Freeburg will enter a new season and new era with the departure of Matt Laur, who led the Midgets for the previous eight seasons.

New head coach Jason Hendrix was an assistant under Laur and knows the personnel well as this program looks for another successful season after going 21-12 last winter.

The Midgets put together an eight-game win streak during the mid-winter, winning the Sparta Tournament.

However the regular season closed with four-straight defeats and Pinckneyville, as they did to Columbia, ended the Freeburg season at the Sparta Regional in the semifinals.

Coach Hendrix has some kids to work with this coming season despite losing some good ones to graduation (seniors Lane Otten, Caleb Weber).

Cole Stuart, a 5-11 senior guard, returns for Freeburg after starting as a junior.

Six-three senior Bryson Browning is another of the starters back for the Midgets.

This mentor mentioned three other players ready to go.

Six-foot junior Jase Brintlinger, 6-0 senior Kaleb Johnston and 6'0 Senior 6-0 senior Michael Cooper will help fill the roles of the departed seniors.

“We lost a few really solid players from last years team in Lane Otten and Caleb Webber. Bring back one of the better guards in the area in Cole Stuart. Obviously my first year as head coach at Freeburg after Coach Laur left for Pinckneyville,” said Coach Hendrix, who was the head coach at Port Byron Riverdale, going 112-66 in his six seasons there which included a 2A regional championship in 2011-12.

One of the top player's in the school's history left after a record-breaking career.

Seth Slayden was a multi-sport athlete at the school, leading the football program to its first playoff appearance since 2004 last fall.

He was the top player and scorer for East Alton-Wood River last winter (15.9 p.p.g.).

Jakob Gerber and Tyler Robinson were also seniors on the 13-18 club that was ousted from the postseason by rival Roxana, 45-44 on their home floor in the regional.

The returning players for Coach Kevin Gockel include Devon Green, a 6-1 senior.

Malik Spiller, a 5-10 senior, and classmate 5-10 Kiyu Stilts, return.

Coach Gockel will look for some others to step up; 6-1 junior Harrison Smith and 5-10 sophomore Tamarion Marshall along with 5-8 junior Tah'jaun Smith.

“The team will need to develop chemistry with a lot of new starters this year and only Devon Green as a holdover from being a starter. Counting on several sophomores to step up and play well this year,” said Coach Gockel, who had a head coaching stint at Staunton before working at EA-WR. This is his second season as head coach for the Oilers.

In the first two weeks of basketball practice there are four kids missing for Coach Mark Briggs as his Roxana Shells' team prepares for the 2023-24 season.

However his players have a pretty good excuse for not playing round ball just yet.

The Roxana football squad made it to the 3A IHSA football playoff semifinal before losing at home Saturday to Mt. Carmel.

The four starters returning include Coach Briggs' son, 6-5 senior Aiden Briggs.

Six-two Evan Wells, 5-11 senior Chris Walleck and 6-2 sophomore Sean Maberry.

All were key players for the Shells' 12-1 football team.

This will make things difficult next week for the squad as they host a Thanksgiving event where they will play four games without the football players.

Coach Briggs will turn to the others to hold down the fort.

Keelan Crawford, a 5-8 sophomore, along 6-3 senior Jackson Garman, 5-8 senior Donavan Herrin, 5-8 sophomore Trenton Hollaway, 6-2 senior Michael Silas, 5-8 senior Cade Smay all have varying degrees of experience for the Shells for Coach Briggs to build on.

Also on the roster are contributors juniors Noah McVey and Jake Newton.

“I believe our team should provide anyone on our schedule with a competitive game, Our defense, strength, and athleticism will be a handful,” said Coach Briggs. “I really like the balance and play making ability that we have with our team so far – we are going to be able to put five threats on the floor at any one time. This will be an extremely fun group to coach.”

11/20/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - First things first at Red Bud this season is replacing six seniors, three of which were starters, from the Musketeers' club that won the Illinois Division of the Cahokia last winter with an 8-2 mark as they split a pair of games against Wesclin.

Devin Hall, Drew Grohmann, Ayden Shemwell, Nick Gantner, Noah Gantner and Evan Dressel were the seniors who were major players in the 24-9 club.

The Musketeers fashioned a nine-game winning streak to end the season before falling 59-50 to Columbia in the Sparta Regional semifinals.

Although there is a great deal of minutes missing, look for Coach Dane Walter to get the most out of his club with some key elements returning.

The top scorer for Red Bud last season returns.

