11/25/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - How close was the race to the top of the Greater Egyptian Conference standings in 2023-24?

It ended up with a four-way tie with the quartet of teams ending up with identical 5-2 records.

Crab Orchard, Gallatin County, Hardin County and Pope County traded blows during the season.

Each of the clubs from that free-for-all near the top look to grab another league championship this season.

Coach Jon Brown's Trojans ended up 23-10 overall and return talent for 2024-25.

Hardin County mentor Rodney Lane has some veteran kids back who have been around the GEC block.

Pope County lost a really good player to graduation but return some good ones for head coach Jim Simmons, who continues to get the job done as captain of the Pirates' ship.

Gallatin County got hit the hardest by graduation and the Hawks will have a new leader with head coach Matt Lawler taking over.

Just one game back of the four-way tie was Norris City-Omaha-Enfield as head coach Jordan Johnson's Fighting Cardinals were a game back of the top and have some graduates to replace.

Head coach Zach Essex, ever the optimist, believes his Galatia Bearcats will jump into the title picture in 2024-25 as they won 21-games last winter and just one senior is missing and nearly all of the scoring returns.

Thompsonville and head coach Kevin Smith had just four total wins last season and he hopes his Tigers can rebuild with some youngsters as they also had only one senior on the squad a season ago.

A familiar last name from southern Illinois coaching ranks will take the reigns of the Carrier Mills-Stonefort program after a dismal 2023-24 campaign.

Drake Patton, son former Gallatin County icon the late Robert “Radar” Patton, inherits a team that sported just two wins in 2023-24.

This conference always has competitive contests and its annual conference tournament held at Southeastern Illinois College brings out large crowds for the yearly event.

This season will mark the 74th annual tournament and it will likely have some quality contests once again.

Look for another gang-buster sort of regular season race in the GEC in 2024-25.

Four seniors and a key departed transfer from last season's Hardin County Cougars' squad for Coach Rodney Lane leaves this coach work to do.

The Cougars went 18-14 and fell to eventual 1A state second place finisher Mounds Meridian in the title contest of the Hardin County Regional.

It was a tough ending for a team that tackled pretty tough regular season slate (Goreville and Eldorado tournaments) and some tough teams on non-league games.

The Cougars won the GEC tournament with a win over Crab Orchard as that was one of the highlights of the year.

Coach Lane is missing starters Walker Bebout, Nick Austin, Morgan Fricker and Ethan Mitchell as they took off in the spring.

Another potential starter, senior Brandon Dutton, transferred to Paducah (KY.) Tilghman to play baseball.

With that being said, the Cougars have a lot of potential returning for a head coach who always gets the best out of his kids.

Landon Fricker, a 5-9 junior guard, is back after a lot of playing time earned as a sophomore.

Six-one junior Nate Massie also saw key minutes as a sophomore as did 6-1 sophomore Bryden Banks, who suited up as a freshman in 2023-24.

That trio will be called upon early to set the tone for the season.

Five-ten junior Christian Winters returns for Hardin County along with classmate 5-10 Caden Heberer.

Jacob Gibbons, a 5-10 junior along with sophomores 5-7 Kase Fulkerson and 5-10 Gavin Belford will have a say this season.

Freshman will always have a chance with this coach and the Cougars have an incoming group that could make an impact.

Five-ten freshman Xavier Whooper, is on Coach Lane's radar as someone who could get some early season minutes along with freshmen Jacob Leeroy and Travis McDowell.

Depth is a key for any program and Hardin County looks to have plenty of players in the hunt for PT.

“We finished last season with a 18-14 record , while playing a really stacked schedule for 1A. The schedule has not changed, so we will need to be ready to go when we open the season at the Goreville Tourney,” said Coach Lane. “Last year we finished at the top of the GEC and won the conference tourney for the second time in three years. I believe our conference success is a tribute to the schedule and has made us better in many ways, although sometimes the record does not reflect that. We made it to the regional final once again and were eliminated by a very good Meridian team. This squad does not have a senior on the roster, but I like this groups chances as well as any i have had . We wont bring a lot of size to the game with us but that is nothing new for us. But I will be bringing a really good group of kids that will compete.”

