yearon the prep scene.

Coach: Randy SmithpetersSeniors: ELI TABORN-SCOTT, 6-4, f; Jarren

Goldman, 6-2, f; Jake Simerly, 6-4, f; Dylan Street,5-11, g.

Juniors: Bahari Amaya, 6-4, g; Carson Batts, 6-1, g-f;

Sophomores: Anfernee Houston, 6-0, g; CorbinCrim, 6-3, g-f.

HerrinThe Tigers don’t have any

returning starters from lastyear’s squad, and IrvLukens will have lots ofguys competing for playingtime this season.

“It’s going to be very dif-ficult starting out becausewe don’t have much experi-ence at all,” Lukens said. “Ithink our practices will beas competitive as they canbe, and a lot of people willby vying for positions.Varsity experience is theonly thing that counts, andwe don’t have much of it.”

Nick Ryker and RyanSnider saw some minuteson the team last year, butbeyond that, this will be anentirely different basketballteam.

“Outside of Ryker, I’mnot really sure about what

the rest of the team will looklike,” Lukens said. “Thereare a lot of questions marks,including how we’re goingto play.”

Although this season isbasically an unknown atthis point, Lukens believesit is exciting to have somany players battling it outfor playing time.

Coach: Irv LukensSeniors: Nick Ryker, 5-9, g; DeVante Branch, 6-

0, f; Jayvon Yarbrough, 5-8, g;Juniors: Ryan Snider, 6-3, f; Josh Haynes, 5-9, g;

Cameron Driemeyer, 6-3, c; Barry Doral, 6-3, f.Sophomores: Savion Yarbrough, 5-6, g.Freshmen: Ty Downin, 6-1, f; Jake Downin, 6-1,

f.

Massac CountyThe Patriots have three

starters back from a 20-wincampaign last year, andthey’re expected to contendfor the conference title thisseason.

“We’ve got a nice mix anda whole lot of experienceback,” said Massac Countycoach Joe Hosman. “We’vegot a little bit of size andsome quickness. I thinkwe’ll have really gooddepth, and hopefully thatleads to us getting out andpressuring defensively.”

Dalton Mitchell andDavontay Blye return to thebackcourt. Jalen Roundtreeis also expected to make animpact this season.Mitchell can shoot it fromanywhere and averaged 17points per game last year.

“He is just a great com-petitor, and he can scorefrom deep range and hepasses the ball well, too,”Hosman said of Mitchell.“He is one of those kids whodoes everything and proba-bly has not reached his fullpotential in any one sport.”

Austin Kendall, a versatilepost player, could end upbeing a force for thePatriots.

Coach: Joe HosmanSeniors: DALTON MITCHELL, 6-0, g; AUSTIN

KENDALL, 6-6, f-c; Kyle Reinwald, 6-0, f; DAVONTAY

BLYE, 5-11, g; Kevin Welch, 6-1, g-f; Andy Walquist,6-6, f; Eli Rose, 6-2, f; Jacob Myer, 5-9, g.

Juniors: Dylan Stoner, 5-10, g; Alex Bellamy, 6-6, c; Caleb Travis, 6-5, f; Jalen Roundtree, 5-10, g;Marky Marlatt, 5-11, g; Connor Smith, 5-11, f; TylerBremer, 6-2, f.

Sophomores: Jay Benard, 6-2, f; Hayes Lawson,6-0, g.

MurphysboroThe Red Devils had an off

year last season, but DarylMurphy, the team’s headcoach, is expecting an ultracompetitive and quicksquad this year.

Steven Eldridge is atremendous athlete andshould do plenty of damageall over the court forMurphysboro.

“It really hurt us last yearlosing him to an injury, andwe struggled scoring,”Murphy said. “He is a verytalented offensive player.He will help us out quite abit.”

Anthony Hibbler is a ver-satile player who shootswell from outside.

He will also guard a lot ofthe best players on oppos-ing teams.

“He is definitely one ofmy best defensive players,”Murphy said. “He can reallyrebound well for us, anddoes so many differentthings well.”

Nanshon Gibbs has greatquickness and should helpout the Red Devils in a vari-ety of ways.

“He’s a lanky kid, whowill rebound well and canscore for us, too,” Murphysaid. “He is more of a slash-er, and he’s very craftyaround the basket.”

Devante Jones and DarylMurphy, the coach’s son,should compete for bigminutes as well.

Coach: Daryl MurphySeniors: STEVEN ELDRIDGE, 6-2, f; ANTHONY

HIBBLER, 6-1, g; Eric Finders, 5-9, g; Nanshon Gibbs,6-1, g-f; Austin Reed, 6-1, f.

Juniors: Landon Harris, 6-2, f-c; Daryl Murphy,5-10, g; Devante Jones, 5-8, g; Dashon Battles, 5-10,g; Anthony Henry, 6-0, g; Austin Helfrich, 5-8, g;Jacob McCall, 5-10, g.

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Boys: SIRR Ohio Division

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BentonThe Rangerettes enjoyed

a solid campaign last year inAndy Sloan’s first season ashead coach. The team won20 games, but it will have toreplace Morgan Corn,among others, heading intothe new season.

“We hope the leadershipfrom the older kids last yearrubbed off on the kids wehave coming back,” Sloansaid. “They know what wewant to do and what Iexpect. We shouldn’t haveto spend a lot of time goingover that this year.”

Cali Carney, an All-Southguard, will be relied upon tocarry quite a bit of the scor-ing load. She burst onto thescene as a freshman, butsuffered a serious kneeinjury. Carney should beback to 100 percent after asolid sophomore year.

“The challenge for Cali isthat she’ll get the otherteam’s best every night,”Sloan said. “She’ll have tolearn to play through someof that stuff, and I think shegot frustrated at times lastyear. She is usually one ofthe best athletes on thecourt.”

Sami Minor also returnsto the backcourt. She hasbeen one of the team’s mostversatile and energeticplayers for a few years.

Coach: Andy SloanSeniors: SAMI MINOR, 5-7, g; Ashtyn Ward, 5-10,

f; Kaitlyn Biddle, 5-7, f;Juniors: CALI CARNEY, 5-9, g; Cassie Johnson, 5-

9, f; Alaina Gibbs, 5-6, f.Sophomores: Haley Ing, 5-6, g; Marcy Mendez,

5-7, g; Taylor Mosley, 5-8, g; Hannah Wilder, 5-6, f.Freshmen: Ally Gischer, 5-5, g; Alexis Abney, 6-

0, c; Makala Abney, 5-10, f; Kaylee Pedigo, 5-10, f;Cristen Shaw, 5-7, f; Lauren Zinziletta, 5-6, g.

HarrisburgThere are high expecta-

tions for the Lady Bulldogswith four longtime startersreturning from a 21-winseason last year.

“We were 8-20 my firstyear, which was a lot ofthese girls sophomoreyears, but we lost a lot ofclose games,” saidHarrisburg coach JakeStewart. “We learned howto win those games lastyear. I think we grew up.”

Ashley Ferrell andLindsey Murray return atthe guard spots. Both play-ers were all-conferenceselections a year ago. Theduo combined to average 26points per game.

“As our point guard,Ashley does a good job ofhelping me on the floor andbeing a leader, and we needthat,” Stewart said. “Shehas meant a lot to our teamand our program. She hashelped us turn thingsaround.”

Murray, one of theschool’s best track and fieldathletes, should be able torack up a lot of points atshooting guard.

“We play a fast style ofoffense, and Lindsey cancreate her own shot at anytime,” Stewart said.

“Lindsey and Ashley arelike two peas in a pod.They’re like twins, and weexpect a lot of them.”

Coach: Jake StewartSeniors: ASHLEY FERRELL, 5-5, g; HANNAH

JONES, 5-9, f; LINDSEY MURRAY, 5-7, g; MALAYNADOUGLAS, 5-6, g; Brittany Reynolds, 5-3, g; HannahWalker, 5-9, f; Hayley Thompson, 5-8, f.

Juniors: Whitney Younger, 5-9, f;Sophomores: Devan Jones, 6-0, c; Alexa Burtis,

5-8, g; Kelsey Hobbs, 5-9, f; Lilee Robinson, 5-4, g;Red McGuire, 5-4, g; Hannah Bartok, 5-4, g.

HerrinThe Tigers won 20 games

a season ago and made it toa Class 3A regional final.The team lost post player,Abby Horn, who was TheSouthern’s Player of theYear.

However, Bill Green’ssquad returns three startersand should contend for aconference title this year.

Whitney Woodis, a tallguard-forward combo,averaged 11 points and eightrebounds a year ago.

“Whitney will probablybe like our Abby Horn thisyear,” Green said. “She isnot as physical, but she ismuch quicker than a lot ofbig people. She has reallyimproved handling the bas-ketball, and I may even puther out on the wing a littlebit.”

Green believes WhitneyWoodis is the team’s bestdefensive player. Her twinsister, Gabby Woodis, is agood long range shooter,

who also plays well on thedefensive end.

“Gabby isn’t as quick asWhitney, but she has realgood foot work and she canshoot,” Green said. “She’llneed to put the ball on thefloor a little bit more, andshe’ll increase her scoringthis year, too.”

Tori Johnson has made animpact at point guard andshooting guard since herfreshman year.

Coach: Bill GreenSeniors: WHITNEY WOODIS, 5-11, g-f; GABBY

WOODIS, 5-10, g-f; TORI JOHNSON, 5-7, g; MicaelaCerutti, 5-11, c;

Juniors: Haley Hunter, 5-11, f;Sophomores: Madison LeQuatte, 6-0, c;Freshmen: Makayla Smothers, 5-8, g; Hannah

Groutage, 5-11, f-c.

Massac CountyKeith Shelton’s Lady

Patriots won 22 games lastseason and made it to a 3Asectional final as well. Theteam should be good onceagain this season, and thereis plenty of talent comingback.

Three starters return, andthey’re all junior guardswho excel at multiplesports.

“It was a testament to ourseniors last year, and we hadsome really good ones,”Shelton said. “I’ve beenpreaching to our juniors thisyear. They know what ittakes to play and win in biggames.”

Emily Hoard, the team’sleading scorer last year, isone of the best athletes inthe school. She can jumpout of the gym and will like-ly create matchup problemsfor opposing teams.

Coach: Keith SheltonSeniors: Summer Clapp, 5-6, g; Natalie Bailey,

5-6, g;Juniors: EMILY HOARD, 5-9, g; JESSIE DOUGLAS,

5-10, g-f; GRACYN MCBRIDE, 5-6, g; Jordan Oliver, 5-7, g; Haley Williams, 5-6, g;

Sophomores: MacKenzie Cowgill, 5-5, g; JessicaCoakley, 5-11, f; Alexxus Thompson, 5-11, c; SydneyBoyd, 5-6, g.

Freshmen: Natalie Hosman, 5-5, g.

MurphysboroJon Marston’s first season

as head coach of the LadyRed Devils only producedseven wins, but that wasexpected. Multiple coachesin the conference noticed adifference in Murphysborolast year, and it was a posi-tive one.

“We’ve got players nowthat want to be here and areexcited to be playing bas-ketball,” Marston said.“We’re trying to change theculture here. I want girlswho want to be here, andwho will sell out and spendthe offseason getting better.That’s been my philosophywherever I’ve been, and wehave girls here now who aredoing that.”

Bria Ciganovich, AimeeRafael and Jasmine Frazierall played well forMurphysboro, especially

late in the season last year.“We need more consis-

tency overall,” Marstonsaid. “One night they’llscore 15 and the next nightthey’ll score four. Theyunderstand if we’re going tobe successful they’ve got tomake shots.”

Frazier started as a fresh-man last year, and Marstonbelieves she can be a goodplayer in the future.

“She is quick and strongand has the mentality toscore,” Marston said. “She’sgoing to get better eachyear, but she is still just asophomore so she will makesome mistakes.”

Ciganovich will have to beMarston’s rock this year asone of only two seniors.

Coach: Jon MarstonSeniors: BRIA CIGANOVICH, 5-4, g; Ebony

Harris, 5-7; g.Juniors: JOHNNA HINES, 5-7, g; REBECCA

SHIELDS, 5-11, f; Kerry Flanagan, 5-7, g-f; AIMEERAFAEL, 5-11, f; Emily Stanton, 5-11, f.

Sophomores: Caylee Jarrett, 5-0, g; JASMINEFRAZIER, 5-6, g; Abby Vaughn, 5-7, f; Heather Cross,6-0, c; Amber Reiman, 5-6, g.

Freshmen: Mikayla Brasel, 5-5, g; Angel Jones,5-7, g.

West FrankfortAfter a rough campaign

last season, the LadyRedbirds could be quite a bitbetter this year. The teamreturns two starters, bothguards, in Kiarha Wilce andLindsey Williams.

Wilce was an All-Southplayer last year, and she canlight up the scoreboard.

“She is a gamer, and thereis no question who needs tohave the ball for us late in



Girls: SIRR Ohio Division

GoRed Devils

SEE OHIO GIRLS / PAGE 18


Belleville AlthoffLast year, the Belleville

Althoff Crusaders (15-15)bounced back from beingsecond to last in the SouthSeven and losing in theregional semifinal to beingtied for third (5-5) and los-ing to eventual No. 2Cahokia in the Class 3Aregional finals.

“The conference is reallystrong this year,” said coachGreg Leib. “It will be a bat-tle every night you step outthere, so we hope we’ll bebetter.”

Leib lost two starters inwing guard Ryan Marcumand center Erik Furmanek,but returns three in seniorfirst-team all-conferencepoint guard Kevin Rennerand two sophomores,Brendon Gooch, who ledthe team in rebounding, andsecond-team all-confer-ence combo guard KeenenYoung.

Eric Mertens, Erik Krauseand Rick Edwards will bat-tle it out for the post posi-tion.

Coach: Greg LeibSeniors: KEVIN RENNER, 6-0, g; Eric Mertens,

6-4, f; Dennis Jackson, 5-10, g; Erik Krause, 6-7, f.Juniors: Rick Edwards, 6-4, f.Sophomores: BRENDON GOOCH, 6-5, f;

KEENEN YOUNG, 6-2, g.Freshmen: Jordan Goodwin, 6-3, g/f.

CahokiaThe Cahokia Comanches

(35-3) are coming off anexcellent season, advancingto the Class 3A champi-onship game after winningtheir second straight SouthSeven Conference champi-

onship (9-1).Coach Darian Nash lost

two starters in All-Stateguard Keenan Minor andall-conference centerVincent Jackson, and hissixth man, all-conferenceguard Derenzo Jennings.

“It’s going to be hard toreplace those guys, but Ithink we have some guysthat will step up and play abig role, so we’ll be verycompetitive,” Nash said.“The returning guys show alot of fight and I look for-ward to this year.”

Nash has three seniorstarters back in 6-foot-7guard/forward DariusAustin, 6-5 point guardCarlton Rivers Jr. and 6-4power forward GaryHickman. Junior 6-9 centerDeVonte Williams is in themix to replace Jackson.

Coach: Darian NashSeniors: DARIUS AUSTIN, 6-7, g/f; CARLETON

RIVERS, JR., 6-5, g; GARY HICKMAN, 6-4, f.Juniors: Tramon Jackson, 6-5, g/f; DeVonte

Williams, 6-9, c; Montez Crumble, 5-11, g.

CarbondaleLast year, the Carbondale

Terriers improved from 7-21to finish with a 19-10 recordand a regional title. TheTerriers improved to fifth inthe conference (4-6).

This year, coach JimMiller returns all fivestarters with the hope hisTerriers are ready to make a

serious run for conferencefor the first time since the2006-07 season.

“I think it’s within ourgrasp to compete for theconference,” Miller said.“What I like about this teamis its versatility and chem-istry and I think our depth isgoing to be pretty good. Ithink it could be a veryexciting year.”

Leading the list of return-ing starters are senior co-MVPs, shooting guardDevontavius Payne andsmall forward ShamarcBursey.

“Devon led us in scoringlast year and I think hispresence will put a lot ofpressure on defenses,”Miller said. “His game hasevolved where it’s morethan just a spot up shooter.Shamarc usually draws thebest offensive performer todefend and he’s going to bea more integral part in ouroffense this year.”