Six-foot junior Trent Sternberg topped balanced scoring as a sophomore with 12.7 points a game.

Owen Liefer, another returning starter, is a 6-2 senior guard who averaged just under 10 points a night for Red Bud.

Sam Easter, a 6-2 senior, returns as does 5-11 senior guard Trace Wagner.

Coach Walter mentioned Chase Lucht, a 5-11 senior, who missed most of last year with an injury.

Six-four senior forward Austin Krebs, 5-5 senior guard Isaac Moll and 5-5 sophomore Luke Quintin are also in the running for Red Bud varsity minutes.

“We are looking to compete at a high level like we did last year. We will continue to work hard and get better every day,” said Coach Walter.

Despite losing one of the top players in southern Illinois to graduation last spring, look for head coach Brent Brede and his Wesclin Warriors to have another winning season.

Last year the West Clinton County club finished 22-11 with a defeat to regional champion Breese Central, 60-46, in the semifinals at the Nashville Regional.

That senior was Grant Fridley, an ABV 2A first team all-south selection.

Although his 15.2 points a night will be missed, the Warriors look to be even better this year with the returning players.

The top scorer on the team last year is back.

Six-seven senior post man Seth Macke returns after scoring 18.4 points a game on 57 percent shooting in 2022-23.

As it turns out Coach Brede has veterans at every spot on the floor along with an incoming freshman that should impact how the Warriors fare this season.

Three of the returning players are seniors.

Six-two forward Harrison Rakers, 5-10 guard Luke Tasker and 6-2 guard Jack Herndon enter their senior seasons in the first week of the campaign at the Wesclin Thanksgiving Tournament.

Chandler Mueller, a 6-1 junior forward is also up for minutes after playing as a sophomore last season.

Freshman Gavin Rahm, a 6-3 point guard, should be a big boost in the backcourt for a Wesclin squad that appears to be ready for a better postseason and perhaps a first place finish in the Illinois Division.

The Warriors ended up behind Red Bud in the standings in 2022-23.

“We return a lot of role players besides Macke and we hope to see them step up and take more offensive responsibility,” said Coach Brede, who has over 300 wins combined at the school in two different stints as head coach.

The program has 15 regional championship and nine of them were teams that Brede either played for (three) or coached (six).

Chester and head coach Chris Toledo have three starters missing from the 2022-23 team that ended up 13-19 overall but a competitive 6-4 in the Illinois Division.

The Yellow Jackets beat Wesclin twice during the season and they gave eventual 1A state champion Waterloo Gibault a tussle in the title game of the Chester Invitational Tournament last January.

A 71-48 loss to Freeburg ended the season at the Sparta Regional.

Seniors Gavin Schroeder, Trace Fricke, Clayton Andrews, Jacob Handel and Chance Mott are gone from last winter's squad.

The two returning starters for Chester are the most experienced of the group.

Devante Palacio, a 6-3 junior, and 6-0 junior Kolton Jany return.

Both were standout football players and last season on the hardwood as well.

Coach Toledo, who played at Chester as a prep, also has Lucas Thompson, a 6-3 senior, who came off the bench for the Yellow Jackets as a junior.

Logan Jausel, a 5-10 junior, transferred in from Pinckneyville and should help out forthwith.

Look for Korbin Jany, a 5-10 senior, to also be in the process along with 6-4 senior Gabe Steele.

Six-five senior Shea Menefee and 6-5 junior Brenden Malley will add some size to the roster as will 6-4 junior Evan Dunning.

Cayden Brunkhorst, a 5-7 junior, and 6-0 sophomore Tray Peters will provide minutes as guards.

“Besides Palacio, Jany and Thompson, we will be inexperienced as far as varsity playing time goes. We will need some guys to step up into some major roles this year,” said Coach Toledo. “Thompson is probably our smartest defender. Palacio is as physical as it gets and is a beast on the boards. Jany is a lock-down defender that we feel we can put on anyone and Brunkhorst has the ability to be one heck of an on-ball defender. However offensively is where I think we might struggle. We will need to have a lot better shot selection if we want to compete with the better teams.”

When it comes to 1A postseason basketball, the program built and maintained at Okawville has been a big part of the history of the state.

The Rockets own a state championship (2018) and multiple other state series trophies.

Head coach Ryan Heck was an assistant with the program and is now entering his third season running the show.

Although both of the campaigns were below .500 in the won-loss column, the competition that they play throughout the season prepares the Rockets to face the challenges of the postseason.

Last February Okawville reached the New Athens Regional finale, losing to Wayne City 52-42 to end the season at 13-21.