After losing a pair of seniors to graduation Crab Orchard head coach Jon Brown will build around three returning starters from last season's club that once again posted a 20-win season.

Not only did they finish as runner up to Hardin County in the GEC tournament, they also fared well in the other events last winter.

The Trojans were fourth at the Wayne City Holiday Tournament and second in the Elverado Thanksgiving event.

This season look for continued improvement from seniors on the squad.

Cameron Clark, a 5-10 senior guard, is back along with 5-10 senior guard Carter Watts and 6-0 senior forward Cameron Dawes.

These three will spearhead the Trojans as they head into the regular season as the most experienced of the roster.

Coach Brown has another player ready to move up into the varsity.

Rylan Brotherton, a 6-0 senior, came off the Crab Orchard bench as a junior and should slide into a starting position.

The rest of the squad, including the fifth starting spot, is listed at To Be Determined as preseason practice will sort things out.

“Team quickness and three returning starters provide us a foundation to build upon,” said Coach Brown.

With a new coach in charge, the Carrier Mills-Stonefort Wildcats will have a new look to them after a season that produced just a pair of victories and zero wins in the league.

Drake Patton takes over from Austin Ferrell and acquires a program with just six total wins in the past two seasons (6-46) and reconstruction to do.

Leading scorer from last season (junior Jalon Ellis, 25.3 p.p.g.) is missing from last season's squad after transferring to nearby Harrisburg.

Three starters return and Coach Patton appears to be pumped up about turning things around for the program that hasn't sported a winning mark since 2012-13.

Five-ten senior Eli Taylor returns as does Carson VanDyke, a 6-1 junior, and 5-10 senior Logan Daughenbaugh.

Taylor and Daughenbaugh both averaged a shade over 10 points a game for the Wildcats.

Coach Patton mentioned some others looking for varsity court time.

Six-three Cainaan Sumner, 6-0 Skyler Collins, 6-3 Kamarion Ward, 5-9 David Edwards and 6-0 Nate Shafer will be part of the formula.

“We are looking to bounce back from a tough year last year in the conference I'm expecting a more scrappy bunch than we've had in the past and I look for us to be more defensively sound. I expect a more balanced attack on offense, with four or five guys scoring in double-digits this year. I really expect us to have a deep bench, and to be able to plug guys in without missing a beat,” said Coach Patton, who played for his father at Gallatin County.

The Pope County Pirates were a pretty entertaining team last winter as they proved that they could score points and they also were part of the logjam at the top of the GEC standings when the dust settled.

Coach Jim Simmons and his club ended up the regular season with a five-game winning streak before losing to Galatia in the opening round of the Hardin County regional to close the book on a 17-13 season.

Three seniors from last winter, including the top scorer, have departed as 20+ point scorer 6-0 Masin Presser along with classmates Eason Comer and Landon Ohse are missing from that squad.

Good news for the Pirates is that another kid named Presser returns.

Eli Presser, a 6-0 senior guard, notched 20.5 points and 7.8 rebounds a game for Pope County as a junior.

One other starter; 6-3 senior Hunter Steele, returns after adding 5.8 points a game for Coach Simmons while also being strong on the glass with over six rebounds a game.

Coach Simmons will have some Pirates ready to step into varsity roles as the season commences with the Elverado Thanksgiving Tournament.

Five-nine senior guard Ethan Burkhead is the only other 12th grader on the squad whereas the rest of the roster are underclassmen.

A couple of juniors look for minutes; 6-0 forward Alfred Simmons and 5-10 forward EJ Eckert are back.

Sophomores on the list include 5-10 forward Drake Holmes and 5-9 guard Drake Taylor.