The other returningstarters are senior wingguard/forward ElijahBidinger, junior point guardAllen Billinger and juniorcenter Jordan Kelly. Alsoback is senior center/for-ward Anthony Day.

“Elijah has vastlyimproved over the course ofthe last eight months as faras his consistent perimetergame goes,” Miller said.

“Allen has some gifts. Hecan shoot the ball, get to thebasket, distribute the balland defend. I thoughtJordan made the mostprogress of anybody lastyear. He earned a startingspot by the middle of theyear.”

Coach: Jim MillerSeniors: DEVONTAVIUS PAYNE, 6-3, g;

SHAMARC BURSEY, 5-11, f; ELIJAH BIDINGER, 6-1,g/f; Anthony Day, 6-3, c/f.

Juniors: ALLEN BILLINGER, 6-0, g; JORDANKELLY, 6-6, c.

CentraliaThe Centralia Orphans

have either won or finishedsecond in the South SevenConference the last six sea-sons under coach LeeBennett, including finish-ing second at state in 2010.

Last year, the Orphans(21-9) finished second inthe conference (6-4) for thesecond straight year beforewinning their fourthstraight regional champi-onship.

“Like a lot of teams wehave a lot back,” Bennettsaid. “We are going to bepretty balanced in scoringlike last year. Night to nightwe’re going to have multipleplayers capable of being thescorer.”

Bennett lost only threereserves and returns all fivestarters, including leadingscorer, senior forward JakeWood. He also has back twosophomores who playedsignificant minutes asfreshmen in guard D’AaronOwens and forward/guardTyriq Billberry.

“We have seven guyscoming back that played alot and all may have startedat times,” Bennett said.“Our last game of the year,we started on the front lineWood, Chase Alcorn andJerod Simmons-Young. Atone guard we had De’Ontre’Cunningham and at theother we had RyanOvermeier.”

Coach: Lee BennettSeniors: JAKE WOOD, 6-1, f; CHASE ALCORN, 6-

3, f; JEROD SIMMONS-YOUNG, 6-1, f; DE’ONTRE’CUNNINGHAM, 5-10, g.

Juniors: RYAN OVERMEIER, 6-0, g.Sophomores: D’Aaron Owens, 5-7, g; Tyriq

Billberry, 6-0, f/g.

MarionThe first year of Shane

Hawkins’ reign as theMarion Wildcats’ headcoach was a rude awakening— a last-place finish in theSouth Seven (13-16, 1-9).

“We had a good year, butwe found out how good theconference is,” Hawkinssaid. “We spent a lot of timeteaching fundamentals andlaid the groundwork forwhat we want to do offen-sively and defensively andwe made steps in the rightdirection. This year we needto be more consistent.”

Hawkins has two startersreturning with senior BrantHill back at small forwardand senior Carson Cash atpower forward. In addition,senior Colton Carter, whoplayed significant minutes,is also back at shootingguard.

“We had a very produc-tive summer and they areready for the season to getstarted,” Hawkins said.

In the mix to replaceMalik Stuckey at pointguard is junior MiguelJackson.

Robby Dosier, who trans-ferred from Carbondale, isin the battle to replaceJawan Tucker at shootingguard.

“Dosier shoots the ballwell and will play a lotwhether he starts or not,”Hawkins said. “R.J.Manfredo had a really goodsummer and we could playhim at center (to replaceGabe Murphy) or we couldgo small and put Cash thereto go a little more athletic.”

Coach: Shane HawkinsSeniors: BRANT HILL, 6-3, f; CARSON CASH, 6-

4 1/2, f; Colton Carter, 5-9, g; Nick Malone, 6-1, g;Chase Hughart, 6-1, f.

Juniors: Layne Alexander, 5-10, g; TrentonDierkes, 5-11, f; Brandon Osborne, 6-2, f; Zach Nave,5-10, g; Braden Reeves, 5-11, g; R.J. Manfredo, 6-31/2, f; Miguel Jackson, 5-6, g; Robby Dosier 6-3, g.

Sophomores: Adam Newman, 5-11, g; DylanBaxter, 6-1, f.

Mount VernonThe Mount Vernon Rams

slipped last year, finishingwith a 15-13 record aftertopping 20 wins the previ-ous two seasons and drop-ping from second in theSouth Seven to a tie forthird at 5-5.

“We had a lot of tightgames last year where weended up on the short end,”said coach Scott Gamber.“We beat Cahokia andCentralia early to show wecould play with anybody,but faded at the end.”

Gamber has three playersreturning who either start-ed or had major playingtime. Senior Jake Pikemoves from forward to takeover for leading scorerTrevor Flota at shootingguard and senior ShakariHawkins moves from for-ward/wing guard to replaceMicheal Feezer at center.

“We are a little more ath-letic this year, but we’re notvery big, so we have to find apost presence,” Gambersaid. “Dylan Reeves is ath-letic and I think he can giveus a lot on the defensiveend. Tyrez Moore has neverplay organized basketballbefore so he is a questionmark.”

Braden Fitzjerrels aver-aged nine points a game atshooting guard, but thesophomore will move topoint guard to replaceJarron Liddell.

“Scoring we have moreweapons,” Gamber said.“Bryce Hunter can reallyshoot the ball. Luke Wilsonis very scrappy and GilwanNelson has really grownover the summer.”

Coach: Scott GamberSeniors: JAKE PIKE, 6-0, g; SHAKARI HAWKINS,

6-2, c; Doug Gardner, 5-9, f; Tyrez Moore, 6-3, f/c.Juniors: Luke Wilson, 6-3, g/f; Shauntez Taylor

6-2, g; Gilwan Nelson, 6-1, g; Bryce Hunter, 5-10, g,Dylan Reeves, 6-2, c.

Sophomores: BRADEN FITZJERRELS, 5-7, g;Blake Jones, 5-11, g.

Freshmen: Jake Jines, 6-3, f/c.

— Geary Deniston


Boys: South Seven Conference

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618-997-4000www.ikehonda.com

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Belleville AlthoffThe Belleville Althoff

Crusaders (10-15) dominat-ed the South Seven withseven straight titles, but hasslipped the last two sea-sons, finishing second twoyears ago and falling to fifthlast year (3-7).

“We played a lot of youngkids last year mainlybecause we lost centerWhitney Harris and guardJazmine Stubblefield beforethe season to injuries,” saidcoach Todd Hill. “That puta lot of weight on KymberHill to replace Harris andshe also missed some timewith an injury. So we had toplay some girls who mightnot have been totally readyto play at the varsity level.”

Hill has three returningstarters in senior shootingguard Rachel Kaltwasser,junior wing guard/forwardMadison Weilbacher andsophomore point guardAnna Hanger to buildaround, but he must findreplacements for Hill andsmall forward MaryCardenas.

Coach: Todd HillSeniors: RACHEL KALTWASSER, 5-7, g.Juniors: MADISON WEILBACHER, 5-10, g/f;

Mary Jackson, 5-9, g; Kylie Sullivan, 5-7, g; AmariFennoy, 5-7, g/f.

Sophomores: ANNA HANGER, 5-6, g; AlannaBramwell, 6-2, c; Danielle Hawthorne, 5-8, g;Rachel Mertens, 5-10, f/c.

Freshmen: Kyliegh Vaught, 5-7, g; MaggieRiemer, 5-11, f; Rachel Collins, 5-3, g; Emily Myapp,5-11, f/c.

CahokiaThe Cahokia Comanches

(12-13) have been stuck inthe middle of the SouthSeven Conference for thepast four seasons, finishingfourth last year at 4-6.

“This year I think we’regoing to be better,” saidcoach Fred Dancy. “Withthe help of some of theyounger girls we’ve gotsome pretty decent guardswho can handle the ball.”

Dancy lost his leadingscorer, all-conferenceguard/forward TeykiaCooper, second team all-conference selectionDeairelle Ivy, who playedevery position last year, and

wing guard RonajhaDenzmore.

Returning to the startinglineup is senior second-team all-conference centerLashonda Brewer, juniorforward DominiqueJennings and senior pointguard J’Ava Brock.Sophomore Ronesha Lewiswill take over for Ivy at theguard position.

“Brewer has reallyimproved a great deal,”Dancy said. “We lostDenzmore in January to aninjury and Jennings steppedright in. She’s a banger. Itlooks like not one girl isgoing to replace Cooper, butit’s going to be spreadaround.”

Coach: Fred DancySeniors: LASHONDA BREWER, 6-2, c; Taylore

Burton, 5-5, g; Kiearra Herron, 5-10, c; MarshayMorton, 5-8, g; McKayla Oliver, 5-8, f; Tiera Higgins,5-7, g.

Juniors: J’AVA BROCK, 5-5, g; DOMINIQUEJENNINGS, 6-0, f; Earlicia Shaw, 5-6, g.

Sophomores: Ronesha Lewis, 5-11, g.

CarbondaleLast year, for the second

straight year, the Terriersfinished third with a 5-5conference record. TheTerriers were 12-13 overall.

Last year, the Terriers gotoff to a bad start with justtwo wins in their first 11games, but came on strong,winning 10 of its last 13games before being elimi-nated in the regional semi-finals by regional championMassac County.

“We have some lengthand height this year,” saidcoach Marialice Jenkins.“We’ve also got guards whocan get up and down thefloor, so for us to be suc-cessful we’re going to haveto be up-tempo and scoregetting to the basket.”

Jenkins has three return-ing starters led by SouthSeven Player of the Year,senior guard/forwardMcKena Miller. Alsoreturning is junior center

Kaili Bacon and sophomorepoint guard Skylar Miller.

Last year, Jenkins had touse Skylar Miller to replaceSarah Goodale, who missedthe season with an injury.This year she will have toreplace shooting guardZamorrow Glispie and for-ward Bobbie Harris.

“Sophomores AchsahGreer and Kandace Joneshave over the summer risento the top for the openstarting jobs,” Jenkins said.“Greer is a good 3-pointshooter and has a nice han-dle and Jones can be a goodplayer.”

Coach: Marialice JenkinsSeniors: MCKENA MILLER, 5-11, g/f; Bryonne

Williams, 5-9, f/c.Juniors: KAILI BACON, 5-10, f/c; Atley Green, 5-

5, g.Sophomores: SKYLAR MILLER, 5-8, g; Alex

Jackson, 5-8, f; Taja Dedecker, 5-8, f; ChasytieHarris, 5-8, g/f; Achsah Greer, 5-6, g; KandaceJones, 5-9, f/c; Danielle Lorentz, 5-9, f/c.

CentraliaThe Centralia Annies

(14-14) fell back to second(7-3) last year in the SouthSeven after snappingBelleville Althoff’s streak ofseven straight champi-onships in 2011-12.

“We played a prettystrong nonconferenceschedule last year, so thatprepared us for the confer-ence,” said coach RogerStieg. “We struggledagainst teams that werebigger and stronger than us,so we’re hoping that wehave some stronger girlsthis year.”

Stieg has only tworeturning starters in seniorsAbbey Holtkamp at centerand Erika Starr at powerforward. He will have toreplace point guard MaddieWernsman, shooting guardJordyn Looman and smallforward Danielle Meadows.

“We’re lost a lot of ourscoring with Meadows andLooman, so we have to findsome girls to pick up the

scoring slack and with los-ing Wernsman and Loomanwe’ll also have to pick upour guard play,” Stieg said.“I’ve got five seniors and allhave played varsity, so I’mlooking for some leader-ship.”

Seniors Raigen Schwartzand Cassie Kwiatkowski arethe leading contenders atpoint guard and shootingguard, respectively.

Coach: Roger StiegSeniors: ABBEY HOLTKAMP, 6-0, c; ERIKA

STARR, 5-6, f, Raigen Schwartz, 5-4, g; CassieKwiatkowski, 5-7, g; Lauren Smith, 5-9, f/c.

Juniors: Tressa Cunningham, 5-9, f; AbbyIngenrieth, 5-0, g; Holly Mays, 5-7, g.

Sophomores: Reanna Hutton, 5-10, f.

MarionThe Marion Wildcats (9-

16) have gone through arough patch the past fiveyears, finishing last in theSouth Seven Conferencefour times and fifth oncewhile compiling a com-bined conference record of5-45, including finishinglast at 2-8 last season.

“Last season, we beatCahokia at Cahokia andthen beat Althoff on oursenior night and we’d neverbeaten them before, so weplayed better down thestretch,” said coach ChrisRoberts. “The numbers areup. We had 34-37 (kids) tryout, and a few years ago, wehad only 10 to 15 girls in thewhole program. This will be

the second year of having afreshman schedule again,and that’s big.”

Roberts is beginning hissecond season at the helmand will have to replacethree starters in guardsDailey and CortneyWilliams and center KatieComp, but he has juniorAll-South guard AlysonGwaltney and junior wingguard Marquisha Edwardsto build around.

“We play more of a fast,up-tempo game andGwaltney, Edwards and oursixth girl last year HaleyRushing will handle the ballfor us,” Roberts said. “Allthree are leaders and theway they go is how our teamgoes.”

Senior Bethany Pickens isin the mix to replace Compat center. SophomoreDanye Faust at forward andjunior Summer Fletcher atpoint guard will also be inthe mix for starting jobs.

Coach: Chris RobertsSeniors: Bethany Pickens, 5-10, c; Allee Wilson,

5-9, f.Juniors: MARQUISHA EDWARDS, 5-7, g; ALYSON

GWALTNEY, 5-8, g; Haley Rushing, 5-8, g; SummerFletcher, 5-6, g; Jenna Hurst, 5-5, g.

Sophomores: Azariah Riley, 5-5, g; JordinFoster, 5-6, g; Sheyanne Stacy, 5-5, g; MadisonWilson, 5-8, c; Danye Faust, 5-8, f.

Mount VernonLast year, the Mount

Vernon Lady Rams (9-1)won the South Seven title

for the first since 2004.Lonnon lost all-confer-

ence guard Aaliyah Palmer,honorable mention all-conference forward KelbyKujawa and his sixth playercenter Natalie Williamson.

“I’m not sure we wouldhave been picked to win theconference last year, so thetarget will be on our backfor the first time in a longtime,” Lonnon said. “Wehave four seniors who reallycontributed a lot and I’mconfident we have kids whocan fill the voids.”

The three returningstarters are led by juniorAll-South center HannahOwens, who averaged 12.1points a game. Also back arehonorable mention all-conference point guardClaire Ryan and shooting guard CourtneyScarbrough.

“Last year, we set a schoolrecord for team defense byholding teams to just 38points a game,” Lonnonsaid. “For the first timewe’re rich in post playersand that will help us scoremore points because we’restronger around the bas-ket.”

Pushing for playing timeare senior Ieisha Sandersand junior Miriam Hesterdown low and juniorMakiah Rush at guard.

Coach: Jeff LonnonSeniors: CLAIRE RYAN, 5-8, g; COURTNEY

SCARBROUGH, 5-8, g; Colleen Skobel, 5-6, f; VickiSkobel, 5-7, g/f; Ieisha Sanders, 5-10, c.

Juniors: HANNAH OWENS, 6-1, c; KenzieRankin, 5-7, g; Miriam Hester, 5-10 1/2, c; MakiahRush, 5-5, g.

— Geary Deniston



Girls: South Seven Conference

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Friday, November 22, 2013 The Southern Illinoisan

Carmi-White CountyEven though the Bulldogs

finished third in the confer-ence with a 6-4 record,coach Eric Dixon wasn’tpleased with the regularseason mark of 11-17.

“Overall, we were disap-pointed in the outcome oflast season,” said Dixon.“Fortunately, this year I’vegot four starters back fromlast year, along with severalkids who came off thebench.”

Those seniors returningfor the Bulldogs will befour-year starter ChaseSailer, three-year starterAndy Vaughan, BrodieBrown and Jamey Steed,who will serve as the anchorin the paint at 6-foot-5.

Dixon says his team hasseveral skilled shooters. Akey for the Bulldogs’offense will be slowingdown and patiently movingthe ball until the right shotis found. Defensiveimprovement is also criti-cal.

“Our biggest weaknesseslast year was defense,” saidDixon. “If we improve onthat the most, along withour shot selection, thatcould lead to a lot of successwith this group.”

The Carmi-WhiteCounty Bulldogs will begintheir season at homeagainst West Frankfort onNov. 26.

