EAST DIVISION

Projected Order Of Finish 1. Eldorado 2. Hamilton County 3. Carmi-White County 4. Fairfield 5. Vienna 6. Johnston City

WEST DIVISION

Projected Order Of Finish 1. Sesser-Valier 2. Trico 3. Carterville 4. Zeigler-Royalton 5. Christopher 6. Elverado

BY JACK BULLOCK In what is going to be the last season of the current set up the Black Diamond Conference races look open on one side and one-sided on the other. At the end of the 2009-10 school year Carterville is leaving. Chester is taking its place in a swap of spots in the BDC and SIRR Mississippi. Enrollment and competitive-ness wise this is the right move by both schools. As for this winter the East Division has a pair of solid squads that are sure to make some post-season headway. The West Division has what looks to be a virtual lock for its eventual champion – at least on paper. A funny thing about projections – sometimes they bring out the best in the ones not in favor of the predictors. In other words - the games will still be played this winter even though there shouldn’t be too much drama in the West. Eldorado and Hamilton County have battled for the East crown recently and that shouldn’t change this season. Both the Eagles and Fox camps look to both have enough talent returning to push for yet another 20-win season. In the West it looks like Sesser-Valier and the BDC Five. (The latest CD should be available at stores near you by Christmas.) All kidding aside – the Red Devils return their starting five from a season ago which includes the league’s top player for a new coach who steps up from top assistant. I bet any preseason coaches’ poll involving the Black Diamond Conference would have the Devils on top unanimously. In the East look for Fairfield and Carmi-White County to field solid clubs this winter under two very good young coaches. Vienna returns a couple of good players with experience while the rebuilding continues in Johnston City. A new yet familiar coach takes over the JC program and this one knows how to win and motivate. It may take some time but look for the Tribe to be much more competitive this season. Trico and head coach Shane Hawkins will be a young club that should continue to get better day-by-day. Zeigler-Royalton has one of the top scorers in the area returning while Christopher said goodbye to its top scorer from a season ago and must find some new weapons. Elverado continues to play hard but the wins and the improvement haven’t surfaced just yet. EAST DIVISION 1. ELDORADO The Eagles have the division’s top scorer back and a new coach to make very happy this winter. Cody Lane is a four-year varsity player who – like his father Eddie – would like to make a trip to the state finals. With an enrollment drop that puts the Eagles into Class 1A this one might get his wish. The 6-foot-4 senior has amassed 1,224-points in his three seasons and he could – with a monster season – get into the top three all-time at the school. That is saying a lot considering the ones on the list ahead of him are some of the top players in the history of Illinois. Lane averaged 17.8 p.p.g. last season – second on the team behind graduated senior Isaiah Cunningham’s 23.5 - and was an ABV Second Team selection for 2008-09. Speaking of graduated seniors Eldorado lost two others – Dakota Street and Barry Parks. Cunningham was ABV First Team last season. That is a combined 34-points a night missing from last seasons’ total. New coach T.J. Zurliene – a Fairfield native and University of Southern Indiana grad – steps up from an assistant role to his first head-coaching job. He takes over a program that has won 20-games or more in each of the last seven seasons under former coach Greg Goodley (272-155 in 14 seasons). Twenty wins are tough to achieve at any level but at this program it is a requirement. If the Eagles are going to "fly that high" again then Zurliene and Lane are going to need assistance. Look for another Cody to step forward to lend a hand. Six-foot-five junior Cody Johnston was fourth on the team in scoring last season at six points a game while averaging five rebounds per outing. Those two should see much of the basketball on the offensive end this season. Six-foot-four sophomore Lucas Weir (1.4 p.p.g.) returns after getting some playing time last season on the varsity, as does Nick Houseright (1.5 p.p.g.). Coach Zurliene will look to some other kids who dipped their toes into the varsity waters in 2008-09. Taking the plunge this season are 5-foot-11 senior Tristan Monroe – 6-foot-2 sophomore Ryan Langley and 6-foot-1 junior Caid Griffin. Weston Lowery – a 5-foot-11 junior – and sophomore Trey Sigler were also mentioned as important players for the upcoming season. Those nine - plus whoever can develop from the underclass - will be the ones carrying the Eagles banner as they head into the Vienna Thanksgiving Tournament to open the season. The Eagles have won five consecutive BDC East titles. Number six could be tough to get but the talent is there for another 20-win season. And by the way – moving down to 1A makes Eldorado a contender for a Peoria trip. “With a good mix of seniors, juniors and sophomores and two returning starters we expect to contend for another BDC East championship,” said Coach Zurliene. “We play a tough schedule with a mix of 1A and 2A teams. The conference teams we face all have one or two good players back so any team could win the title.” OUTLOOK – The class drop is the key factor for this program and 2009-10 season. For the first time since the original two-class system the Eagles post-season path got just a bit easier. They won’t have to face rival Harrisburg or any of the other larger schools this February or March. The BDC race should come down between the Eagles and Hamilton County. Fans should see the Eagles offense centered toward getting the ball to Lane in the lane while defenses will try to force the ball out of his hands. Defensively they will have to remain solid. Seeing the Eagles playing in the Supersectional in March is a definite possibility. 2. HAMILTON COUNTY Long-time head coach Curt Reed enters his 21st season running the Foxes program and he will once again have a team focused on championship objectives. The first job for this coach and his assistants is to replace six pretty good seniors from last winter which included Seth Thomas (ABV Honorable Mention 2A) and IBCA pick Shelby Williams. This season Ham Co. has a pair of brothers (Webb) and three other varsity experience players to start the season with. Justin and Brandon Webb are bookend 6-foot-3 seniors who have been around the block in the varsity Curt-mobile. Justin is the top scorer returning from last season as he netted seven points a game on last season’s 23-10 team that reached the West Frankfort Class 2A Sectional title game. Brandon chipped in two points a game, as did three other players that should see action again. Six-foot-three senior Duke Greisemer along with 6-foot junior Clint Hopfinger and 5-foot-11 junior Adam Irvin. This group played important roles a season ago but will have more to do in 2009-10. Six-foot-one junior Steven Lemmons played mostly on the junior varsity last season but should get a promotion to the varsity level this season. “We play a pretty tough schedule of games in the Black Diamond Conference and it is tough to win on the road in this league,” said Foxes’ assistant coach Clint Winemiller. “Our non-conference games will also be tough.” OUTLOOK – Hamilton County will be a factor in every tournament they are entered in. This group looks to be even more athletic than last season although not as battle tested. Some might think that the Foxes sent too many good ones down the graduation isle last spring but ABV knows better than to write them off. They will battle Eldorado for the BDC East title and should be in a hunt for yet another boy’s regional title - the school’s 22nd all-time. 3. CARMI-WHITE COUNTY Head coach Jarred Newell sent away a team leader and backcourt gem in Travis Williams to graduation along with two other senior starters from a 12-17 team that lost to Hamilton County in the regional last February. Williams ended his career with a 13.6 scoring average that topped the Bulldogs 2008-09 scoring list and he – along with Brian Watts and Jake Duvall – have left a empty space in the scorebook. But the teams’ second and third leading scorers are ready to move up the list while also showing the way for the fresh faces. Clay Matheny – a 6-foot-2 senior – has grown some in height and has grown as a leader for Coach Newell. Matheny averaged 12.8 points a game for Carmi-White County last season. He was on target for a combined 40 percent from the field in both two’s and three’s. He also was sharp from the foul line at 70.1 percent. He produced more assists than turnovers and should increase his scoring as a senior. Lawson Warren is a 6-foot-5 junior forward who added 8.6 p.p.g. as a sophomore coming off the bench and starting. Coach Newell has three other seniors in the waiting with