Seniors missing from last season are guard Grant Schleifer, guard Andrew Savard, forward Hayden Shubert and forward Joseph Janson.

But the returning unit looks to make a move towards getting back to a winning overall mark and vie for a league championship.

The top player returning for Coach Heck is 6-9 junior Aiden Anderson.

As a sophomore Anderson averaged 9.9 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.

Look for those numbers to sky rocket this winter as he continues to improve.

According to Coach Heck, Anderson has improved his offensive game during the summer and is ready for the next step.

The Okawville roster is a mix of young and old with seniors and underclassmen to provide much needed depth.

Two sophomores look to be moved into the lineup this winter; 5-10 guard Ryker Obermeier and 6-1 sophomore Landen Shubert.

Both were on the varsity last season as freshman.

Rylan Nelson, a 5-8 senior guard, brings much to the squad with his energy according to Coach Heck.

Six-one junior John Schaller was a JV starter last winter and should get more PT in the A-Games.

Add 5-11 freshman Braylen Turner to the list for Okawville.

Speaking of depth, the Rockets look to have a deep bench with a trio of juniors and a senior to ready suit up.

Six-two junior Thor Gavin, 6-1 junior Reid Heiman, 5-9 junior Parker Wiese and 5-2 senior Bennett Krohne will provide minutes when needed.

“Outside of Aidan, we will be young and inexperienced. But we have kids who will develop and get better and want to be good. Having a 6-9 anchor in the middle will hopefully make things easier and give the young kids time to breath and get acclimated to varsity basketball sooner than later,” said Coach Heck, an Okawville grad who was on the final team of Coach Dave Luechtefeld's career in 1999-00. “Fortunately, we have a core group that loves to be in the gym. They will get there and be successful, it will just be a matter of when.”

Minutes, points and leadership from two key players for Sparta last season are no longer available for head coach Jordan Beckley as 2023-24 begins.

Two important pieces to the puzzle last season, 6-3 senior Ethan Willis and 6-0 senior Brayden Henry have flown the coop via graduation.

Two other seniors; Tyler Brown and Landon Walter, are also gone from a club that made a monumental turnaround from the most recent seasons.

The Bulldogs won the Elverado Thanksgiving Tournament to open the season and they picked up an impressive win over 3A Herrin late in the year.

However Sparta dropped its final three games, including consecutive defeats to Red Bud.

The final loss, 55-52 at home in the first round of the Sparta Regional ended the season.

Coach Beckley will turn to two returning starters and a couple of transfers to get the season underway.

Five-eleven senior James Pillers and 6-0 senior Zach Bodeker started every game and have the most experience returning.

Jack Loesing, a 6-1 senior, 5-11 senior Damian Lanton, and 5-11 sophomore Robert Greer were also spot starters for the Bulldogs in 2022-23.

One of the transfers returns to the program after spending time in Georgia; 6-1 senior Darnell Smith.

Chrisean Charleston, a 5-6 senior, comes to the program from Marissa/Coulterville.

Six-four senior Marcell Spivey returns to the team after two years of not playing.

“Loss of Ethan Willis and Brayden Henry to graduation means 64 minutes per game are up for grabs, competition among the whole roster to see who gets them. We're very balanced in terms of talent throughout the roster. We're able to play 10 kids or more each night with confidence they will all contribute,” said Coach Beckley.

The Carlyle Indians will have a new leader of the boy's basketball program after long time head coach Andy Palmer retired from coaching in the spring.

Coach Palmer guided the Indians to a state finals appearance in 2005-06 and many successful campaigns in his 19 seasons as head coach.

Between Palmer and former head coach Brad Weathers, the program has had just two head coaches in the past 42 years.

However this new mentor is quite familiar with the program.

Coach Maverick Taylor played for Coach Palmer and then was an assistant for the past seven seasons.

Taylor inherits a program that moves back up to 2A in basketball but has some talent returning from the club that finished 9-23, 1-9 in the Illinois Division.

There were a few good wins over 2A regional champion Greenville, 2A Roxana twice and 1A Okawville.

The Indians won a regional first round game (Edinburg/South Fork) before the season ended.

Carlyle lost to eventual regional champ Altamont in the semifinals of the 1A Nokomis Regional last February.

Three seniors from last season; Sam Ruscher, Wyatt Nothaus and Kolten Huels, have departed.

However there are some kids back with experience.

Six-seven junior Matthew Guthrie returns as does 6-3 junior Hayden Huels.