Coach: Eric DixonSeniors: JAMEY STEED, 6-5, f; CHASE SAILER, 6-

0, g; ANDY VAUGHAN, 6-2, g; Brodie Brown, 5-11, g;Seth Gross, 6-0, f.

Juniors: Clay Vaught, 6-1, g; Joe Matz, 6-4, f;

Jorgan Large, 6-6, c; Logan Weller, 5-9, g.Sophomores: Tucker Gray, 6-4, g/f; Tyler

Barbre, 5-10, g; Zach Vaught, 6-0, g; Drew Lucas,5-10. g; Josh Potter, 5-10, g

EldoradoJoe Clark has already been

around the Eldorado Eaglesfor several years, so as afirst-year head coach, heknows what needs to bedone for the team to have itsfirst winning season since2010.

“We have a mix of playerswith different talents,” saidClark. “We’ve been workinghard to improve their skillsand put the pieces of thepuzzle together to see howwe can compete.”

Eldorado will be led bythe backcourt tandem ofDylan Lawrence at pointguard and Tyler Deaton atthe wing. Deaton averaged18 points per game last year.Clark also noted “severalnew faces,” includingRichard Grecufsa, EricMayberry, and Adam andBen Partridge.

With his immediate goalto coach Eldorado to animproved season, CoachClark is also hoping to setthe stage for the Eagles toenjoy long-term success.

“We want to try to lay thefoundation for a strongprogram,” he said.“Unfortunately, we’vestruggled these past fewyears, and if we can take the

necessary steps to competeand find success, I think itwill just be a matter of timebefore we’re where we needto be.”

Eldorado will open theirseason when they visitGallatin County on Nov. 29.

Coach: Joe ClarkSeniors: TYLER DEATON, 5-8, g; Ben Partridge,

6-3, c; Derek Mayberry, 6-2, c; DYLAN LAWRENCE,5-9, g.

Juniors: Nathan Burnett, 6-0, f; RichardGrecuffa, 5-11, g; Skylar Shaw, 5-10, g.

Sophomores: Alex Molinarolo, 6-0, f: ClayBoulds, 6-3, c: Adam Partridge, 6-2, f: DrewWoolcott, 5-9, g.

Freshmen: Ethan Partridge, 6-2, f

FairfieldAfter winning at least a

share of the Black DiamondConference East the pastthree years, Fairfield willfeel the pressure as they tryfor number four in a row.

“Last year’s group sur-prised us,” said coach ScottMcElravy. “They reallycame together, and this yearwe have the majority of ourscorers back, so I’m lookingforward to that.”

The Mules lost three sen-iors to graduation, but willbring back a deep rosterthat includes senior JosephRodgers and juniorNathaniel Lackey. Rodgersserved as Fairfield’s pointguard and earned all-conference honors last year, while the 6-6 Lackey is a returning co-captain of the Black

Diamond Conference.Rounding out the starting

five will be Cody Simpson,Tristan Fry and AndrewGifford, all three of whomMcElravy believes haveimproved.

“With this group, we’rebig, but we can also bemobile,” said McElravy.

Fairfield will look to upthe tempo early on bothsides of the floor.

“We’re going to push thepace more than we have inthe past,” he said. “Thesekids can all run up anddown the floor, but we canalso play at a slower pace ifwe need to. This is a veryversatile group.”

McElravy wants thefourth straight conferencetitle, but is also hopeful fora run in the postseason, anda first regional champi-onship since 2007. “Wewould love to put our sen-iors in a position to win theconference throughouttheir high school careers.We’d also like to place highin our tournaments thisyear, and it’s going to betough, but we would alsolove to have that opportu-nity to win a regional cham-pionship and see what wecan do from there.”

Coach: Scott McElravySeniors: Austin Russell, 5-8, g; Colton Simpson,

5-11, g; Nate Coomer, 6-3, f; Derek Greifzu, 5-9, g;Tristan Fry, 6-3, f; JOSEPH RODGERS, 5-10, g; CodySimpson, 6-3, f.

Juniors: Andrew Gifford, 5-10, g; Connor Scott,6-0, f; Dakota Scott, 6-0, f; NATHANIEL LACKEY, 6-6, c.

Sophomore: Colton Land, 6-0, f; Sky Kollak, 6-2, f.

Hamilton CountyDespite five conference

wins, the Hamilton CountyFoxes were only able to pickup one additional victory ontheir schedule, and finishedtheir season at 6-21.

“Last year we had a lot ofstarters in new roles,” saidcoach Keith Welch. “Thisyear, we have more experi-ence coming back, so hope-

fully that will help us addmore to our win total. Wehave a lot of depth.”

That depth will includefour returning seniors, all ofwhom have started for theFoxes in the past two years.The Foxes will feature BaleeGay and Travis Stevens inthe frontcourt, with NathanAnselment and LoganBillington serving asguards.

”We have our seniorscoming back, but there willalso be several juniors thatwill be challenging theirplaying time,” Welch said.

In order to give everyoneproper playing time, Welchwill look for the Foxes topush the ball and utilizequick screens for openshots. They will also look toapply heavy pressure on thedefensive end of the floor.

“We’re going to try topress the tempo early andcreate a lead to let thoseguys get some varsity play-ing time,” he said

Hamilton County willopen its season Dec. 2 at theDu Quoin Tip-Off.

Coach: Keith WelchSeniors: LOGAN BILLINGTON, 5-11, g; BALEE

GAY, 6-0, f; NATHAN ANSELMENT, 5-11, g; TRAVISSTEVENS, 6-3, f/c

Juniors: Tucker Braden, 6-1, f; BrandonCraddock, 6-4, f/c; Jake Scattone, 6-0, g; LandonVaughan, 5-10, g; Joey Rebstock, 5-10, g; Tyler Kelly,5-9, g; Eli Lueke, 6-0, f; Daniel Rapp, 5-10, g; LucasStover, 5-9, g

Sophomores: Holden Dodson, 5-11, g;Sawyer Lueke, 5-9, g; Chad Barnard, 6-0, f; ZackPage, 5-10, f

Johnston CityLast year, the Johnston

City Indians were BlackDiamond East co-champi-ons.

This year, they will belooking for more.

“We’ve got a good groupthis year,” said coach WadeThomas.

The Indians will be with-out Austin McPheron, buthe is the only player lostfrom last year’s squad.McPheron scored 1,000career points for Johnston

City and earned honorablemention all-state honors.

The Indians will have anadvantage with their deeprotation that returns sixseniors, including four-yearstarter Hunter Zeigler. Alsoreturning will be guardsLuke McCormick, ColsonMyers and JordanBlankenship. Jake Davidsonand Derek Smith will returnin the post for the Indians,with 6-7 Caleb Burnsreturning to the team forthe first time since hissophomore year.

Thomas called the team“high-energy” and “verycoachable.”

“We’ve got some verygood athletes on this team,guys who can really shootand play defense,” he said.

Johnston City will beginits season at the GorevilleInvitational, facing Anna-Jonesboro in the openinggame.

Coach: Wade ThomasSeniors: JAKE DAVISON, 6-3, f; Caleb Burns, 6-

7, c; Derek Smith, 6-2, g/f; LUKE McCORMICK, 6-2, g;Colson Myers, 5-8, g; Levi Tanner, 6-1, g; HUNTERZEIGLER, 5-10, g

Juniors: Jordan Blankenship, 6-0, g; BrandonBrunk, 6-4, c; Dylan Jeffords, 6-0, f

Sophomores: Andrew Friess, 6-0, f; DarickDavis, 6-1, f; Nathan Payne, 6-3, c

Freshmen: Wyatt Rix, 5-10, g; Gage Hall, 6-0, g;Caleb Holtzclaw, 5-10, g; Clayton Selby, 5-10, f; EJThompson, 6-1, f

ViennaAfter two consecutive

three-win seasons, includ-ing just one conference win,Vienna coach Cory Watersis hoping to turn thingsaround.

“Last year was more of alearning year,” said Waters,entering his fourth yearwith the program. “Wewere very young, but Ithought they all competedwell.”

Vienna lost graduatingforwards Richard Kindhartand Dominick Tedeschi, butwill return several key play-ers including juniorQuinnton Bent, who servedas team captain and led theEagles in scoring.

“Quinnton is a very hardworker,” Waters said.


Boys: Black Diamond East

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Carmi-White CountyAfter a string of success-

ful seasons in the early2000s, the Lady Bulldogshave recently fallen on hardtimes.

However, coach ScottConner is confident he caneffectively balance his tal-ented group of returningplayers with six freshmanwho finished third in theSIJHSAA Class L state tour-nament earlier this year.

“Last year we finishedbelow .500 and it wasn’t theresult we were looking for,”said Conner. “But with ourreturning players and theincoming freshman, hope-fully they can mesh and giveus a better outcome thisyear.”

Carmi-White County willreturn three starters inguards Kelsey Rogers andAlexa Combs, as well as for-ward Jerrica Money. SeniorBriley Attebury will look tostep up in her role in thepost this season, after lead-ing the Lady Bulldogs inrebounds last year. Juniorguard Claire Blankenberger,who missed all of last year,will also look forward toserving a big role.

Carmi will look toimprove this year by allow-ing their opponents mini-mal shots on defense.

“We’re looking to justplay back and protect thebasket with help defense,”said Conner.

On the other end of the

floor, the Lady Bulldogs willlook to run a motion offensethat focuses on putting theball inside the paint.

Coach: Scott ConnerSeniors: KELSEY ROGERS, 5-6, g; Bailey

Winters, 5-6, g; JERRICA MONEY, 5-7, f; BrileyAttebury, 5-8, f.

Juniors: ALEXA COMBS, 5-7, g; ClaireBlankenberger, 5-2, g; Jessica Woods, 5-4, f.

Sophomores: Paige Winter, 5-8, g.Freshmen: Morgan Combs, 5-9, f; Maggi

Ackerman, 5-7, f; Graci Ackerman, 5-6, g; LixiWheeler, 5-10, c; Lexi Wheeler, 5-7, f; Maddi Wenzel,5-5, g.

EldoradoWith their 8-2 mark,

Eldorado was able to claim ashare of the Black DiamondEast last year. Coach JoshBradley is hoping for similarsuccess this season.

Among the seniors lostfrom that team will beAshton Unthank, who aver-aged 14 points per game.However, Eldorado will stillreturn most of theirstarters, as well as add newfaces.

“We’re going to have kidsstarting this year who did-n’t last year,” said Bradley.“Some of our bench hasnever played at this level,but we do have some expe-rience returning.”

Among those returningfor the Lady Eagles will beKourtney Phillips and all-conference selection Taylor

Goodley, both of whomaveraged over 10 points lastseason. Erica Graczyk is thethird of the trio who Bradleywill rely heavily on early inthe season.

The Lady Eagles will gainsome additional depthwhen junior guard PaigeZertuche returns from aninjured ACL.

Bradley said the team’sgoal last year was to win 20total games. Eldorado post-ed a 19-9 record thatincluded four losses by asingle point. He believesthis year’s team can reachtheir desired milestone,repeat as conference cham-pions, and compete for aregional championship.

They opened their seasonNov. 18, hosting GallatinCounty.

Coach: Josh BradleySeniors: ERICA GRACZYK, 5-10, f; KOURTNEY

PHILLIPS, 5-6, g.Juniors: TAYLOR GOODLEY, 5-6, g; PAIGE

ZERTUCHE, 5-5, g; Lacy Jo Bradley, 5-6, f; RileyDuckworth, 5-5, g; Dresdyn Bramlet, 5-10, f

Sophomores: Abby Steed, 5-8, f; JacquelynArtman, 5-10, f; Jordan Bailey, 5-9, f; CaitlynStafford, 5-6, g; Brooklyn Peaver, 5-5, g.

FairfieldDespite losing their team

leader to graduation, coachTonya Conrad is confidentin this year’s Fairfield LadyMules.

“I’m excited about thisgroup,” said Conrad. “Theywork hard and they want tocompete, and that’s what Ireally like about them.”

McKenna McWilliamswas the leader of a youngFairfield team that went 12-17 and 5-5 in the BlackDiamond Conference.

“She was our only seniorwith any significant varsityexperience,” said Conrad.

Fairfield will have anotheryoung team this year, as theLady Mules will not haveany seniors on the roster.

Conrad has six juniors,including Allison Tullis,who led the Lady Mules in

scoring and will return asFairfield’s point guard.

“Having her back is a bigplus,” said Conrad.“Hopefully now we can geteverybody else to fit in theirpositions and figure outtheir individual roles.”

Other returning juniorsinclude guards AlyssaKollak and Lacey Sams. Atforward, Fairfield will haveCaelyn Musgrave andKendra Cessna returning,and Julie Jones will work thepaint as Fairfield’s center.

Fairfield will also haveseven sophomores on theroster.

“Hopefully, some of ourgirls with varsity experi-ence from last year will helpthem out and help themadjust to the varsity level,”Conrad said.

Coach: Tonya ConradJuniors: ALLISON TULLIS, 5-6, g; Lacey Sams,

5-7, f; ALYSSA KOLLAK, 5-9, f; CAELYN MUSGRAVE, 5-11, g/f; Julie Jones, 6-0, c; Kendra Cessna, 5-8, g/f.

Sophomores: Morgan Gregory, 5-10, f/c;Christina Walker, 5-7, g; Whitney Baker, 5-7, g/f;August Martinez, 5-5, g; Stevie Wolf, 5-7, g/f; JosieGarrett, 5-11, f/c; Amber Shelton, 5-5, g.

Hamilton CountyAfter a conference-best

regular season record of23-8, the Hamilton CountyLady Foxes are hoping tomake their mark in thepostseason.

Coach Clint Winemiller,entering his sixth season,Hamilton County has wonat least 17 games in each ofthe previous four seasons,and surpassed the 20-winmark in each of the pasttwo.

Returning from last yearwill be senior forward AliciaYork, as well as guardsLucendia Adams and DanaRubenacker. Other seniorswill include Erin Bonner,Nicole Rubenacker, andJordan Scrivner, all for-wards.

“We are extremely youngafter our starters,” saidWinemiller. “There’s not a

lot of experience at the var-sity level.”

Despite the inexperienceof Hamilton County’sbench, Winemiller is opti-mistic that his starters willrise to the occasion.

“We have a chance to begood at the end of the sea-son if the girls will workhard and try to get bettereveryday,” he said.

Coach: Clint WinemillerSeniors: ALICIA YORK, 5-10, c; LUCENDIA

ADAMS, 5-7, g; Jordan Scrivner, 5-8, f; NicoleRubenacker, 5-7, c.

Juniors: DANA RUBENACKER, 5-10, g; BreyaCooper, 5-9, f; Kara Biggerstaff, 5-5, g; BriannaForrester, 5-8, g.

Sophomores: Leslie Drone, 5-5, g.Freshmen: Jayci Reyling, 5-7, g; Sydney

Williams, 5-6, g; Megan Mitchell, 5-4, g; EmilyBlades, 5-8, f; Kaitlyn Flannigan, 5-10, c; AdrienneWinemiller, 5-6, g

Johnston CityCoach George Lenon is

hopeful this is the year theLady Indians put theirstruggles behind them.

“We struggled a little lastyear,” said Lenon, enteringhis fourth year with theprogram. “We started outwell, but things wentdownhill after a fewinjuries.”

Among those injuredwere sophomores BaileePulley, ankle, and BaileyMings, rib. Both are expect-ed to miss the beginning ofthis season.

With Pulley and Mingstemporarily out, the LadyIndians will rely on theirheight in the post, withthree starters standing at 6-0. Among them will beMolly Price and Paige Rich,who anchored the defenseand led the team in scoringlast season. Also startingwill be junior BethanyBurns.

“Coming into this year,we’re still going to beyoung,” said Lenon.

The only senior expectedto start is Price.

“Hopefully we can stayhealthy and have better luck

this season,” Lenon said.The Lady Indians began

their season againstWoodlawn in the Du QuoinTournament on Nov. 21.

Coach: George LenonSeniors: Kaitin Giminez, 5-6, g; MOLLY PRICE,

6-0, c.Juniors: Bethanie Burns, 6-0, f; Tiffany Lamp,

5-7, f.Sophomores: Madilyn Billington, 5-6, f; Nicole

Johnson, 5-7, f; BAILEY MINGS, 5-7, f; BAILEE PULLEY,5-5, g; Paige Rich, 6-0, f; Darcey Stanley, 5-6, f .