Josh Krummel – a 5-foot-11 guard – with the most varsity time logged. Five-foot-ten senior Tanner Maricle and 6-foot-4 Seth Owens spent their time last season in junior varsity action. Josh Capps is a 6-foot-2 junior who popped in 2.5 points per contest as a sophomore and should push for more time on the floor. Jacob Cox, Trent Thompson and Logan Rogers share the same height (5-foot-9) and about the same amount of varsity experience (hardly any) from a year ago. “We return several players that played some big roles for us last season, that need to continue to word hard and improve,” said Coach Newell who is 69-47 overall as the head coach at CWC. “Overall this is a great group of kids that will play hard, play smart, and play together as a team and continue to improve throughout the season.” OUTLOOK – A quick look at the CWC numbers from a year ago show that this crew was very stingy defensively but didn’t score many more points than they gave up overall. The result was a lot of close losses and disappointments. If this group can somehow click on the offensive end and continue to defend at a high level – those won-loss totals could flip-flop. Matheny and Warren both have the skills to play and to lead and the rest should be good enough for the Bulldogs to be a part of the championship conversation in the BDC-E. 4. FAIRFIELD Head coach Scott McElravy (62-61 in five years as head coach at Fairfield) brings a team to the floor with no returning starters back from a 11-20 club that finished 3-7 in the BDC East in 2008-09. Some might say this is a bad thing but the ones he has coming back look small but quick and could be a sleeper in this field of teams vying for Black Diamond supremacy. Four of the kids back are letter-winners from a season ago. Bryant Simpson – a 5-foot-9 senior guard – will be part of a backcourt that will need to cut down on their mistakes this season. Five-foot-nine junior Andrew Atteberry also saw action for Coach McElravy in 2008-09. All successful teams have strong play from their guards so there is going to be a lot expected from these two. This coach believes that they will be up for the test. Up front the Mules will feature 6-foot-1 senior Hunter Bryan and 6-foot-1 senior Tim Moore. Moore posted 7.3 points a game for Fairfield last season while adding three points a game. Coach McElravy is looking at four sophomores that he will need to provide a fifth starters and much needed reserve minutes. Five-foot-ten guard Tyler Hutcheson is one of the players up from that sophomore group along with two other 5-foot-9 guards; Colten Slover and Derek Hutson. Six-foot-one forward Zane McMeen rounds out the eight players that Fairfield will need to grow into varsity players when they head to the Capitol Classic in Lawrence County – a place that can be very unforgiving to inexperienced teams. “We do have returning lettermen from last season but we will be shorter than usual,” said Coach McElravy. “Still we should be pretty quick. Our sophomore group only lost three games last year so we will have some younger kids seeing varsity action. Our goals remain the same and that is to have a winning year, do well at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and in the conference and then win a regional title.” OUTLOOK – Small, quick teams can become a big headache to clubs trying to defend them. Although I’m sure this coach would like to have some size to battle with some of the bigger teams they will face, this group could be pretty good by year’s end. Fairfield in recent years has been very good in December especially during the EHT. But it will take a full season of consistent play for the Mules to get over the .500 hump. 5. VIENNA Head coach Ross Hill will begin the 2009-10 (his second as boy’s head basketball coach) missing nine seniors - including top scorer Cory Belsher who averaged a team-high 17.4 p.p.g. last winter for the 10-18 Eagles (4-6 in the BDC-E). Those nine were part of a competitive team that lost a lot of close contests. Coach Hill hopes that the rebuilding will continue with the group he has coming back. Hill mentioned three kids that have some experience that he will turn to this winter. Drake Sanders – a 6-foot-1 senior – played in all 28 contests last season and chipped home a respectable 5.2 p.p.g. Six-foot-two senior Brandon Tanner played sparingly but will likely see his minutes increase. Markus Stram – a 6-foot-2 junior forward – also got his feet wet off the Eagles’ bench as a sophomore and should get more