Guthrie averaged 10.3 points a game to go with 7.4 rebounds a night while Huels added 8.4 points a game to the Indians' cause.

Carlyle also has Rhettick Steinkamp, a 6-4 junior, returning and 6-5 junior Hunter Taylor.

All of these juniors started late last season and this will help in the beginning of the season having the experience on the court.

As if that wasn't enough size for the lineup, Carlyle and Coach Taylor have some other tall ones to help out.

Six-seven junior Logan Fruen and 6-3 junior Ethan Goodin give the Indians more depth along with senior 6-2 Josh VonderHaar.

Jacob Ruscher, a 6-0 junior, also returns for the Tribe.

Coach Taylor also mention some other kids who could contribute.

Five-eight sophomore Brady Gustafson, 6-1 freshman Gannon Meyer, 6-3 sophomore Ethan Brinkmanmn and 6-3 sophomore Zach Persing could all see valuable minutes, especially early in the season when they host the Kaskaskian Classic after Thanksgiving.

“We're back to 2A but we feel that we have the pieces to compete at that level. We return four of the five starters and a lot of experience,” said Coach Taylor, who has been an assistant the past seven seasons after playing for Coach Palmer. “I think we have a lot of different ways we can win games. We have the depth. I think we'll compete for the conference title and give ourselves a chance when it comes postseason time. I'm excited about the group of guys we have. I've been with them since their freshman year. They're coach-able and we're going to 'get after it'.”

11/20/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - After a memorable campaign in 2021-22 where the Steeleville Warriors finished fourth in 1A in the state finals, Coach Aaron Fiene and his club went 18-14 in 2022-23.

Steeleville ended up 10-0 to win the Kaskaskia Division for the fourth consecutive season.

The season closed with a 57-49 loss in the 1A Webber Township Regional semifinals to Sesser-Valier.

Coach Fiene had to say goodbye to seniors Jacoby Gross, Carter Wasson, Evan Reitz and Jack Knop as those veterans were an important part of the most recent success.

Gross was lost at the end of the regular season and postseason from a hand injury and the Warriors season ended prematurely as they were the highest-seed in that part of the sectional complex.

Gross was a 1A first team All-South selection by ABV and Wasson was honorable mention.

Both will be sorely missed as the Warriors head into a new season.

Two starters; 5-10 senior Noah Fiene and 6-2 junior Canon Ruby, logged a lot of minutes last winter for the Warriors.

Others ready to take on the varsity minutes include 6-4 junior Hayden Sternberg and 6-0 sophomore Nate Witthoft.

Other minutes for the club will come from unproven kids.

Six-foot juniors Tyler Ingles and Cale Newby will be ready to get more minutes seeing significant minutes, along with 5-10 sophomore Colin Vallett and 6-0 sophomore Conor Brown.

Coach Fiene is looking for more transition scoring this season from this group and the usual defense that his teams are known for.

“Once again we will rely on the defensive end to win games. This should be a very good, strong and fast defense,” said Coach Fiene who enters his sixth season with a five-year record of 99-51. “I'm very excited to see how we grow during the season with such little varsity experience. We will compete very hard every game and look to be a tough out come postseason.”

Losing the program's all-time leading scorer, the New Athens Yellow Jackets will need others to step up in 2023-24 to pick up the slack from the departure of senior Gannon Birkner.

The 6-3 forward finished his career with 1,660-points and he averaged 21.9 points a game as a senior in 2022-23.

The Yellow Jackets and head coach Conrad Widdersheim will try to improve on last winter's 16-16, 6-4 finish.

NA lost to New Athens Regional winner Wayne City, 57-39 to end the run in the semifinals.

As it turned out Wayne City began the New Athens season (52-50 Indians win at the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament) and the season closed the same way.

In between Coach Widdersheim's club had quality wins over 1A Norris City-Omaha-Enfield to win the Christopher consolation championship, Sesser-Valier at the SVHT, Woodlawn, Carlyle and Christopher.

Luis Mazariego, Andrew Wynn and Owen Tolson were the other seniors on the squad that are missing.

Isaiah Lintker, a 6-1 junior, returns as the only starter from a year ago.

Lintker was second on the scoring chart (11.3 p.p.g.) for NA.

New Athens will have 5-11 senior Jack Alfeldt and 6-2 senior Ethan Range back.

Both were productive off of the bench last winter.

Those three are the only ones suiting up that had varsity experience as the rest are untested.