Freshmen: Jeana Devening, 5-6, f; JerraEdwards, 5-7, f; Maddie Johnson, 5-7, f; AloraMauyard, 5-4, g; Maggie Price, 6-1, c

ViennaThe Vienna Lady Eagles

lost six seniors to gradua-tion, but first-year coachJim Prevallet is prepared forthe pressure to matchVienna’s success from lastyear.

“Right now the big thingwe have got is our system,”said Prevallet, whosecoaching career includes331 career victories and a.700 winning percentage asthe girls’ coach at MassacCounty. “When you playother teams, you playagainst their systems. Rightnow we’re trying to put ourstogether and see what wecan do with that.”

Prevallet was hired as thecoach near the end of thesummer, so he has not hadmuch of a chance to get toknow his team, but he isconfident that will get toknow a Lady Eagles squadthat will include returningseniors Maranda Chanceand Haley Edwards.

“Right now it’s just aprocess,” said Prevallet.“We’re changing a lot ofthings from last year, soright now it’s just a learningcurve.”

Prevallet added that evenif the beginning of the sea-son is rough, he hopesVienna will have the hang ofthings later on in the season.

Coach: Jim PrevalletSeniors: Desiree Walter, 5-5, g; Cassidy Stout, 5-

4, g; MARANDA CHANCE, 5-7, g; HALEY EDWARDS,5-7, g; Allison Penrod, 5-5, f; Allison Browning, 5-10,c; Jami Shipley, 6-0, c.

Juniors: Courtney Sanders, 5-10, f; BeckyReeder, 5-10, f; Megan McCuan, 5-10, f; MeighanSmith, 5-6, g.

Sophomores: Natalie Keeling, 5-6, g; AudraBullock, 5-10, f.

— Michael Ashby



Girls: Black Diamond East

FROM PAGE 10

“Hopefully he can continue to improve and lead thisteam.”

Joining Bent in the backcourt will be Blake Crain.Junior Nathan Gearing will look to play this seasonafter suffering a torn ACL last year. SophomoresZachryn Moore and Jarrod Wiggs will round out thestarting five.

Coach: Cory WatersSeniors: BLAKE CRAIN, 5-7, g; Lucas Wright, 6-1, g; Trenton Lowery, 6-3, c; Tyler Sullivan, 6-0,

f.Juniors: QUINNTON BENT, 5-11, g; NATHAN GEARING; 5-9, g; Austin Krelo; 5-10, g; Wyatt

Robinson; 5-10, g; Kevin Penrod, 5-10, g.Sophomores: Ryan Bradley, 5-10, g; Jarrod Wiggs; 5-10, g/f; Zach Moore; 5-10, g.

— Michael Ashby

BDC EAST: Boys preview


ChesterChester coach Brad

Norman has only onereturning player whologged serious varsity timelast year.

Luckily for Norman, he’sa good one.

Jake Lochhead, a 6-foot-3 shooter, will step intomore of a leadership role —one that he also shoulderedduring Chester’s recentfootball success.

“He might be the biggestleader in the entire school,”Norman said. “He was thequarterback on the footballteam. He’s a straight A stu-dent. I don’t know that I’veever coached a better kid.”

Chester finished 21-9 lastseason, 10-2 BlackDiamond West, just twogames behind Goreville forthe top spot in the confer-ence. But losing seniors likeKyle Landon, Reed Koen-emann, Link Cushman andAlec Weir will hurt in theleadership department.

“We’ve got high hopes forCody Mileur from the pointguard spot,” Norman said.“We really think he can be astrong leader for us on thefloor.”

Coach: Brad NormanSeniors: JAKE LOCHHEAD, 6-3, g; Cody Mileur,

6-1, g; Austin Redeker, 6-2, f; Austin Gendron, 6-2, f;Garret Alms, 5-9, g.

Juniors: Hunter Howie, 5-10, g; Issac Wingerter,6-0, f.

ChristopherChristopher didn’t just

graduate three starters fromlast season’s 15-13 squad, itgraduated some substantial

size and quickness. Size inthe form of Kevin Mercksand quickness from shiftypoint guard Tyler Atchisonwill have to be compensatedfor this winter.

The Bearcats lost in theirregional title game in over-time to Steeleville, a disap-pointing end to a strongseason.

“Hopefully we can com-pete at that level again,” saidcoach Eric Stallman. “Ithink some of the kids got ataste of it and we have highhopes of getting back.”

One player leading thecharge will be senior guardEric Young. Set to pass1,000 points this season,Young averaged 11.6 pointsper game last season andhas garnered two solid yearsof varsity playing time.

“He has looked reallygood and worked very hardto improve,” Stallman sad.“He is much more physicaland looking to score theball.”

Young will be comple-mented by senior pointguard Jacob Towers, as wellas junior Luke Saeger, andsophomores Josh Calloniand Hunter Wheeler.Stallman is hoping that hisyounger players are up tothe challenge in the toughBlack Diamond West.

“We’ve put together areally good summer,”

Stallman said. “We’ve hadsome kids in some differenttournaments andshootouts. Hopefully itpays off for the season.”

Coach: Eric StallmanSeniors: ERIC YOUNG, 6-2, g; JACOB TOWERS,

Maurice Brown, 5-10, g; Ethan Conner, 6-3, f.Juniors: Luke Saeger, 6-2, g.Sophomores: Josh Calloni, 6-2, g; Hunter

Wheeler, 5-9, g.

ElveradoNew Elverado coach Eric

Yearian inherits a team thatwon two games last seasonand finished 0-12 in theconference, and he’s up forthe challenge of turningthings around.

“We’re pretty muchstarting from scratch,” saidYearian, who was an assis-tant at Shawnee last seasonand takes over for MarkRiley. “We’ve only got twoseniors coming in and don’treally have a whole lot ofheight.”

Yearian has spent thesummer and early seasonpractices stressing the fun-damentals.

“We’re basically going tobe focusing on perimeterskills,” Yearian said.“Shooting, driving the bas-ketball, speed and quick-ness — that is what we’reworking on.”

The Falcons’ two seniorsare Eli Fennell and AnthonyKirk.

Coach: Eric Yearian

Seniors: Eli Fennell, 5-11, g; Anthony Kirk, 5-8,g.

Juniors: Luke Jones, 5-10, g; Ethan Keller, 5-8,g.

Sophomore: Alex Valerius, 6-0, f.

GorevilleGoreville welcomes back

conference MVP Zeke Snellthis season. It also wel-comes back high expecta-tions for another confer-ence title.

The Blackcats finished26-5 (12-0) last season,earning the most single-season victories in schoolhistory. They beat Zeigler-Royalton, 75-43, in theregional championshipgame before falling toMeridian in the first roundof sectionals.

“We are excited aboutwhat we’ve got comingback,” said coach ToddTripp. “In Zeke and KyeferCavins, we’ve got two of thebest players in the confer-ence returning.”

Goreville lost DaytonTripp and Alex Andros tograduation, leaving opencompetition for their spots.A host of seniors and jun-iors figure to vie for thestarting positions.

“We’re not rebuilding byany means,” Tripp said.“We do have a little bit morelimited experience than inthe past but that just meansthere is more competitionfor those spots.”

Coach: Todd TrippSeniors: ZEKE SNELL, 6-5 f; KYEFER CAVINS, 6-

1, f; Daniel Lanham, 5-10, g; Shon Messmer, 5-9, g.Juniors: Dallas Melot, 6-2, f; Noah Schuetz,

Tyler Bishop.Sophomores: Jared Vaughn.

Sesser-ValierShane Garner, a 2002

graduate and multi-sportstandout at Sesser-ValierHigh School, takes over thereins of the Red Devils thisseason. He replaces ChipBasso, who stays on as ateacher and athletic director.

Garner is losing severalkey players to graduationfor his rookie campaign, butreturns Nick Marlo, TylerBaxter and Jordan Gunter,who all started at differentpoints during last season.

“Nick is our rock,” Garnersaid. “He is a true leader ineverything he does. Otherkids look up to him and feedoff of him.”

Jacob Vanway saw somespot starts as a sophomorelast year’s team, which fin-ished 13-16 and 6-6 in con-ference. Also back is 6-5senior Nick McCarty to givethe Red Devils some sizeinside to complement theirspeedy perimeter players.

“We’re built for speedand really looking to push itthis year,” he said. “The kidsare excited. The coaches areexcited. The fans will beexcited to watch them.We’re putting some trust inthem to play with a littlemore freedom.”

Coach: Shane GarnerSeniors: Jordan Gunter, 5-10, g; Tyler Baxter, 6-

0, g; Nick McCarty, 6-5, c, Clayton Hoffard, 5-10, g.Juniors: NICK MARLO, 5-10, g; Jacob Vanway, 6-

0, f; Logan Barrett, 6-6, g; Luke Thompson, 6-0, f;Kaleb Miller, 6-0, f.

TricoIt’s not often that a

Southern Illinois highschool team graduates three6-5 players.

That’s exactly what coachTrico coach Mike Denault isfacing this season. Gone areBlaine Lepere, GeorgeKuhlman and Luke Watson— all 6-5 presences fromlast year’s team that fin-ished 18-12 and 7-5 in theconference.

“We are going to be a lotquicker than we were lastyear, that’s for sure,”Denault said. “We’re reallydepending on some guys tostep right in and give usgood chemistry.”

Denault is also replacingthree other seniors from

last year’s team. ReturnersChase Rednour and KyleHammel started last seasonand will be joined by seniorJordan Jones, who alsoaccrued a lot of startingexperience.

Junior Jake Chapman willstart at point guard.

“He played some bigminutes for us in ourregional semifinal win overMurphysboro,” Denaultsaid. “So he has had someexperience in a big spot.”

Coach: Mike DenaultSeniors: Ryan Strohmeyer, 6-2, f; KYLE

HAMMEL, 5-9, g; Jordan Jones, 5-11, g.Juniors: CHASE REDNOUR, 6-5, f; Jake

Chapman, 5-10, g; Ryan Myers, 6-0, g.Sophomore: Grant Kelly, 5-9, g.

Zeigler-RoyaltonWhat a difference a year

makes.Last season, Z-R’s roster

featured only one returningsenior with varsity experi-ence. This season, coachMatt Morgan has a slew ofseniors at his disposal.

Spearheaded by NickMcPhail, BrandonStubblefield and BailySchimpf, the Tornadoes areprimed and ready for a bigseason. McPhail was theleading scorer (13 points pergame) for a team that fin-ished 17-14 and 3-9 in theconference last winter.

“We have a very deepteam,” Morgan said. “Mostof this senior group is in itsthird year starting and weare looking forward to hav-ing all of that experiencecoming back.”

Z-R’s coaches have hadthis year circled on theircalendars for a while.

“Yeah, we knew thiswould be the year that we’dhave a chance to do some-thing special,” he said.“These kids have great workethics and have put in a lotof time.”

Coach: Matt MorganSeniors: NICK MCPHAIL, 5-9, g; BRANDON

STUBBLEFIELD, 5-11, f; BAILEY SCHIMPF, 5-9, g;Timmy Brooks, 6-0, f; Nick Eisenhaur, 5-9, g; TrevorFitch, 5-9, g; Brandon Jones, 5-11, f; Boris Moskoff,5-10, g; Andrew Reece, 5-9, g; Jeremy Weddle, 5-8,g.

Juniors: Austin Risley, 6-0, f; Jeffrey Sadler, 5-8, g.

— Joe Szynkowski


Boys: Black Diamond West

GoFalcons!

ChesterConnie Clendenin takes

over her first head coachingposition for a team that fin-ished 0-10 in the BlackDiamond last year and 6-20overall. And, she couldn’tbe more excited.

“We aren’t just trying tobuild a oneor two-yearteam here,” she said. “Weare working on creating aprogram that can be suc-cessful for four, five years,and even beyond.”

Clendenin enters the sea-son with more than 10 yearsof coaching experience,including the past fewunder former Chestercoach Pat Knowles. Shereturns senior AlexandriaFedderke at the center spotand junior point guardMcKenzi Rucker to form astrong 1-2 punch.

Other returners includeseniors Sarah Bindel,Maribeth Lawrence, KaleyLudwig and RachelClendenin, Connie’sdaughter.

In trying to rebound froma winless conference sea-son, Clendenin is centeringher focus on accentuatingher team’s strengths.

“We will have a lot ofspeed on the floor,” shesaid. “And with this seniorgroup so familiar with thesystem, we are working onexpanding the offense togive them more opportuni-ties.”

Clendenin hopes to openthings up for her upper-classmen, but will stillremain invested in develop-ing her strong group ofsophomores and incomingfreshmen.

Coach: Connie ClendeninSeniors: ALEXANDRIA FEDDERKE, 6-0, c; Sarah

Bindel, 5-8, f; MARIBETH LAWRENCE, 5-3, f/g; KaleyLudwig, 5-6, f.

Juniors: MCKENZI RUCKER, 5-7, g; RachelClendenin, 5-6, f/g.

ElveradoWith only one senior

returning from last season’ssquad, Elverado is definitelygoing young.

And that’s OK with newhead coach Rasheeda Love,

who looks forward to grow-ing right alongside herplayers.

“The girls are excited,”Love said. “We are going toplay an up-tempo game.”

A new fast-pacedoffense, as well as a versa-tile defensive system are themajor alterations beinginstituted by Love. Duringthe early parts of practicethis season, her playershave shown excitement forthe changes.

“They’re asking me everyday, ‘Can we press today,can we play man-to-man?’” Love laughed.“There is a lot of enthusi-asm for the season.”

Allecia Cross returns asthe Lady Falcons’ only sen-ior. The post player hasworked on improving hershots from 15-feet in andtightening up her defensiveapproach.

“She has been throughthe program for four yearsnow,” Love said. “She is oneof those vocal leaders whounderstands exactly whatwe need her to do.”

Likewise, says Love,about her solid class ofreturning juniors. KyleeBedar will run the point forElverado, while CheyenneAbbadusky will also pro-vide some experiencedguard play. Love will look tojunior Paige Newfarmer, 5-foot-7 to provide some sizedown low.

Coach: Rasheeda LoveSeniors: ALLECIA CROSS, 5-8, f.Juniors: Cheyenne Abbadusky, 5-9, g; Kylee

Bedar, 5-6, g; Paige Newfarmer 5-7, f.Sophomore: Brooke Whittington, 5-5, g.

GorevilleComing off another spe-

cial season, Goreville looksto continue its BlackDiamond dominance thisseason.

The Lady Blackcats lost anail-biter in overtime toCowden-Herrick-BeecherCity in the Elite 8 last sea-

son. Their 31-2 record was aschool-best mark.

“Last season everythingjust kind of lined up per-fectly,” said coach MikeHelton. “It was a rarity tohave that much senior lead-ership coming back.”

Those seniors – AlisonWebb, Taylor Odom,Allison Sullivan and JessicaWright – went 112-11 intheir four-year careers andled the Blackcats to fourconference titles.

Hayley Darnell has alsoput together a solidGoreville career, andreturns in the guard posi-tion for this year’s team.

“Anytime you’ve got anAll-South kid coming back,you like your chances,”Helton said. “We’ve got agreat core of experiencedplayers coming back.”

Darnell and Kayla Webbhave showed strong leader-ship over the offseason,Helton said.

“They have both beentalking to the younger play-ers about how we do thingsand have shown great lead-ership,” Helton said. “Theyboth put in a lot of workover the summer, as did alot of the kids with travelbasketball and differentcamps.”

Brittany Pritchett andMarbia Martin played a lotof minutes in Goreville’s JVprogram and are ready tocontribute full-time.Helton said with some con-tributions from his under-classmen, his team will besolid again.

“We’ve got an excellentyoung group of sophomoresand freshmen who willslowly be able to provide uswith some scoring,” he said.

Making it back to Salemfor a fourth consecutiveseason isn’t out of thequestion, Helton said.

Coach: Mike HeltonSeniors: Brittany Pritchett, 5-9, f; HAYLEY

DARNELL, 5-5, g; Kayla Webb, 5-1, g; MadisonWalters, 5-2, g; Marbia Martin, 5-10, c.

Sesser-Valier-Waltonville

By now, Rick Metcalfknows the drill. Some sea-sons come with a solidgroup of returning starters,others do not.