PT. The rest of the starting lineup and reserves will come from "green" underclassmen at Coach Hill’s disposal as they try to turn things around after the first losing season since 2003-04. “We will need to shoot the ball well and create turnovers with our press because of our lack of size,” said Coach Hill – who needs 14 wins to top 1,000 career victories combined in softball and basketball. “Our tallest players will be 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-3 and I have a group of inexperienced kids now playing at the varsity level.” OUTLOOK – With the change to the Black Diamond Conference the Eagles knew that it would take a few seasons to get accustomed to a bit better competition in all sports. But in the long term it was a good move (especially with the new football program) and that eventually the Vienna program will become a BDC factor in all sports. As for this basketball season the Eagles will be competitive again. They will get a good preview of how things will be when they host a pretty good Vienna Thanksgiving event the first week of the season. 6. JOHNSTON CITY The Indians have fallen on some hard hardwood times in recent years but ABV believes that the new coach in place is just the person for the rebuilding job ahead. Wade Thomas takes over at JC after successful stints coaching in this conference at Carmi-White County and Hamilton County (football) and has what it takes to right the ship. Coach Thomas will have to get the ball rolling with four kids back from a 3-27 season that ended with a first round loss to Herrin in the Eldorado 2A Regional last February. Six-foot-one senior Nick Dean is back for his final prep season. Another senior – 6-foot-3 Nathan Richard, will join him in the lineup. Those two have the most varsity experience returning from a team that didn’t post a BDC victory last season but are looking to change that in 2009-10. Brandon Crider is a 6-foot-4 junior and classmate Daniel Davison is a 6-foot-3. Both are forward types. On paper that is four kids with pretty good size for this conference and the schedule in which they will compete. Five-foot-ten senior Dustin Solomon was also mentioned by Coach Thomas as a potential starter this winter while some other names include 6-foot-3 junior Jesse Jeffords, Cory Emery and one sophomore Angelo Hightower. OUTLOOK – Don’t look for any miracles here, as the Indians will probably find themselves at the bottom of the East Division again this season. But mark this down – ABV believes this coach (if he is left alone to do things his way) will turn this program around. However it will take time and a lot of hard work. The projection here is a few more wins, maybe a surprise or two in the conference and more respect all around for the Indians in 2009-10. WEST DIVISION 1. SESSER-VALIER Coach Danny Kirk retired at the end of the school year last spring and the left a whole cupboard full of goodies for head coach Chip Basso to enjoy. The Red Devils return the entire starting lineup from a 23-6 team that won another regional and lost to Carrier Mills at the Trico Sectional. The returning players should set some lofty goals this season, as they should. Not one team in southern Illinois can put as much experience on the floor this season as S-V can. All five returning starters have been on the hardwood together since grade school and they have been winning ballgames at each level. This senior class is 46-11 in the past two seasons with some big wins along the way. Leading this club is a good one – perhaps the best post-player in the South. Six-foot-four senior Justin Matyi was a deserving ABV Class 1A First Team All-South selection as a junior. His stats from last season were fantastic. Matyi averaged a double-double and ABV doubts anyone else in southern Illinois came close that many points and rebounds a night. At 20.6 p.p.g. and 10.2 r.p.g. Matyi dominated some good teams in 2008-09. And it wasn’t like he was just throwing a lot of shots up there and just a few of them were going in the basket. Matyi shot a scorching 60.9 percent from the floor and those were all two-point shots. Go with your strengths and stay in the paint. That has been the Sesser-Valier philosophy with Matyi. Get him the ball inside of 10 feet and he has a good chance of scoring. He could have an even bigger season in 2009-10. His teammates can more than hold their own in this conversation. T.J. Eubanks is a 6-foot-3 guard/forward that was second on the team with 13.2 points a night for Sesser-Valier. Dane