Coach Simmons mentioned four freshman will will also get a look in the preseason practices to fill out the roster.

Six-two forward Bryson Steele, 6-4 center Grayson Fritch, 5-9 guard James Leva and 5-10 guard Kaiden Holmes.

Steele will give the Pirates some much needed height when he is on the floor.

“We have a young team and we may get off to a slow start,” said Coach Simmons. “But I expect we will get better as year goes on.”

After winning just 10-games in 2022-23, last winter the Thompsonville Tigers found themselves on the wrong end of nearly all of their contests last season.

Coach Kevin Smith's club struggled in a 4-28 campaign that had a short post-season stay after losing to eventual regional champ Waltonville in the first round of the 1A Woodlawn Regional.

The good news no one is missing from that club and the returning players all want to get better and, according to Coach Smith, the majority of the varsity minutes from 2023-24 return.

Gavin Sandy, a 6-2 senior, returns after starting for the Tigers last season.

Six-one junior Liam Reagan is back as is 5-11 junior Cruz Vega.

Sophomores Mace Ridgeway and Mason Marino, 5-9 and 6-1 respectively, also return.

Coach Smith mentioned other returning players with varying degrees of experience.

Juniors 5-8 Cody Stevens and 5-10 Hunter Gaither return.

The sophomores remaining include 5-8 Lucas Blades, 6-0 Trace Green, 5-11 Logan Matheny and 5-8 Bradyn Gaither.

Plus there are some freshman who will have a say in the minutes; Carter Thompson, Braxton Householder, Grayson Clark, Jamesdon Mayberry and Bradyn Goins will have chances to prove themselves.

Skyler Lindhorst, a 6-0 senior, was injured last year and will be part of the program despite not being able to play.

“Everyone returns from last year. We started two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior for the majority of last year. They all return. Our conference will be very competitive with a lot of really good players returning.” said Coach Smith. “We will once again play a very competitive schedule, having added quality opponents such as Waltonville, Wayne City, Edwards County, Cairo, West Frankfort and Johnston City the past couple years. We're looking forward to seeing how are young guys compete this year with a year of varsity experience under their belt.”

Although Coach Jordan Johnson graduated four seniors from the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield roster a season ago that were most of the key elements of the 9-22 season.

The Cardinals' 4-3 GEC mark was fifth best in the league.

Spencer Shipp, Dayton Tharp, Nolan Prather and Kade Bond were part of the club that was ousted 56-47 in the first round of the Woodlawn Regional by Okawville.

But most of the key players return this season with experience and Coach Jordan would like get back to winning in 2024-25 with the top eight players having four returning starters and four key kids ready to move up.

In fact seven of the returning players listed by Coach Johnson are underclassmen so the youngsters have two seasons to look forward to.

“Our team is coming off of a season where we had to learn a lot and go through some growing pains. There were many times last year where we had four or five sophomores on the court which made it tough but it allowed them to gain some great experience heading into their junior season.

Five-eight junior guard Javan Garret is back for NCOE after producing fine numbers as a sophomore (12.8 p.p.g. 4.0 a.p.g.) and 6-2 junior forward Jaxen Simmons (13.8 p.p.g./6.0 r.p.g.) also was a key factor.

Owen Russel, a 6-3 junior forward, and 5-10 junior guard Caden Sexton return as well.

The fifth starter and important players off the bench will come from the other four.

Six-two junior forward Conner Graves, 6-2 sophomore guard Justus Tauillili, 5-11 senior guard Kade Bond and 5-8 junior guard Landon Garrison will give the Fighting Cardinals options and depth.

“We have four returning starters, 75 percent of our scoring and the majority of our ball-handling returning this season,” said Coach Johnson, who is 58-49 heading into his fifth season as head coach at his alma mater. “We look to be much more competitive and will continue to improve throughout the season. One thing we take pride in is our strength of schedule. Although sometimes it is tough during the season it always has us prepared for the end of the season when games matter the most.”