This season is the latterfor Metcalf and his LadyRed Devils, who lose fourstarters and a solid sixthcontributor from last sea-son’s record-setting team.

“There is definitely morecompetition for playingspots this season,” he said.“We are losing a lot.”

The longtime coach of theRed Devils boys’ team won413 games in 26 years withSesser and Vienna. He wasinducted into the IllinoisBasketball Coaches Hall ofFame in 2009, and was incharge of a teen outreachprogram at the high schoolfor three years before beingasked to take over the girlsprogram in 2011.

“It’s definitely a differentexperience to get used to,”Metcalf said. “But I’m hav-ing a great time.”

S e s s e r - V a l i e r -Waltonville finished 24-4last season, setting theschool record for wins.They also went 8-2 in theconference and are return-ing a solid group of return-ers.

Rachel Marlo returns atthe head of a deep seniorclass that features threeother players who possesssignificant varsity experi-ence. Mikala Williams,Maty Garner and BaileeJones will all be expected toplay a lot of valuable min-utes this year. CheyennePitchford and Katie Metcalfalso hope to follow-up onsuccessful sophomore sea-sons.

The Lady Red Devils willopen the season at the

Sparta Tournament, and arelooking to get off to a quickstart against some toughcompetition.

“It won’t take us long tofigure out what we have,”Metcalf said.

Coach: Rick MetcalfSeniors: RACHEL MARLO, 5-8, f; Mikala

Williams, 5-7, f; Maty Garner, 5-7, g; Bailee Jones, 5-8, f.

Juniors: Katie Metcalf, 5-8, f; CheyennePitchford, 5-9, f.

TricoRecent SIU graduate

Heather Hochmuth takesover a Trico program thatshowed definite flashes ofimprovement last season.The Lady Pioneers bouncedback from a tough season byfinishing 15-14 last year,4-6 in the conference.

Hochmuth liked what shesaw in the early practices.

“This being my first year,I’m still trying to figure outwhat we have,” she said.“But the girls are excited.”

Kourtney Bunselmeyerand Paige Ebers return inthe guard spots, and alongwith juniors Morgan Vogt,Brooke Higgerson andJessica Prange, form a solidgroup of experienced play-ers.

“That group is reallyquick and athletic,”Hochmuth said. “We’refocusing on defense, too,and trying to stop people.”

Six-foot-one sophomoreKelly Hamilton will start atcenter for the LadyPioneers, who kick off theirseason at the SpartaInvitational.

Hochumth said her teamcan improve its chances thisyear by improving itsdefense and cutting downon the turnovers that set itback in a few games.

Coach: Heather HochmuthSeniors: Kourtney Bunselmeyer, 5-7, g; Paige

Ebers, 5-5, g.Juniors: Morgan Vogt, 5-5, g; Brooke

Higgerson, 5-9, f; Jessica Prange, 5-8, f.Sophomores: Kelly Hamilton, 6-1, c; Emily

Bauersach, 5-7, f.

Z-R-CYouth and energy. That is

what Z-R-C coach JeremyMay expects to see this sea-son from his roster.

May graduated five sen-iors from last year’s squadthat finished third in theBlack Diamond West. TheLady Tornadoes ended up19-8, 6-4 in conference.

“We had 23 girls come outthis year, which is a goodsign,” May said. “Not verymany of them have muchplaying experience, espe-cially at the varsity level.”

May is hoping that a cou-ple of his younger additionscan break through.

“We are extremelyyoung,” he said. “We’relooking for leadership outof our more experiencedplayers.”

Even May’s veterans areyoung. Guard AutumnGunter was second-teamall-conference as a fresh-man last year, and alongwith forward BrittanyBrooks, are a solid sopho-more nucleus for Z-R-C.Junior Alysha Rodgers alsoreturns, as all three try toreplace the productionfrom graduated standoutsBrandy Mifflin and MaddyCaruso.

“Autumn is such a goodleader for us,” May said“Brittany is very athletic,can handle the basketballand does a great job ondefense. Alysha does a goodjob of spotting up and hit-ting the open shot.

“We will definitely becounting on those threethroughout the season.”

May expects a good mixof seniors and juniors to fillin the rest of his startingfive and bench spots.

“As a coach, you knowyou’re going to haveturnover,” May said. “Thisyear we actually lost quite abit, so we’re still figuringout what we’ve got.”

Coach: Jeremy MaySeniors: Ashton Beaver, 5-9, c.Juniors: Alysha Rodgers, 5-6, g.Sophomores: AUTUMN GUNTER, 5-6, g;

Brittany Brooks, 5-8, g.

— Joe Szynkowski

The Southern Illinoisan Friday, November 22, 2013 Page 1133


Girls: Black Diamond West


Carrier MillsEntering his 30th season

as a head coach, MarkMotsinger boasts 602 winsbetween high school andwomen’s college basket-ball. With three startersback from last year’s 14-12team which finished sec-ond in the GEC, figure theWildcats for another 15 to20 victories.

They aren’t tall — 6-foot-2 junior GabeMotsinger, the coach’s son,passes for a skyscraper onthis roster — but they canscore and pressure the ballwell against most oppo-nents. That will be enoughto make them a threat mostnights.

Slayden Figg, a 5-9 jun-ior, is the top returningscorer at 12.2 points pergame, while Darren Betz, a6-0 junior, tacked on 10.3 anight. Dalton Summers, theteam’s only senior, a 5-6guard, was good for 8.7ppg.

“The season depends onhow the younger playersstep up,” Mark Motsingersaid.

Loren Whiting, a 6-1junior, could join theyounger Motsinger upfront. Other roles off thebench are yet to be deter-mined and figure to remainfluid until at least the NewYear. It would really help ifCarrier Mills had threeadequate players off thebench so that it can takefull advantage of its quick-ness and not have to play aslower tempo.

Like some other teams inthe GEC, lack of size couldhamper Carrier Mills. Howit replaces 6-2 CameronTaborn, its leading scorerand rebounder last year,will determine whether itcontends or settles for aspoiler role.

Coach: Mark MotsingerSeniors: DALTON SUMMERS, 5-6, g.Juniors: Gabe Motsinger, 6-2, f; SLAYDEN FIGG,

5-9, g; DARREN BETZ, 6-0, g; Loren Whiting, 6-1, f;Anthony Kalodner, 5-5, g; Jordan Mitchell, 5-9, g;Jonah Crowder, 6-1, f; Tyler Cantrell, 5-11, g.

Sophomores: Rahman Fann, 5-8, g; MicahChilders, 5-9, g; Blake Parks, 5-9, f.

Freshmen: Brody Walker, 5-6, g.

Crab OrchardAfter losing almost every

starter from a regionalchampionship team, lastyear was going to be arebuild for the Trojans.When Caleb Perry and his21 points per game left thelineup after seven gamesbecause of a season-endingbroken leg, rebuildingturned into surviving.

With the 5-foot-10 Perryback for his senior season,Crab Orchard and veterancoach Jon Brown are hope-ful of a significant reboundfrom its 2-5, 6-21 mark of2012-13.

“We will be a strongperimeter-oriented teamwith several outside shoot-ers,” Brown said. “But wemust work very hard ondefense and reboundingthe basketball to offset alack of size.”

How small are theTrojans?

Their only returningstarter over 6-0, GunnarGalloway, stands a mere 6-1. Galloway proved he couldscore last year, pumping in15 per game, but the juniormust improve his rebound-ing for this team not to beannihilated on the glass.

Crab’s other threestarters are 5-9, althoughsophomore Lane Hutson,who averaged eight pointsper game, could be in for abig spike after an offseasonwhich left Brown dubbinghim as the team’s mostimproved player.

Forward Tyler Deatonaveraged eight points andguard Josh Emery hit forseven as starters last year.Senior Zach Ray, along withjuniors Jonathan Stephensand Travis Tarlton, figureto battle for playing time.

Coach: Jon BrownSeniors: CALEB PERRY, 5-10, f; JOSH EMERY, 5-

9, g; TYLER DEATON, 5-9, f; Zach Ray, 5-10, f.Juniors: GUNNAR GALLOWAY, 6-1, f; Jonathan

Stephens, 5-11, f; Travis Tarlton, 5-9, f.Sophomores: LANE HUTSON, 5-8, g; Billy

Treat, 5-8, g; Ethan Anderson, 5-11, c.Freshmen: McKager Ferrel, 6-2, c.

GalatiaIt’s been a rough two sea-

sons for the Bearcats, losersof 46 of 53 games in thatspan. Last year, they were3-24 overall and 0-7 in theGEC.

Revenge of sorts couldcome this year with thereturn of four seniorstarters and the addition offreshmen that could givethis team some much-needed depth, if not theheight which would makethem a tougher matchup.

“The speed of the gamehas picked up for them,”Galatia coach KendallHankins said. “They areextremely quick and defendreal well. We’re going tofocus on our defense andtry to force turnovers, thenturn those into transitionbuckets with our speed.”

Michael Mondino, a 5-10senior, is the team’s bestbet to score in transition oroff the dribble, averagingaround 10 points per gamelast year. The top option inhalf court sets is BodieBeckman, a 6-2 senior, wholed the Bearcats with 13points per game last yearand has grown six inchessince then.

Adam Brothers, a 5-9senior, may be the team’sbest shooter, while ZaneStanley, another 5-9 sen-ior, can make the Bearcats atougher out with moreconsistent play. The keycould be Eric Emery, a 5-8senior, who’s out for thefirst time since his fresh-man year and could win thepoint guard job.

Off the bench, AustinStricklin, a 6-1 sophomore,and Sean Mondino, a 6-0freshman, could add somestrength inside. Anotherfreshman, 5-8 guard LukeLawrence, has a shot for

playing time.

Coach: Kendall HankinsSeniors: BODIE BECKMAN, 6-2, f; ADAM

BROTHERS, 5-9, g; MICHAEL MONDINO, 5-10, g;ZANE STANLEY, 5-9, g; Eric Emery, 5-8, g; DaltonGrubbs, 6-1, f.

Sophomores: Austin Stricklin, 6-1, f; HaydenMitchell, 5-10, c.

Freshmen: Sean Mondino, 6-0, c; LukeLawrence, 5-8, g; Cody Mathews, 5-6, g; DevinBerbach, 5-5, g.

Gallatin CountyVeteran coach Robert

Patton put it succinctly.“I go from one of the

biggest teams to one of thelittleist teams in SouthernIllinois,” he said.

So long, Andrew Droneand Patrick Lowe. but ifPatton’s right, the Hawksaren’t waving goodbye toplaying important basket-ball games in late Februaryand March, either.

While he has to replacemore than 4,200 pointsfrom a lineup which went27-4 and made the Class 1Asuper-sectionals lastMarch, Patton still feels likehe’s got a team which willchallenge for the GEC title.

The only returningstarter is Mitchell Ramsey,a 5-10 senior, a role playerwho must take a leadershiprole.

Jared Jackson, a 5-11 sen-ior, Zach McGuire, 5-11senior, Chandler Scates, a6-3 junior, and MarcusWargel, a 6-0 senior, areother possibilities to start.

Seth Ramsey, a 5-9freshman, Austin Russell, a5-7 senior, and TylerOldham, a 6-1 junior, willalso get plenty of playingtime. Patton likes how ath-letic and coachable histeam is, but says they’llhave to overcome their lackof varsity experience andsize to contend in the GEC.

Coach: Robert PattonSeniors: MITCHELL RAMSEY, 5-10, g; Jared

Jackson, 5-11, g; Zach McGuire, 5-11, g; MarcusWargel, 6-0, f; Austin Russell, 5-7, g.

Juniors: Chandler Scates, 6-3, c; Tyler Oldham,6-1, f.

Freshmen: Seth Ramsey, 5-9, g.

Hardin CountyWhat Rodney Lane

presided over last year withthe Cougars wasn’t justrebuilding. It was a totalreconstruction project, allthe way down to the foun-dation.

They returned just twoplayers with varsity experi-ence and only one hadstarted at any point in hiscareer. So a 6-20 seasonwith just two GEC winscouldn’t have been terriblysurprising to anybody.

With that mess out of theway, Hardin County couldbe a sleeper of sorts thiswinter. It returns threestarters, including leadingscorer B.J. Austin, a 6-1junior, and his 15 points pergame, and has added depthwith the help of sevenfreshmen.

“Our JV team was playingon the varsity level lastyear,” Lane said. “We oftenhad five sophomores on thefloor. One year makes ahuge difference. If we cantake care of the ball, that’sthe big key. We have a pret-ty decent shooting team.”

Jeremy Hicks, a 6-2 sen-ior, chipped in 10 points agame a year ago and pointguard Logan Conn, a 5-10junior, who scored six anight, is back to run theoffense. Skyler Smith, a 5-10 senior, should addanother good shooter to thelineup.

Tanner Dutton, a 5-11junior, will also get playingtime in the frontcourt.Freshmen Austin Marler, a6-2 center, and 5-8 guardTyler Winters offer much-needed depth for now andcould start sooner ratherthan later.

Coach: Rodney LaneSeniors: JEREMY HICKS 6-2, f; Skyler Smith 5-

10, g.Juniors: B.J. AUSTIN 6-1, f; LOGAN CONN 5-10,

g; Tanner Dutton 5-11, c.Sophomores: Taze Paskon 6-1, c; John Rose 5-

8, g.

Freshmen: Austin Marler 6-2, c; Tyler Winters5-8, g; Austin Seavers 6-1, f; Cameron Shaw 5-7, g;Kenny Barnes 6-0, f; Craig Hudson 6-0, f; BrandonSmith 5-5, g.

NCOEYear one of Bryon

Graven’s tenure with theCardinals went pretty well.They posted a 17-11 recordand should contend for theGEC title this winter withthe return of three starters.

Dakota Wheeler, a 6-4senior, is the marqueename returning after aver-aging 10.4 points and 6.2rebounds while hitting 58percent from the field.Guards Cole Tucker, whoaveraged 9.8 points, andBlake Karnes, who averaged9.3, should become dou-ble-figure scorers this win-ter.

“I believe we will be amore aggressive and physi-cal team than we were lastyear,” Graven said. “Ourprogram and strength andconditioning program arehelping our players play thegame the way it should beplayed, intense and physi-cal with our defense lead-ing to good offense.

“Our players believe inour system and our coachesbelieve in our players.”

Chase Sutton, a 6-0sophomore,should moveinto a more prominent roleafter canning 50 percent ofhis 3-pointers and scoring5.5 points off the bench.How much NCOE improvesmight depend on how theycan replace leading scorerDylan Martin’s 11.3 pointsper game.

The Cardinals are carry-ing just nine men on theroster for the secondstraight year. Any injury orillness will seriously cutinto this team’s chances towin.

Coach: Bryon GravenSeniors: Briar Short, 5-6, g; Jacob Taylor, 6-2,

g.; Tyler Lamb, 5-11, f; COLE TUCKER, 5-11, g;DAKOTA WHEELER, 6-4, f.

Juniors: BLAKE KARNES, 6-0, g; Kyle Sell, 6-3,f.

Sophomores: Chase Sutton, 6-0, g; JacobDelap, 6-4, f.


Boys: Greater Egyptian

SEE GEC / PAGE 15

FROM PAGE 14

Pope CountyIn a league which mostly

boasts experienced teams, thePirates join Gallatin County asthe exceptions to the rule.

Pope County graduated all fivestarters off an 18-win outfit andhas just two seniors on a 16-manroster, but coach Jim Simmonssays all hope isn’t lost inGolconda.

“If we put people in the rightspots, stay healthy and bond as ateam, I think we’ll be OK,” hesaid. “It all comes with teamchemistry, I think. We’re going to

have to grow up fast. The oneswho grow up will play.”

J.D. Ward, a 6-0 senior, XavierBramlett, another 6-0 senior,Justin Ferguson, a 6-3 junior, andCody Harris, a 6-0 sophomore,did pick up some playing timelast year. The 200-poundFerguson has the height and bulkto do some damage inside.

The Pirates will dress a whop-ping 11 sophomores and fresh-men, so their lineup and playingrotation might be a work inprogress until January. Simmonshinted that he’ll ride hot hands.

Coach: Jim SimmonsSeniors: J.D. Ward, 6-0, g/f; Xavier Bramlett, 6-0, f.