Eubanks – a 6-foot senior guard – added 7.2 p.p.g. last winter while 6-foot-4 senior Kendall Gibson added seven points a night as a junior. Gibson – an all-Black Diamond Conference football quarterback – is a strong presence in the lane to compliment Matyi as the Red Devils will be a tough club to keep off of the boards in 2009-10. Both Gibson and T.J. averaged over four rebounds a night on the few caroms that Matyi didn’t devour. Myles Tinsley is the fifth piece of the veteran puzzle as this 5-foot-11 senior guard will need to continue to do a good job running things from the backcourt. All championship caliber teams have good leadership from the point of attack and Tinsley could emerge as a key to a potential trip to Peoria. He was much better with the ball last season as he averaged 3.4 assists and chipped in two points a game for the Devils. Just talking about that starting five – Sesser-Valier looks on paper to be one of the top Class 1A teams in the state. The reserve core of players consist of 5-foot-11 senior’s Cody Pitchford and 5-foot-11 Shad Donovan along with 5-foot-11 junior Curtis Edwards, 5-foot-10 junior Shane Bennett and 6-foot junior Dustin Hicks. Forgive Coach Basso if none of those reserves get to play many minutes other than mop up duty in blowout games. ”Few teams in Southern Illinois will be able to put five kids on the floor who have more experience than us,” said first year coach Basso who was a top assistant for the past five seasons at this school. “This will be a key for us throughout the season and into tournament play.” OUTLOOK – The Red Devils have all the pieces in place to make plans to play some basketball at Carver Arena this March and not just at the March Madness Experience, either. Matyi should make all of all-state teams while being an ABV lock for postseason awards. This starting five might be as good as it gets in the Deep South in 1A and the reserve unit could come up with some big minutes this year. ABV picks the Red Devils to reach Peoria this season and are the preseason number one in Class 1A Deep South Rankings. Now they just have to prove it on the court. 2. TRICO Coach Shane Hawkins has turned a pretty good program into an even better one in the past four seasons (70-27 overall) and in 2009-10 the Pioneers should push for yet another 20-win season – the fourth in succession. Included in that run were a regional title and a sectional runner-up spot in 2007-08. Last year the Pioneers lost to eventual Supersectional contestant Okawville in the Chester Regional final and - if they manage to stay healthy - Trico could make another strong post-season run. Two of the top players from a season ago are back for Coach Hawkins. Both of these kids were double-digit scorers and emerged as team leaders in 2008-09. Logan Thies – a 6-foot-1 junior – paced the Pioneers in scoring by averaging 13.3 points a night for the 20-12 squad who finished tied with Sesser-Valier at 9-1 in the Black Diamond Conference West Division. Second on the list was Jesse Smith – a 6-foot-1 junior with a 10.1 scoring average. Thies snagged 4.8 rebounds a game with a lot of strong work around the basket while Smith averaged 2.1 assists a game. Something tells ABV that these numbers should all go up in 2009-10. Chase Heins stepped up last year as a freshman and this 6-foot-4 sophomore should be even better this season. Heins averaged 5.3 points a game to go with four rebounds a game. He is the one true frontcourt player that Hawkins has to work with. Six-foot-one junior Tyler Coleman added 5.1 p.p.g. last season. Clint Young suited up for the Pioneers last season and this 5-foot-10 senior added 2.1 points and 1.2 rebounds. Dylan Witthoft is a 6-foot sophomore who – like Young – got to play a few minutes last season and contributed. He averaged two points and a rebound a game while playing a small amount of minutes a game in reserve. “We were really young and inexperienced last season but this year we will be just young,” said Coach Hawkins – a Pinckneyville and SIU-Carbondale basketball standout who has blossomed into one of the top coaches in the state. “Ten of our top eleven players are underclassmen but we return our top two scorers and 70 percent of our offense.” OUTLOOK – The Trico program is on the rise and the folks in Black Diamond country should take notice. Maybe not this season but in the next two years the Pioneer could have a legitamate shot and making a serious Peoria push. Thies and Smith are good players to lead this young squad and they have just enough size to challenge Sesser-Valier this winter – a team they split games with in 2008-09. The projection here is another 20-wins and a shot at a regional title. 