Five-ten senior Brandon Schatte, 6-5 junior Tommy Dutkanych and 6-1 junior Brady Middendorf will get a look along with 5-10 junior Gavin Gallagher and 5-8 sophomore Will Mulholland.

According to Coach Widdersheim all will have an opportunity for varsity playing time.

The Yellow Jackets will have some newcomers this season.

Five-ten junior Jordan Helmers , 5-7 sophomore Carson Lauer, 5-9 sophomore Cam Taylor and 6-0 sophomore Lane Kimbrell will be in the competition for PT.

“We lost four starters due to graduation that included the school’s all-time leading scorer. That will make us look vastly different, but fortunately we have a number of boys who will compete to fill that void,' said Coach Widdersheim. “Lintker has been playing big minutes for us since his freshman year and has proved that he can score at this level. However, we’re going to need some other boys to step up offensively. I really like where we were defensively last year, so my hope is that we can continue to build on that.”

The Valmeyer Pirates will have to replace some seniors from a year ago that were part of a rebuilding for Coach John Wuelling as the program heads into the second season with this coach in charge.

Harry Miller (20.4 p.p.g.) and Elijah Miller (4.3 p.p.g.) were important to the 9-19 club that battled with some good teams in 2022-23.

The overall winning percentage of the opposition last winter was 52 percent and they only played seven teams who had losing records.

They played against Waterloo Gibault, the 1A state champions, twice along with 20-game winners Sparta and Red Bud.

Maryville Christian eliminated the Pirates in the Dupo Regional.

Coach Wuelling will turn to a trio of experienced kids as the program moves forward.

Six-one junior guard Landon Roy (6.8 p.p.g./5.5 r.p.g.) was a starter as a sophomore.

Aiden Crossin, a 6-1 junior guard, started last season other that five games missed with an injury and averaged 8.9 points a game.

Six-four sophomore forward Luke Blackwell (7.1 p.p.g./10.8 r.p.g.) made an impact on the glass, setting a Valmeyer single season mark for rebounds.

He was also named all-conference.

As far as numbers go, this coach has some kids to work with and work into the lineup with the season commences.

Five-eight senior guard Jacob Brown and 6-4 senior forward Tanner Frierdich represents the 12th grade class.

Oscar Hoerr, a 6-0 junior forward, returns along with 5-11 sophomore guards Ripken Voelker and Chase Snyder.

Six-four sophomore forward Jeremy Crossin also will be needed.

“Last year was a step in the right direction. We won nine games and were competitive most of the year. I am hoping for another step this season,” said Coach Wuelling. “We lost two starters to graduation that we will surely miss. I expect Roy and Crossin to be two of the better guards in our division. Blackwell has added muscle and should have a big year. Frierdich has continued to develop and will be key for us this year. Brown will run the point and will be counted on as a leader. Our bench will be young and hungry for minutes. I expect us to compete and grow throughout the season.”

The Dupo Tigers have four main returning players from last season's squad that ended up 3-18 overall, 2-8 in the Kaskaskia Division.

The Tigers return five players who saw action in 2022-23.

Six-one sophomore Deegan Prater, who is also the quarterback on the football team, returns after averaging 7.3 points a game.

Teegan Hargrove, a 5-11 junior, also returns as does 5-9 sophomore Thinh Staggs.

Others coming back are senior Terence Dugan (6.6 p.p.g.) and sophomore Keith West (2.6 p.p.g.).

Junior Kaden Scheppleman (3.4 p.p.g.), 6-3 junior Carter McMannis and sophomore Tanner Francis are also part of the Dupo roster heading into 2023-24.

The Lebanon Greyhounds didn't manage a victory in the Cahokia Conference Kaskaskia Division last winter (0-10) and were just 2-25 overall with the wins coming over Mt. Olive and Mulberry Grove.

Coach Stacey Vaughn's club only had three single-digit defeats and were beaten 87-27 by eventual state champs Gibault at the Dupo Regional to close the season.

The best news for the Greyhounds is that several kids return willing to work at getting better.

Six-four senior Drew Horn and 5-8 senior Robert Zimmerman are returning starters.

Without a junior on the roster, the coaching staff will turn to some underclassmen to fill in the gaps.

Five-six sophomore DeVaughn Ware is a transfer from St. Louis (MO.) Cardinal Ritter.

Colin Adams, a 5-9 sophomore, was a JV player last year for Lebanon.

Five-ten sophomore Blake Goetter was also in the lineup a year ago.

Some freshmen will need to step up for Lebanon.

Five-seven guard Kyle Noud and 5-9 guard Deion Washington will help out.