Juniors: Justin Ferguson, 6-3, c; Gibril Lumpkin, 6-1, f;Isaiah Bramlett, 5-11, g.

Sophomores: Isaiah Bramlett, 5-11, g; Cody Harris, 6-0,g; Zach Sasolo, 5-10, g; Darius Hackett, 5-11, g; Noah Stalions,6-2, c.

Freshmen: Bobby McMahan, 5-8, g; Dylan Worghan, 5-11,g; Ty Lawson, 5-10, g/f; Caleb Rawlings, 5-10, g; DakotaRichardson, 5-11, f; Aaron Lakus, 5-10, f.

ThompsonvilleIn a conference which as a

whole doesn’t possess a lot ofheight, the Tigers are by far thebiggest outlier.

Meet 6-7 Ryan Darnell. Thenlook up at 6-6 Quentin Henson.And while you’re at it, say helloto some of the smaller guys, suchas 6-4 Hudson Garrison and 6-3Lance Darnell.

“We’ll try to get the ballinside,” said first-year coachMike Henson. “We’re a big team.It’s self-explanatory.”

But for all that height andexperience inside — QuentinHenson and both Darnells start-ed for last year’s 18-win outfit —it might come down to guardplay. And Thompsonville has toreplace one of the best in BradyHouseright, a 20-plus point pergame scorer who’s playing base-ball these days at GreenvilleCollege.

Kiefer Payne, a 5-11 senior, willget a lot of playing time in thebackcourt, but the other starting

spot is up for grabs, and mightstay that way as Henson tries tofigure out roles for his team.

Henson and Ryan Darnell bothaveraged double-doubles lastyear, combining for about 22points and 22 rebounds a night. Ifthe Tigers can adequately replaceHouseright, all that height mightjust make things right.

Coach: Mike HensonSeniors: QUENTIN HENSON, 6-6, f/c; RYAN DARNELL, 6-

7, f; LANCE DARNELL, 6-3, f; Kiefer Payne, 5-11, g; TylerParkhill, 6-1, g; Tate Kerley, 5-10, g.

Juniors: Jaret Murphy, 6-2, g; Hudson Garrison, 6-4, f;Kyle Shimkus, 6-1, g; Kodey Costello, 5-9, g.

Sophomores: Jesse Darnell, 6-3, f.Freshmen: Timmy Henson, 6-2, g; A.J. Payne, 5-10, g;

Corey Wilce, 5-10, g.

— Bucky Dent

Galatia-ThompsonvilleWith four starters

returning from a regionalchampionship team,Galatia is looking to make adeeper run into the post-season this year.

Back from last year’s 13-7squad are senior guardsEmily Reed and SenecaTso, as well as junior for-wards Elizabeth Sloan andAyshia Mitchell. Sloan hasbeen the team’s leadingscorer for the past twoyears.

“I’m losing about fourpoints off that team lastyear,” said coach JoshSummers. “We’re wellrounded. Liz is our leadingscorer usually, but wedon’t really run any sets forany one person.”

Two other players, LexiJohnson, a sophomoreguard, and Kaelyn Watson,a 5-8, junior, could worktheir way into the startinglineup. Others in the rota-tion will be senior guardCasey Bowlin, sophomoreBecky Gregory and fresh-man Kassidy Rizor.

Rizor, the leading scorerat Thompsonville JuniorHigh, could work her wayinto the starting lineup bythe end of the season.

“This is the most depthI’ve ever had,” Summerssaid.

The Bearcats will be

looking for a new pointguard this season.

“That’s the big hole Ihave to fill this season,”Summers said.

Coach: Josh SummersSeniors: SENECA TSO, 5-7, g; EMILY REED, 5-3, g;

Casey Bowlin, 5-7 g.Juniors: ELIZABETH SLOAN, 5-9, f; AYSHIA

MITCHELL, 5-10, f; Kaelyn Watson, 5-8, f.Sophomores: Lexi Johnson, 5-1, g; Becky

Gregory, 5-6, g.Freshman: Kassidy Rizor, 5-8, g/f.

Gallatin CountyBefore last year, Hawks

coach Chuck Ingram wor-ried that his team wouldn’tbe able to score consistentlybecause of poor shot selec-tion. Turns out he was rightas they struggled to get outof the 30s most nights andendured a losing season.

Ingram is hoping forimprovement from his sen-ior-less roster this yearbecause the core of hissquad are now juniors witha taste of varsity experience.

“They were all sopho-mores last year, trying toplay varsity ball,” he said.“We’ve got some nice sizeand quickness. It’s just amatter of getting the rightcombinations going, get-ting the kids to believe in

themselves.”Sidney Ahrens, a 5-11

junior, will be the name ofthe game here. Ingram saidthat Ahrens has the versa-tility and athletic ability tobe the team’s top option onthe offensive end.

The other returningstarter is guard KristynJester, a 5-7 junior. BrookeVan, a 5-11 junior, ShayWoods, another 5-11 junior,and Hannah Logsdon, a 5-9junior, will give GallatinCounty depth and goodathleticism on the frontline.

A trio of 5-9 sophomores,Jordan Prince, MakalynSmith and MariahLedbetter will also earnplenty of minutes. KayleeFoster, a 5-9 freshman, isone of five freshmen hopingto pick up playing time.

Coach: Chuck IngramJuniors: Hannah Logsdon, 5-9, f; Brooke Van, 5-

11, c; KRISTYN JESTER, 5-7, g; Shay Woods, 5-11, c;SIDNEY AHRENS, 5-11, c/f.

Sophomores: Jordan Prince, 5-9, g; MakalynSmith, 5-9, f; Lexi Rhinesmith, 5-7, f; MariahLedbetter, 5-9, f/g.

Freshmen: Kaylee Foster, 5-9, f; Harlie Turner,5-9, f; Morgan Roderich, 5-7, g; Caitlin Lynch, 5-8,f/g; Kaylee McGuire, 5-8, g.

Hardin CountyNew coach, new team.That’s the scenario for the

Cougars this winter as theyresume a girls basketballprogram after not playinglast year. Coach Dan Taylorwill have one of the state’syoungest rosters with noseniors and six freshmenamong his nine players.

“It has been interesting inpractice so far trying toincorporate the skills of ourthree upperclassmen withall of the freshmen we haveon the team,” Taylor said.“I’m looking forward to seehow we progress through-out the year and whichplayers will emerge as teamleaders.”

Taylor offered a bit of ahint in his email as to thelatter, saying to watch forJasie Owen, a 5-8 junior,Jaicee Daymon, a 5-5 junior,and Megan Williams, a 5-4freshman. Hardin County issmall and guard-oriented,but Taylor says his teammay be dynamic enough inthe backcourt to remaincompetitive.

Jayci Vaughn, a 5-7 junior,Tanner Owen, a 5-5 fresh-man, Emily McClusky, a 5-6 freshman, and BrittaneyWilliams, another 5-6freshman will offer depth inthe frontcourt. Freshmen

Karsyn Holmes, 5-4, andJacey Winters, 5-5, are can-didates to play at guard.

With so many freshmenon his roster, Taylor has achance to lay a nice founda-tion this winter. But thepresent might include somedifficult nights.

Coach: Dan TaylorJuniors: Jasie Owen, 5-8, c; Jayci Vaughn, 5-7, f;

Jaicee Daymon, 5-5, g/f.Freshmen: Megan Williams, 5-4, g; Karsyn

Holmes, 5-4, g; Tanner Owen, 5-5, f; Emily McClusky,5-6, f; Jacey Winters, 5-5, g/f; Brittaney Williams, 5-6, f.

Pope CountyWith four returning

starters, including a 1,000-point scorer and an experi-enced point guard, thePirates figure to be theGEC’s best team. But veter-an coach Kelly King cau-tions there’s plenty of workto do.

“We’ve got to play a bitbetter defense than whatwe’ve been doing in prac-tice,” he said. “I think we’llbe able to score enough, butwe just have to work a littleharder. We’ve got to cutpeople off on defense andnot give up the easy shot.”

King also wants to seePope County develop some

depth. While he’s certainthat his starting lineup canprovide solid play, he wantstwo or three of his youngerplayers to step into reserveroles so that the startingfive doesn’t have to log 80percent or more of the min-utes.

The top returnee is seniorVictoria Vaughn, a 5-9guard who averaged a team-high 14 points per game lastyear, reaching four figuresfor her career. BrittanyNoel, a 5-6, senior, is backfor her second season as thepoint guard.

Emily Powles, a 5-8 jun-ior, averaged 10 points andnearly eight rebounds pergame last season, whileMcKenzie Schutt, a 5-7senior, also started last year.Stephanie Davis, a 5-8 sen-ior, and 5-7 juniors AshleyCrumley and Amy Robardswill all get minutes up front.

Kirsten Tomes, a 5-7sophomore, MadisonMurphy, 5-5 freshman, andCourtney Vickery, 5-4freshman, are among thecandidates to get playingtime off the bench at guard.

Coach: Kelly KingSeniors: VICTORIA VAUGHN, 5-9, g; BRITTANY

NOEL, 5-6, g; MCKENZIE SCHUTT, 5-7, f; StephanieDavis, 5-8, c.

Juniors: EMILY POWLES, 5-8, g; Ashley Crumley,5-7, c; Amy Robards, 5-7, c.

Sophomores: Kirsten Tomes, 5-7, g; OliviaWeaver, 5-5, g; Olivia Collier, 5-5, g.

Freshmen: Madison Murphy, 5-5, g; CourtneyVickery, 5-4, g.

— Bucky Dent



Girls: Greater Egyptian

GEC: Boys basketball race figures to be wide-open this season in Greater Egyptian Conference


CenturyEthan Stringer has three

starters returning in his firstseason at Century.

Seniors Devantay Pullet,Zachary Sauerburnn andjunior Caden Hight allreturn from last season.

“I’m kind of excited,”Stringer said “We’re notreally young. We’re not tootalented, but we’ll workhard. We are hard workers.We should do things right.”

Senior Aaron Jones islikely to get playing time,along with juniors CollinJones and Blake Crane andsophomores Adam Jonesand Malik Hagler. All rangein height from 5-foot-10 to6-2.

“We lost a starter toMeridian, but every one ofthose boys played varsitylast year,” Stringer said.“Every one of them has atleast a few varsitymoments. I don’t think anyfreshmen will get any bigplaying time.”

The Centurions should bea good shooting team.Stringer also sees Centuryhas being a strong rebound-ing team.

Coach: Ethan StringerSeniors: DEVONTAY PULLET, 6-5, f; ZACHARY

SAUERBURNN, 6-1, f; Aaron Jones, 5-10 f.Juniors: CADEN HIGHT, 5-10, g; Collin Jones, 6-

2, g; Blake Crane, 6-0, g.Sophomores: Adam Jones, 6-1, f; Malik Hagler,

5-11, g.

DongolaIt will be a fresh start at

Dongola with a new coach,Kevin Cox, and a roster ofyoungsters. The Demons

were 15-18 last year.The team’s lone returning

starter is the coach’s son,Kyle Cox, a 6-1, sophomoreguard. Cox will play a lot ofsophomores this year.

“They’re just good ball-handlers and good three-point shooters,” Cox said.“We’re not real strongunderneath. We’re going topress hard and play man-to-man.

“A lot of them ran crosscountry, so we’ll be strongon the court.”

Joining Cox on the floorwill be Alex Zeske, DillonGillard, Jordan Rhymer,Jessie Terbrak, Dalen Treatand Caleb Theis, all sopho-mores.

“I think we’ll be able totransition well,” Cox said.“We’ve got a lot to post upwell. They’re a well-round-ed team. We just don’t havethe 6-8 and the 6-5 guys.”

Despite the youth, Coxthinks the team can com-pete.

“We played summer ballagainst teams that wereolder than us,” he said.“Lack of experience is reallynot going to bother us, Idon’t believe. I may changemy mind once we get start-ed.”

Coach: Kevin CoxSophomores: KYLE COX, 6-1, g; Alex Zescke, 6-

0, g; Dillon Gilland, 6-2, f; Jordan Rhymer, 6-0, f;Jessie Terbrak, 5-11, g; Dalen Treat, 5-11, g; CalebTheis, 5-8, g.

EgyptianEgyptian advanced to the

regional finals last seasonbefore losing to Meridian.The Pharaohs finished theseason 18-9.

However, no startersreturn for veteran coachMatt Mandrell.

“We’ve had a pretty goodrun,” Mandrell said. “Threeof our top seven graduatedand the other three trans-ferred, two of them justwent back where they camefrom. The other starterfrom last year didn’t comeout.

“If we were a car we’d bestripped and sold for parts.”

Two players, Manny Fox,a 5-11 junior and DeanthonyPruden, a 6-1 sophomore,did see considerable playingtime last year.

“It’s quite a change,”Mandrell said. “We’ve donepretty well the last six years.It’s going to be a rebuild.Last year at this time Iwould have figured we’dhave four of our top sevenplayers, and maybe downthe line it might happen,but not this year.”

The team will be youngand short.

Other players likely to bein Mandrell’s rotation thisyear are junior guardCameron Masterson, soph-omore Tim Sams and fresh-

men Samuel Hale andCameron Curtis.

“We just to improve fromthe start of the year to theend of the year, to see someof the younger playersdevelop,” Mandrell said

Coach: Matt MandrellJuniors: Manny Fox, 5-11, g; Cameron

Masterson, 5-9, g.Sophomores: Deanthony Pruden, 6-1, f; Tim

Sams, 6-0, f.Freshmen: Samuel Hale, 5-11, f; Cameron

Curtis, 5-9, g.

JoppaTyler Castleman, one of

the region’s top scorersreturns for the JoppaRangers this year.Castleman averaged nearly27 points per game last year.

“He can shoot from any-where,” said Joppa coachKenny Harris. “He can takethe ball to the hole. Lastyear the three games wewon were basically becauseof him.”

Castleman got plenty ofhelp last year from 6-3 jun-ior Michael Starks whoaveraged 15 points pergame. Justin Harval, a sen-ior, guard is the otherreturning starter for theRangers.

“The kids I have so far arehard working,” Harris said.“I think we’ll surprise somepeople if we all play togeth-er. I think we’ll have a lotbetter record than we hadlast year.”

Other players in the rota-tion this year will beTrenton Lewis, AustinNaegar, and HunterJohnson. Lewis, a pointguard, saw a lot of varsityaction as a freshman lastyear.

The Rangers will also get aboost at the end of the firstsemester when 6-5 transferstudent Chris Brownbecomes eligible. Brownwill provide a much neededinside threat.

“Our concern wouldstrictly be rebounding,”

Harris said. “We have toplay defense and rebound,that’s what hurt us last year.We only had eight guys lastyear. We had to play zone alllast year.”

Last year, there were sofew players in the programthe Rangers couldn’t field ajunior varsity squad. Harrissaid he has nine freshmenout this year.

Coach: Kenny HarrisSeniors: TYLER CASTLEMAN, 6-0, g; JUSTIN

HARVAL, 5-8, g; Austin Naegar, 6-0, f.Juniors: MICHAEL STARKS, 6-3, f;Sophomores: Chris Brown, 6-5, f; Trenton

Lewis, 5-8, g.Freshman: Hunter Johnson, 6-2, f.

MeridianWith three starters

returning and two qualitytransfers, the MoundsMeridian Bobcats figure tobe strong again this season.

Jeff Mandrell’s teamcompiled a 22-5 mark lastseason before losing toGallatin County in the sec-tional finals. MichaelShoffner, a 6-foot-1 guard,David Davis, a 6-0 guardand D.J. Weldon, a 5-8,guard, all started for theBobcats last year.

Khouri Powell, a 5-11guard-forward, saw con-siderable action off thebench.

In addition, 6-3 JustinPrewitt transferred fromEgyptian and 6-1 DavaereEdwards transferred fromCentury.

“The new kids havemixed in,” Mandrell said. “Ithink it’s a group that ispretty focused. They havetheir goals. They will dowhat it takes to achievetheir goals.”

Caylen Ballard, a 6-6junior, will also be added tothe mix.

“We ought to have 2-3spots with pretty goodquickness,” Mandrell said.“I think we’ll be versatile,interchangeable, which ispretty common for us. I

think we’ll have some kidsthat can post up and getsome scores that way.”