3. CARTERVILLE Before last season ABV had the Lions in the second spot and all set to challenge Sesser-Valier for the BDC West title. But several of the players that head coach Scott Burzynski was counting on didn’t come out for basketball. So the Lions didn’t roar out of the gate, they limped out and kept limping. Although they played hard and battled – Carterville were just 8-23 overall and 3-7 in the Diamond when the season came to a hault. This isn’t exactly the normal finish for this coach and program. The Lions have grown accustomed to winning games in this league and since this will be its final go-round with these brethren – this club would like nothing better to go out with a conference championship. Coach Burzynski lost just one starter to graduation last season (Brad Drust, 11.6 p.p.g.) and will look to some experience players to challenge S-V and Trico for the championship. Daniel Lingafelter averaged 8.7 points a game and is the Lions’ top gun back. Anthony Lenzini also returns for Coach B after compiling 3.4 points per outing as a junior. Both of these seniors will need to continue to lead by example. Junior Ryan Bonifield scored at a 6.6 p.p.g. clip while classmates Zack Watson, (3.5 p.p.g.) Conner Rossi, (3.4 p.p.g.) Drew Bonner, (4.4 p.p.g.) and Logan Mann (1.1 p.p.g.) all put up numbers and ate up varsity minutes. Those number show balance in scoring. The improvement for Carterville needs to come from the defensive end of the floor as this club gave up too many points per night last season to overcome. “This year our kids are older and hopefully the experience they gained from last season will have us prepared for a tough schedule this season,” said Coach Burzynski – who needs just two wins to reach 200 for his career. “I believe this group wants to atone for last year’s record. We want to play up-tempo and I believe that our confidence level will be higher this season and hopefully we can win some of those close games that we lost last winter.” OUTLOOK – The Lions will definitely be a threat to the top two in this league this season. Carterville will play arguably a tougher schedule than any of the rest of this conference with tournament games at the Du Quoin, Pinckneyville and West Frankfort. They will get an early crack at Sesser-Valier at home on December 11. Coach Burzynski should know how good his team is by then. 4. ZEIGLER-ROYALTON The Tornadoes have one of the league’s top players back in Tyler Mitchell – who led his 16-11 team in scoring at 15.7 points a game as a junior. Zeigler-Royalton finished 5-5 in the BDC-W in 2008-09 and for these Tornadoes to move up the standings head coach Jaime Moyers will need a lot of other kids to step forward. Mitchell is a 6-foot-4 senior left-handed shooting guard/forward. In fact he wears many hats for Z-R and he will have to continue to shine this season. ABV expects he shall. Mitchell has already surpassed 1,000-points for his career and now everyone wearing Navy and White can concentrate on winning more games. Sixteen wins is a nice number but 20 would sound a lot better. The other returning starter for a Tornadoes’ club that dropped a 52-43 regional semifinal to Sesser-Valier last February at home is Jimmy Stevens – a 6-foot senior guard who is a two-year starter. Coach Moyers will look for suitable replacements for eight seniors who have left including Kyle Fitch who played a lot of minutes in 2008-09. This coach mention six players he is counting on for this season with four of them from the senior class. Jake Wawczack is a 5-foot-8 guard who has two seasons of varsity time under his belt. Six-foot-three senior center Zach Rumsey should also find a uniform waiting on him this winter, as should 6-foot-1 classmate Kyle Stubblefield. According to Coach Moyers – Z-R has a transfer from Moweaqua Central A&M named Ben Thompson – a 6-foot-5 senior forward. Pair of juniors – 6-foot-1 Dylan Arvia and 6-foot Jordan Domineck are both JV players from a year ago who will get a shot at PT. “We will approach this season with a few question marks. Will we be big enough and smart enough to play with the big boys?” said Coach Moyers. “We will look at this season as a chance to take one more step in our overall program. For the past two seasons we have lost too many close games to the top tier opponents and for us to take that next step we need to play smarter basketball.” OUTLOOK – Coach Moyers is right on target about this team’s failures in the past two seasons. If the regionals were held in November then the Tornadoes might have been sectional bound the last two years. They have won back-to-back Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament titles with S-V being their victim each time in the title game. But by the end of each of the last two seasons Zeigler-Royalton found ways of losing games they should have won. Perhaps the team can turn things around in 2009-10. If they do then maybe they could end up with a good spot in the post-season. 