He added that theBobcats have enough depthto play a pressure defense.

Coach: Jeff MandrellSeniors: MICHAEL SHOFFNER, 6-1, f; Justin

Prewitt, 6-3, f.Juniors: DAVID DAVIS, 6-0, g; D.J. WELDON, 5-

8, g; Khouri Powell, 5-11, g; Caylen Stewart, 6-6, f;Davaere Edwards, 6-1, f.

ShawneeNow in her third year as

coach at Shawnee, thingshave reached an equilibri-um for coach LaDonnaBachmann.

“Now it’s just kind of likeold hat,” she said. “They’reused to me. I haven’t hadany calls, nobody is takingmy picture anymore. It’swhere I wanted it a longtime ago.”

The only female boysbasketball coach in theregion has three startersreturning from last year’s9-15 team in AidenMcMahan, Michael Craneand Dylan Boston.

“They are a good group ofkids,” Bachmann said.“They’re willing to worktogether. It’s really going tobe a fun season. I thinkyou’ll see Aiden McMahantake over.

“Aiden McMahan is agreat leader, he’s a greatathlete. He palyes everygame like it is the last 10seconds he will play. Oncehe gets going I think every-one will feed off him.”

In addition to the threereturnees, Bachmann has aquartet of sophomores,Daniel Parris, LucasMatlock, Ryan Ochoa, andNick Crane who will see alot of action.

There is no one on theroster over 6-2.

“We are short,”Bachmann said. “We don’thave the height. We won’thave as deep a bench. We’llhave to spend a lot of timeconditioning and we canplay all four quarters. That’swhere struggled last year.We’d put a couple good


Boys: South Egyptian

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CenturyWith four starters,

including a pair of All-South performers from a21-7 club, Century has to beconsidered one of thefavorites for the conferencetitle.

All-South picks MorganAtherton, a 5-foot-10 sen-ior, and Amanda Cheek, a5-8 senior, are back alongwith Amber Davis andJordan Clark-Holcomb.

“We should be OK,”Dexter said. “Atherton isour leading scorer. If shestays healthy, she’ll haveover 2,000 points beforeChristmas and over 1,000rebounds early. She’s got achance to put up some pretty big numbers.”

The Centurions havegood size. Davis is 5-11 andthree freshmen that rangefrom 5-9 to 5-11. Finding apoint guard will be the key.Dexter thinks he has theanswer in Clark-Holcomb.

“She’s going to be thegirl,” he said. “She played itthis summer for us and shedid a good job. The thingthat helps us to is our biggirls can handle the ball too.If we can handle that we canbe all right.”

In addition to the return-ing starters, expect juniorMakayla Sickling, sopho-more Alysha Giltner, andfreshmen Kiara Houstonand Natalie Taake to seeplenty of playing time.

Although the Centurionsare counting on some youngplayers for depth, Centuryhas an experienced team.

“Three of those seniorshave started for four yearsand the junior has startedfor three years,” Dexter said.“We’ve sort of been build-ing up to this. Hopefullythis will be a good year.”

Coach: David DexterSeniors: MORGAN ATHERTON, 5-10, c; AMANDA

CHEEK, 5-8, g-f; AMBER DAVIS, 5-11, g.Juniors: JORDAN CLARK-HOLCOMB, 5-7, g;

Makayla Sickling, 5-4, g.Sophomores: Alysha Giltner, 5-7, g.Freshmen: Kiara Houston, 5-11, f; Natalie

Taake, 5-9, f.

DongolaWith all five starters

returning, Rob Shepardexpects his Dongola squadto improve on last year’s 5-18 mark.

Three seniors return inReba Robinson, StephanieShepard and VictoriaShirkey. Brenna Newmanand Kyeli Flores started assophomores last year.

“The girls never quit,”Shepard said. “They hus-tled to the end. We strug-gled with shooting at thestart of the season. The twojuniors became the leadingscorers. They started play-ing team ball real well.”

The Demons had just six

varsity players this year.The team will be deeper thisyear.

Ashlyn Schuiltz, a senior,is returning from a kneeinjury. Other playersexpected to see varsity timeare junior Cassondra Gorst,sophomore Callier Moweryand freshmen TiffanyShirkey, Barbara Gorst,Megan Michaels and CaseyJohnson.

“We only had six varsityplayers,” Shepard said. “Wejust couldn’t hang withteams to the end. This yearwe’ve got some freshmenthat will get some varsitytime. I think that is going tochange, we have a lot moredepth.”

Scoring could still be anissue for the team.

“We should be a goodchallenge for the confer-ence,” Shepard said. “Lastyear we weren’t a pushover,and this year I think my girlshave matured. I think we’regoing to step up.”

Coach: Rob ShepardSeniors: REBA ROBINSON, 5-7, f; STEPHANIE

SHEPARD, 5-7, f; VICTORIA SHIRKEY, 5-5, g; AshlynSchuiltz, 5-7, f-c.

Juniors: BRENNA NEWMAN, 5-7, g; KYELIFLORES, 5-5, g; Cassondra Gorst, 5-4, g.

Sophomores: Callie Mowery, 5-8 g.Freshmen: Tiffany Shirkey, 6-0, c; Barbara

Gorst, 5-2, g; Megan Michaels, 5-4, g; CaseyJohnson, 5-6, g.

EgyptianWith four starters return-

ing, things should be look-ing up in Egyptian.

Egyptian finished just 3-16 last year, but experienceshould pay off this season.

“We run the floor,” saidcoach Erin Jackson. “If wecan get it out in transition,we’ll do OK. I think we canrebound this year, more sothan ever. That’s whatwe’ve been focusing on.That was kind of our weaksuit last year.

“This year I think theyknow their roles. I think thisyear our forwards are going

to help us.”Returning starters are

juniors Cambria Bighamand Ashanti Wade andsophomores ValenciaHolloway and KeilahMassie. Bigham is theshortest returnee at 5-7while Massie is the tallest at5-10.

“Man, we’re taller than Ithought,” Jackson said.“We’re usually pretty small.I think our outlook this yearis better than last year.They’ve kind of jumped onboard. They worked overthe summer.”

Raven Grundy and KaydeWood will also get plenty ofplaying time this season.Grundy will probably runthe point.

Last year Egyptian reliedheavily on Massie for scor-ing. Jackson said she fore-sees more balance this year,but, perimeter scoringcould be an issue.

On the other hand, onlyone senior is expected to seea lot of playing time.

“We’re very young,”Jackson said. “This year isprobably our stepping stoneto the next couple years.”

Coach: Erin JacksonSeniors: Kayde Wood, 5-8, f.Juniors: CAMBRIA BIGHAM, 5-7, g; ASHANTI

WADE, 5-8, f; Raven Grundy, 5-7, g.Sophomores: VALENCIA HOLLOWAY, 5-8, g;

KEILAH MASSIE, 5-10, f.

JoppaHunter Kreuter is in his

first year as coach of theJoppa Rangers, but he isn’tstarting from scratch. Hecoached most of the playerson the junior high level.

Kreuter has three startersreturning in sophomoresHaley Martin and GabbyWrey as well as junior KatieBennett. In addition, SaraBurnett, another junior,saw considerable varsityaction last year.

“That is a good place tostart,” Kreuter said. “I think

we will be competitive inour conference this year. Ihave an incoming freshmanthat as an eighth grader(Haley Kendall) averaged 28points per game. I coachedeighth grade last year.”

In addition to Kendall, AriKendall, another freshman,and Paige Sharp, a seniorwho hasn’t played since herfreshman year, should alsosee playing time.

Coach: Hunter KreuterSeniors: Paige Sharp, 5-6, g.Juniors: KATIE BENNETT, 5-6, f; Sara Burnett, 5-

7, c.Sophomores: HALEY MARTIN, 5-7, g; GABBY

WREY, 5-6, f.Freshmen: Haley Kendall, 5-8, g-f; Ari Kendall,

5-6, g.

MeridianIf the Bobcats can over-

come issues with depth,this could be a big year atMeridian.

Jerry Johnson has all hisstarters back from lastyear’s 12-11 team. The teamis quick and willing to playsolid defense.

“Our goal is to be over.500,” Johnson said. “Wealways want to win morethan we did last year, andmost of them are ready togo.”

The Bobcats are returningMarie and QuanshaeJohnson at the guard posi-tions, Cierra Ballard andAsia Wade at the forwardsand Amari Acree at center.Meridian does not havemuch size, the girls rangefrom 5-6 to 5-8.

But, speed and balancecould offset that liability.

“I get a lot of points intransition,” Johnson said.“They were used to one ortwo people doing the scor-ing, we got away from that.Now we have everybody.

“They know the program.They know how we play.”

Two other players sure toget plenty of playing timeare freshman guard IndiaWade and junior guard

Shanice Wiggins.

Coach: Jerry JohnsonSeniors: MARIE JOHNSON, 5-7, g; CIERRA

BALLARD, 5-6, f; QUANSHAE JOHNSON, 5-6, g; ASIAWADE, 5-7, g.

Juniors: AMARI ACREE, 5-8, c; Shanice Wiggins,5-4, g.

Freshman: India Wade, 5-5, g.

ShawneeShawnee is on the other

end of the spectrum. ChadPitts doesn’t have a singlestarter returning from lastyear’s 13-13 club.

Complicating mattersfurther is the fact that onlyseven players came out forthe team and one, KaylaTreece, is nursing a kneeinjury, and probably won’tbe available until aboutChristmas.

Treece saw considerableaction last year along withsophomores MorganStevens and Lexis Charles.He will add freshmen DrewMcLane, Madi Ellet, AbbeyMcMahan and TaylorTrammel to that mix.

Stevens was the team’ssixth player last year.McLane is coming off asuccessful stint as pointguard at the junior highlevel.

“We’re going to see whatwe have,” Pitts said. “We’regoing to try to be an outsideoriented team. We’re notgoing to score too much onthe inside. We’re hopingMadi and some of thefreshman girls can open upthe inside by hitting some3s.”

Defensively, the lack ofdepth will create problems.

“In the past we’ve playeda 1-3-1,” Pitts said. “Thisyear we’re really going to bestrategic in our defense.Our height is limited, sowe’ll have to try to put somepressure on the ball. If weget in foul trouble, we can’treally afford to get in foultrouble. Some people mayhave to be playing withthree fouls in the first half.”

Coach: Chad PittsSophomores: Morgan Stevens, 5-6, g; Lexis

Charles, 5-3, g; Kayla Treece, 5-9, f.Freshmen: Drew McLane, 5-6, g; Madi Ellet,

5-6, g; Abbey McMahan, 5-4, g; Taylor Trammel,5-9, f.

— Les Winkeler

FROM PAGE 16

quarters together, and then came the dreaded thirdquarter.”

Shawnee will also be a young team, but most of thesophomore saw playing time as freshmen last year.

“As freshmen it was a little bit of a shock to them,but they did well in their JV games,” Bachmann said.“I think they have a little more experience than someof the kids they’ll be playing against.”

Coach: LaDonna BachmannSeniors: AIDEN MCMAHAN, 5-11, gJuniors: MICHAEL CRANE, 5-11, g.Sophomores: DYLAN BOSTON, 5-10, g; Daniel Parris, 6-2, f; Lucas Matlock, 6-2, f. Nick Ochoa,

5-9, g; Nick Crane, 5-9, g.

— Les Winkeler



Girls: South Egyptian

SEC: Boys 2013-14 preview

FROM PAGE 6

significant improvementlast year.

The team has a chance toimprove on its 10-win sea-son with a pretty goodlineup.

“Last year we had a goodcombination of some sen-iors with experience,” saidWest Frankfort coach DanDeWerff. “They were kindof lunch pail guys whoworked really hard. Theguys kind of learned howto win some close ballgames. Hopefully, it willtranslate to more wins thisyear.”

Christian Dunning andBraxston Koehl return tothe starting lineup, andDeWerff will rely heavilyon the duo.

“Dunning brings some

scoring and reboundingfor us,” DeWerff said. “Hescored a lot in the paintlast year, but this seasonhe’ll play more on thewing. We just need him tobe more consistent, and hecan be really good if hedoes that.”

Koehl will run the pointonce again after a solidyear as a sophomore.

“He is definitely thestraw that stirs the drink,without a doubt,” DeWerffsaid. “He had some biggames for us last year.”

Coach: Dan DeWerffJuniors: BRAXSTON KOEHL, 5-10, g;

CHRISTIAN DUNNING, 6-4, f; Jacob Bartoni, 6-3,c; Garrett Karoski, 5-11, g; Aaron Twist, 6-10, c;Hunter Johnson, 6-5, f; Logan Hartley, 6-3, f;Jordan Schach, 5-11, g.

Sophomores: Keegan Easley, 5-9, g; BrettReiger, 6-3, f; Jason Spears, 6-0, g; BryceShadowens, 6-5; Kyle Saillez, 5-11, g; ChaseMcLaren, 6-0, g; Ty Smith, 5-8, g.

— Scott Mees

FROM PAGE 7

the game,” said WestFrankfort coach MattHampleman. “She can doso many things for us, andshe is a good passer, too.That makes for a prettygood recipe for a player.”

Hampleman said thatWilce gets beat up duringgames on a regular basisbased on the opposingteam’s focus on her. Heexpects her to handle theattention well.

The Lady Redbirds willbe relying on JacklynnCalvert to provide someconsistent scoring thisyear, and she can burysome big shots fromdowntown as well.

Coach: Matt HamplemanSeniors: Callie Wyant, 5-8, f.Juniors: KIARHA WILCE, 5-5, g; LINDSEY

WILLIAMS, 5-5, g; Courtney Paris, 5-9, f; Bobbie JoWegrzyn, 5-9, g;

Sophomores: Jacklynn Calvert, 5-5, g; JaidonSailliez 5-10, g-f; Emily Stewart, 5-10, f-c; HannahMelvin, 6-1, f; Terrilynn Summers, 5-9, g; AmandaFry, 6-0, c.

Freshmen: Morgan Griffith, 5-9, g-f.

— Scott Mees

Page 1188 Friday, November 22, 2013 The Southern Illinoisan

CairoCoach Brian Brandtner is

very excited about his teamas the Pilots have a lot ofpeople back from last year’s11-13 team.

“We’ve got a lot of seniorsback,” Brandtner said.“This team’s got a lot ofheart and grit and I’ve got agood feeling about thisgroup. I have a good groupof kids.”

Cairo doesn’t have a lot ofheight.

“We’re not real big sowe’ll focus on reboundingand ball pressure to kind oftake away from our sizedisadvantage,” Brandtnersaid. “We’re going topick people up and guardthem.”

In the past, Cairo hasloved to run up and downthe court and score at willagainst opponents and thatdoesn’t look to change thisseason.

“We’re going to look torun but be smart about it,”Brandtner said.

Coach: Brian BrandtnerSeniors: Rayquan Nelson, 5-5, g; JARVIS

WOODSON, 5-11; g; Keyonte Graham, 5-8, g; TrevonHouston, 6-0, f; Bryce Gardiner, 6-0, f-c; R.J.Henderson, 6-2, c; Jeffrey DeWitt, 5-8, g; JoshJordan, 6-0, c

Junior: Carlton Jackson, 6-0, g-f.Sophomore: Melvin Duncan, 5-8, gFreshman: Davion Taylor, 6-0, g-f

CarlyleThe Indians return three

senior starters from a teamthat went 23-8 last seasonand fell to Breese Central inthe regional final.

Forwards Matt Hilmes

and John Becker and guardLogan Zachry are thereturnees. Hilmes hasstarted since his freshmanseason.

“We have a lot of depthand hope that our experi-ence is a strength,” saidcoach Andy Palmer.

Some keys this year,according to Palmer, arebeing healthy and if theyare, they can be very com-petitive.

The Indians compete inthe Cahokia Conference.

Coach: Andy PalmerSeniors: JOHN BECKER, 6-2, f; Jared

Guenzburger, 6-0, f; Deven Hicks, 5-8, g; MATTHILMES, 6-3, f; Alex Voss, 6-0, g; Wanya Walker, 6-3, c; LOGAN ZACHRY, 6-0, g;

Juniors: Andy Becker, 5-11, f; Gunner Bretz; 5-9,g; Austin Cohoon, 5-8, g; Jordan Foos, 5-9, f; BrentJohnson, 6-2, c;

Sophomores: Maverick Taylor, 5-10, g

CobdenThe Appleknockers

return four starters andthree more that started fre-quently.