5. CHRISTOPHER The Bearcats program said so long to a good one last spring when 6-foot senior Shawn Menckowski graduated and took 20.1 p.p.g. with him. He was one of the team leaders along with fellow seniors Joe Miklos and Rodney Fourez. Coach Jeff Minor has three returning starters from the 11-13 team that finished 4-6 in the Black Diamond West. Five-foot-ten senior Jared Fourez is the top scoring threat back for the Bearcats after averaging 7.8 p.p.g. last season - which was second on the club behind Menckowski. Also back are Kody Greenwood – a 5-foot-11 senior who averaged 3.4 p.p.g. last winter – and Matt Davison – a 6-foot-3 senior – returns with exactly five points per contest as an average. Those three will need help in the lineup and Coach Minor (20-31 in two seasons) listed several players with hopes of cracking the starting lineup. Devin Austill – a 6-foot-4 forward – averaged 2.6 p.p.g. last season in just seven games. Six-foot junior Steven Dial is on the list. Dial played in 19 varsity scrums last winter and came away with 1.3 points a game. Ryan Kirchner – a 5-foot-10 senior – also managed to “rock” in a few “concerts” last season in a Bearcat uniform scoring a handful of points. The same can be said for Scott Marchetti – a 5-foot-10 guard. Add 5-foot-8 Taylor Calloni and 5-foot-11 Ryan Dawson to the list. “We are counting on our underclassmen to help with scoring this year,” said Coach Minor. “Austill, Dial and Marchetti will need to step up. This could be a breakout year for Fourez and Davison.” OUTLOOK – The Bearcats picked up a few good wins last season and played better in the second half of the 2008-09 campaign. Unfortunately the real world basketball is played in full campaigns and all of the games count. Which is reason enough to get off to a good start in 2009-10. The Bearcats host a long-standing and very important Thanksgiving Tournament in which two of the teams above them in the rankings here (S-V, Z-R) are entered. Christopher can send a quick message this week to these two and the rest of the field that they will be much better this season. 6. ELVERADO There isn’t much that one can say about the Falcons program other than they have fallen on the hardest of times. With just a single win last season (consolation bracket victory over Christ Our Savior Lutheran at the Chester Tournament last January) to show for its hard work one wonders how they can keep this program going. But to the credit of this group of kids and the coaches’ involved - Elverado comes to play each season and each night. Coach John Harrison will continue to get his kids to work hard in practice and in games with the hope of getting better. After seeing the Falcons in action last season ABV came away with the notion that the players are at least working hard and that fact is good to see. The top player back for Elverado this season is Kyle Kempfer – a 6-foot-2 senior guard/forward - who notched a team-best 10.1 p.p.g. last winter. This one could end up leading the Falcons to a couple of extra wins this season. Another returning starter is Herb Sandlin – a 5-foot-10 senior guard - who added 4.1 p.p.g to the totals. They have some size in 6-foot-6 senior Landon Stewart back and some other kids with some experience – namely 5-foot-9 Landry Arnett, 5-foot-8 Dalton Porter and 5-foot-7 Daltun Hasty. The ones that played varsity ball last season threw in a few points a game each. “We will hopefully be an improved team this year with our leading scorer back,” said Coach Harrison. “We should be bigger and have a bit more depth than we had in previous seasons.” OUTLOOK – If the Falcons can win an extra game or two this season then it would be very good for the program. It has been a long time since this basketball team produced a winning formula but three or four wins this season would be consider major improvement.