Rhett Barke’s team fin-ished near the .500 mark.Cobden will have to executethe little things in order tobe successful this season.

“The key for us is makingshots,” Barke said. “That’swhat we struggled with lastseason. We have to keep upthe defensive pressure andwe’ve got a fair amount ofkids out.

“They are going to have tostep up for us.”

Cobden has 24 kids out sodepth shouldn’t be a prob-lem for them.

“I’m looking forward toseeing how the kids haveprogressed since theirfreshman year,” Barke said.“It’s the first year whereI’ve had them all throughhigh school.”

Coach: Rhett BarkeSeniors: Elijah Duckworth, 6-0, f; AUSTIN

FLAMM, 6-0, f; TYLER LEWEY, 6-2, g-f; ZACH MOORE,5-10, g; Keagan Tripp, 6-3, f.

Juniors: Sam Cohen, 5-8, g; Parker Flamm, 6-4, f; Alex Inman, 5-8, g; Guillermo Palmerin, 5-10, g;Cayden Childers, 5-9, g.

Sophomores: Justin Moore, 5-11, g-f; Logan

Spalt, 5-8, g.Freshmen: Austin Lewey, 5-11, g.

OkawvilleThe Rockets return only

one starter, JacobBrammeier, from last year’s25-8 squad that fell toWaterloo Gibault in theregional final. Coach JonKraus is depending onBrammeier to help lead hissquad.

“We’re not big, so we’regoing to have to reboundand defend people,” Kraussaid. “We’re a very youngteam.

“We’re not very deep sothat’s a concern.”

Coach: Jon KrausSenior: JACOB BRAMMEIER, 5-11, g; Alex Rossel,

6-3, f.Sophomore: Alex Wisneski, 6-0, g.Freshman: Noah Frederking, 6-3, f.

SteelevilleFundamentals will be

important for a Steelevilleteam that lost most of itsscoring from last year.

“We lost a bit of scoringfrom last year so we’regoing to have to take care ofthe ball and take goodshots,” said coach BryceBainter. “We’re also goingto have to defend andrebound.”

Steeleville does returna pair of starters inseniors A.J. Jeffers and KyleSmith.

A strength of theWarriors this year is thatthey have some goodshooters who can put upsome points.

“We’re going to put 4-5guys out there that arecapable of hitting a perime-ter shot,” Bainter said.“We’re losing a lot of scor-ing from last year but hopeto make up for it.

Coach: Bryce BainterSeniors: A.J. JEFFERS, 5-10, f; KYLE SMITH, 5-8,

g; Steven Uchtman, 6-2, f; Kenny Garlit, 6-0, f;Justin Asbury, 5-10, g.

Sophomore: Nic Hagel, 6-1, g

WaltonvilleIt’s all about rebuilding in

Waltonville. The Spartansreturn no starters from ateam that went 19-8 lastseason. Waltonville fell toChristopher in the regionalsemifinals.

“We’re going to have tohave a lot of guys step up forthe five seniors we lost fromlast season,” saidWaltonville head coachBrian Gamber.

Gamber feels like his teamis going to have to executeall of the intangibles that ittakes to win every night.

“We’re going to have to doall the little things in orderto stay in games and com-pete every night,” Gambersaid.

Coach: Brian GamberSeniors: Austin Zahm, 6-2, c; Justin Winchester,

5-11, g; Hunter Coggins, 5-11, g.Juniors: Cody Peterson, 5-9, f; Jacob Hunsell, 5-

11, fSophomores: Dylan Miller, 5-8, g; Ryan

Majewski, 6-0, f; Taylor Coggins, 5-9, g; Jacob Lewis,5-10, f.

Freshmen: Dalton Banach, 5-11, f; Cole Griffith,5-7, g.

WoodlawnThe Cardinals return only

one starter from a team thatwent 26-4 and lost in thesectional semifinals.

“We’re going to have todefend well, rebound, andtake care of the ball,” saidcoach Shane Witzel.” Theyare keys for every team.”

A key component thisyear for Woodlawn will beits their bench.

“We need to develop ourbench, which will developas the season progresses,”Witzel said.

Witzel feels that contin-ued improvement from hisstarters and balanced scor-ing are also going to be keysfor his team.

Coach: Shane WitzelSeniors: JAYSON HAPEMAN, 5-11, g; Jake

Robinson, 6-2, c; Chase Phelps, 6-3, f; LoganWollerman, 5-11, g.

Sophomore: Ross Owens, 6-3, g

— Chuck Highland


Boys: Other Teams

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OHIO GIRLS: 2013-14 preview

FROM PAGE 5

Megan Bagley will run the show at pointguard, while the team has some decent sizein five players 5-8 or taller in the varsityrotation.

Coach: Alan EngelhardtSeniors: KATELYN MAYER, 5-10, g; Alyssa Hirsch, 5-5, g.Juniors: KEELYN STEIN, 5-8, f; Megan Bagley, 5-6, g; Taylor Griffin, 5-5, g;

Caitie Opp, 5-8, f; Kearsten Opp, 5-6, f.Sophomores: SOPHIE KEITH, 5-8, f; Taylor Smith, 5-2, g.Freshmen: Raygan Yates, 5-8, g; Caitlyn Anderson, 5-10, f.

SpartaFormer SIU Edwardsville track and field

thrower Jennie Satterlee picks up whereformer coach April York left off last seasonand has four returning starters to build herprogram around this season.

Satterlee, who was a three-year basket-ball starter at Staunton High School, has aguard-heavy team with only one senior inLas’Hae Eunn.

“Defensively, I think we’ll be pretty good

with a guard-heavy team,” said Satterlee.“We don’t have many posts, so I want totry and keep the ball out of the inside witha zone.”

With 10 freshmen and four sophomores,it will be a year of teaching for the LadyBulldogs.

“I have several freshmen who are goingto be sitting on the varsity bench and theyhaven’t been in that scenario yet,”Satterlee said. “Overcoming that inexperi-ence will be a big challenge, but it will getbetter as the season goes along.

“We’re definitely working toward thefuture.”

Coach: Jennie SatterleeSenior: Las’Hae Eunn, 5-7, g.Juniors: JULIANA FRENCH, 5-5, g; ALEXIS KEMPFER, 5-7, f; Ashley Birchler,

5-10, f/c.Sophomores: ASHLEY BRENNING, 5-5, g; Savannah Oliver, 5-5, f; Brooke

Kortys, 5-4, g; OLIVIA BEATTIE, 6-2, c.Freshmen: Brooke Craig, 5-5, g; Danielle Dodson, 5-2, g; Kera Kiner, 6-3, f;

Nikki Kempfer, 5-6, g; Aziah Clark, 5-2, g; Deshantae Martin, 5-5, g; LaurenWebber, 5-8, f; Kayla Hoskin, 5-9, f; Cathleen Townley, 5-5, g; Bailey McMurtry,5-7, f.

— Pete Spitler

FROM PAGE 4

“They can all dribble, pass and shoot,”Waggoner said. “I like the fact that we havea little more quickness and length thanwhat we’ve had in the past.

“It’s a fun group to coach, they enjoybasketball.”

Rebounding is a bit of a question mark,as Pinckneyville has no one taller than 6-3,but Waggoner is hoping added defensiveprowess can address any shortcomingsunder the basket.

“We take pride in our ability to reboundthe basketball, but we’ve got to get good atit,” Waggoner said. “We should be able toextend our defense a little bit more and aslong as we play together and stay healthy,we’ll be fine.”

Coach: Bob WaggonerSeniors: Brayden Cowley, 5-10, g; Henry Dudek, 6-1, f.Juniors: TRISTAN FISHER, 6-0, g; Nolan Luke, 6-1, g; Caleb Dahn, 6-3, f;

Bryan Taylor, 6-0, g; Adam Banach, 6-2, f; Jacob Downard, 5-10, g.Sophomores: Sam Simpson, 6-3, f; Clayton Hoghland, 6-2, f.

SpartaAfter a 20-10 campaign in 2012-13,

Sparta coach Rick Powley has one return-ing starter in senior Brenden Wilson tobuild around this season.

With 6-8 All-South forward/centerAaron Rushing currently playing atMorthland College and six other seniorsgraduated, the Bulldogs are hoping juniorsTra Edmondson (6-1 forward), Titus Clay(5-10 guard) and senior Dayton Oliver (6-2center) can help Wilson build on last sea-son’s success.

“I think we may be a better shootingballclub than we were last year,” Powleysaid. “Our JV team was pretty successful,but we don’t have a lot of size.”

Coach: Rick PowleySeniors: BRENDEN WILSON, 5-7, g; Devante Garrett, 5-10, g; Dayton Oliver,

6-2, c.Juniors: Titus Clay, 5-10, g; Tra Edmondson, 6-1, f; Seth Ferguson, 5-8, g.Sophomores: Devin Brown, 6-0, g/f; Gabe Yearian, 6-1, f; Drew Kordys, 5-

10, g.

— Pete Spitler

CairoThe Co-Pilots look to

build on last season’s suc-cess, when they finished 11-8 and won a regional title.

“Some keys for us will betaking care of the ball andplaying as a team,” saidcoach Kelly Shepard.

Cairo returns four juniorstarters, Takena Taylor,Joyce Nelson, KoreeSimelton and MakaylaHick. Shepard feels that isgoing to be another key.

“How well our under-classmen develop will bekey,” said Shepard.

Coach: Kelly ShepardSeniors: Jordan Holder, 5-5, f.Juniors: JOYCE NELSON, 5-9, f; MAKAYLA HICKS,

6-0, c; TAKENA TAYLOR, 5-6, f; KOREE SIMELTON, 5-6, g.

Sophomores: Shakaela Jangjirawat, 5-5, g;Ashley Connor, 5-8, f.

Freshmen: Ukari Posey, 5-6, g; Monique McGoy,5-2, g; Lauren Howard, 5-5, g; Taylor Laos, 5-3, g;Sharelle Woods, 5-7, f; Eshanae Taylor, 5-7, f; DatoriaAllen, 5-5, g.

CarlyleThere are high hopes in

Carlyle this season as theLady Indians return threestarters from a team thatfinished 22-7 last seasonand fell to rival BreeseCentral in the regional.

“We may lack a lot of var-sity experience but we will

not lack for talent,” saidCarlyle coach Randy Voss.

The Indians will have toreplace Paige Rakers, who isnow at the University ofMichigan.

“The juniors played withthe junior varsity to playwith their prospects to pre-pare them for this year,”Voss said. “A lot of kids aregetting their first taste ofvarsity action this season.”

The Lady Indians are awork in progress.

“There are a lot of ques-tion marks,” Voss said.“We’re trying to put thepuzzle together and arelooking forward to this sea-son.”

Coach: Randy VossSeniors: Hannah Rueter, 5-7, g; KYLEE

LEDBETTER, 5-7, g; Brie Paulsmeyer, 5-6, g; BritlynTyberendt, 5-10, f; BRIANNA SMITH, 5-9, g/f; LORIWHISENAND, 5-10, f; MacKenzie Magnus, 5-11, c

Juniors: Ashley Huels, 5-8, g; Breanna Smith, 5-9, f

Sophomores: Claudia Owens, 5-5, g; AshlenCohoon, 5-6, g; Ashton Pieron, 5-8, g; Bailey Hilmes,5-8, f; Molly Isaak, 5-7, f

CobdenRichard Howell enters his

first year as coach of the

Appleknockers with somechallenges ahead of him.Cobden lost its leadingscorer from last year inTaylor Ellis.

“We lost two seniors lastyear and we’ve got someshoes to fill on the perime-ter,” Howell said.

Cobden returns threestarters in seniors AshleyMillis, Haley Tomazzoli andLaurelin Pitts.

Howell feels that his teamhas to play smart andpatient this year in order tobe successful.

“We’re going to have tohave someone step up at thepost position,” he said. “Wehave to learn how to playsmart as a team, be patienton offense, move the ballaround, and not rushshots.”

Coach: Richard HowellSeniors: ASHLEY MILLIS, 5-6, g; HALEY

TOMAZZOLI, 5-6, g; LAURELIN PITTS, 5-6, gJuniors: Sandra Hartline, 5-7, g-fSophomores: Keileigh Britt, 5-7, g-f; Taylor

Tomazzoli, 5-8, c; Dayana Uribe, 5-4, g; VanessaHernandez, 5-0, g

Freshmen: Makynzie Peterman, 5-2, g; AddyAspen, 5-6, c; Inna Kinsey, 5-7, g-f; Elena Kinsey, 5-0, g

OkawvilleThis season figures to be a

rebuilding year inOkawville.

The Lady Rockets returnjust one starter, AllisonKoch, from last year’s EliteEight squad.

“We have a rebuildingyear for sure,” saidOkawville coach MichelleBurianek. “There’s a total of15 kids on the team andseven of them are fresh-men.”

Burianek said theLady Rockets will have toplay good defense and takecare of the ball to besuccessful.

“We are extremely inex-perienced but we’ll get bet-ter as the year goes on,” saidBurianek.

Coach: Michelle Hasheider-BurianekSenior: Christina Hill, 5-7, f; Rachel Holm, 5-10,

f; ALLISON KOCH. 5-7, g;Juniors: Amanda Durr, 5-11, cSophomores: Meaghan Daiber, 5-2, g; Macailah

Fulton, 5-4, f; Jessie Klasing, 5-5, g; AlyssaThompson, 5-4, f

Freshmen: Stephanie Friederich, 5-7, f; MorganKampwerth, 5-4, g; Elayna Santel, 5-9, f; MegSchnoeker, 5-3, g; Mallory Unverfehrt, 5-2, g; LauraWeber, 5-0, g; Amber Weeke, 5-8, f

SteelevilleThe Lady Warriors look to

get better after finishingbelow .500 last year.

Coach Darryl Winkelmanhas four returning startersin Sara Potter, McKennaLalis, Lindsay Hammel, andChloe Gerlach at his dis-posal,and is excited aboutthis season.

“We’ll have some athleti-cism and we’ll gel as a unit,”Winkelman said.

He said rebounding anddefense are points ofemphasis.

“We’re going to have torebound,” Winkelman said.“The girl we lost, Alex Gale,was our leading rebounderand scorer from last year.

“We’re going to have toplay defense.”

Coach: Darryl WinkelmanSeniors: SARA POTTER, 5-8, f; MCKENNA LALIS,

5-8, cJuniors: LINDSAY HAMMEL, 5-4, g; Justine

Knop, 5-10, fSophomores: CHLOE GERLACH, 5-4, g;

Sidney Eubanks, 5-9, c; Bailey Gale, 5-10, f; MorganBockhorn, 5-9, f; Alyssa Landman, 5-5, g

Freshmen: Dani Parker, 5-5, f; MadalynnGordon, 5-5, c; Sidney Forman, 5-6, g;Madison Zweigert, 5-6, c; Taylor Hepp, 5-5, f;

Kaylee Wagner, 5-5, f

WoodlawnThe Lady Cardinals have

a new person in charge assoftball coach MattPatterson takes over thereins of a team that finished7-22 last season.

Woodlawn returns justtwo starters in CarlyEthridge and MakailaBallard.

“A key for us is how wellwe play defensively,”Patterson said. “We’re a lit-tle challenged offensively sowe need to keep the gameslow-scoring to have achance.”

Patterson feels that hisyoung team is going to haveto mature fast this season inorder to be successful.

“Another key for us ishow quickly our young kidsacclimate themselves to thevarsity level,” Pattersonsaid.

Coach: Matt PattersonSeniors: Allison England, 5-2, g.Juniors: MAKAILA BALLARD, 5-7, f; Catherine

Coleman, 5-6, f; CARLY ETHRIDGE, 5-8, g/f; AlanahChelf, 5-6, g/f

Sophomores: Kerstie Harlow, 5-5, g/f; KaciHails, 5-0, g

Freshmen: Lexy Knox, 5-5, g/f; Kiara Lueking,5-5, g; Taytum Murdock, 5-2, g; Holly Burretta, 5-6,f; Makayla Crawford, 5-4, g; Ashton Palmer, 5-5, g.

— Chuck Highland



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