11/25/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - As things went in the Midland Trail Conference last winter, the top two teams each made postseason waves while splitting their two games against each other during the regular season.

League standings champ Waltonville and MTC tournament titlist Webber Township each brought home hardware last season, including regional championships.

The Spartans and head coach Anthony Lowery rode the 1-2 punch of sophomore's Kyle Cooper and Gage Peterson to the championship of the Woodlawn Regional while Webber Township and first year head coach Jaxon Helm took down Altamont on the Indians home floor to nab that regional crown on the strength of the play of sophomore Nathaniel Marlow.

All three of those young men return and each have accumulated over 1K career points so far.

Each hope to take their programs to the next level.

Woodlawn finished third in the league race last winter and the Cardinals have two starters along with a pair of key reserves returning as they try to keep pace with the other “W's” in the conference.

A transfer into the program with a familiar last name will certainly help Coach Kyle Cooper and Company prepare for 2024-25.

Wayne City will also need to step it up this season while Wayne County cohorts Cisne will need to do the same.

Both the Indians and Lions lost a bunch of talent from 2023-24 to graduation.

Cisne and head coach Kevin Bowen lost four-year starter Anden Atwood to the cap and gown parade along with four other 12th graders.

Six seniors hit the road from WC leaving Coach Jake Talbert some work to do.

If your looking for a team that could show improvement the young group at Red Hill won't have a senior suiting up this season in the Land of the Egyptian Hunting Dog.

The Salukis will have a group of juniors, sophomores and freshmen lining up for Coach Bryan Havill.

Being the only football playing team in the conference, you know the program will have battle tested kids.

Grayville head coach Travis Thompson said so long to a couple of standout seniors last spring but the Bison have some kids returning ready to step it up.

Head coach Joe Eddy at Patoka/Odin will have a bunch of uniforms to fill this winter while also losing one of the top players in the league to graduation along with several others.

Sandoval mentor Don Shaffer has some experienced players back for the Blackhawks, who will look to improve as they finished last in the MTC.

As for this season's march to the top of the heap, the Spartans are the favorites with an eye on more postseason success.

The Waltonville Spartans and their faithful knew things were looking up for the program three seasons ago when the incoming freshman had the championship-type look.

The junior high Waltonville club won the SIJHSA Class S state title and that crew headed into the prep ranks and didn't miss a beat.

After a fine freshman season and then a regional championship winning campaign last winter as sophomores, the Spartans have their top guns back what appears to be an even better prognosis for 2024-25.

Head coach Anthony Lowery has perhaps the best combo in the 1A Deep South in juniors Kyle Cooper in the backcourt and Gage Peterson roaming the frontcourt.

Cooper, a 5-11 guard, and the 6-5 Peterson have both surpassed the 1K point totals in just two seasons of varsity action.

This it an incredible statistic for this level and both have the potential to vault past 2K by the time the pair cross the graduation finish line.

Cooper with 20.6 points a game and Peterson with 16.7 a night will like see those number improve.

Peterson led the Spartans with 8.1 rebounds a contest.

Waltonville finished the season with a 25-7 mark, including a regional championship win to go with a title from the Christopher Turkey Tournament.

They were also runner's up in the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament and Midland Trail Conference Tournament.

The season ended at the NCOE Sectional with a 52-47 loss to the eventual state finals second place club Mounds Meridian, a contest that they led at halftime and at the end of the third quarter.

Departed from that team were important seniors Makabe Devor and Seth Karnes who were the third and fourth leading scorers for Waltonville last season.

Returning for Coach Lowery is another starter; 6-1 senior Isaiah Lamke (4.8 p.p.g.)

The rest of the lineup and reserves will come from additional underclassmen.

Six-five sophomore Jagger Mayville was listed by Coach Lowery along with 6-0 sophomore Witten Devor.

A trio of juniors also got a mention with 6-0 guard Ryley Stewart, 5-11 guard Brendan Klingler and 5-11 Weston Rose.

Another sophomore; 5-10 guard Carter Stewart, should also add to the backcourt minutes.

Waltonville will also have seniors 6-4 center Wyatt Elliston and 5-10 guard Tryton Fassett.

“We have a lot of valuable minutes returning to a team that was a few minutes away from advancing to the sectional championship before losing to the state runners up down the stretch. We have several options to fill in for the players that we lost and after a very competitive summer and a strengthened schedule we should return to the postseason battle tested and ready for anything,” said Coach Lowery, a Waltonville grad who enters his eighth season at the helm.

The Woodlawn Cardinals felt the pinch of losing key personnel to graduation last season.

Coach Luke Cooper (22-40 in two seasons as head coach) must fill some uniforms this season.

Six seniors hit the trail last spring, including 6-2 senior Wyatt Rollie.

Talen Lee, Josh Lewis, Logan Palmer, Bowen Rollie and Tate Bundy suited up for the Cardinals last winter.

Woodlawn managed just a 15-17 mark overall before bowing out at home against Okawville in the regional semifinals.

Returning starters include 6-3 junior Baylor Rollie and 6-4 sophomore Tyson Frick.

Others with time spent in varsity action include 5-9 junior Logan Hunter and Bradyn Smith.

A key transfer Coach Cooper is eager to work with has a familiar name.

Luke McKay, a 6-3 sophomore, is the younger brother of former Woodlawn standout Jake McKay.

McKay was the ABV 1A “Player of the Year” in 2019-20.

Coach Cooper will also have some youngsters ready when called upon.

Five-eleven freshman Ian Bennett and classmate 6-2 Tucker Downes enter the program and will join sophomores 6-4 Tyson Frick and 5-10 Brighym Bequette.

Others on the varsity experience list include 5-9 junior Logan Heater and 6-0 Bradyn Smith.

“This year's team is going to give us a different look than the last few seasons. We will have a lot of length and athleticism. I am looking for Rollie to have a great junior year, he's a guy that just keeps getting better every day and has really stepped up in a leadership role for us. Frick looks will give us a good post presence, he has grown an inch or two over the summer and has put on a lot of muscle. Getting McKay from MTV will help us a lot, Luke is a driver/slasher type player. He gives us another scoring option and should help us a lot. Heater saw small minutes at the varsity level last year but played some big minutes down the stretch of the season, Logan is a good shooter. Both of our freshman will have an impact on the varsity level right away along with Bequette. This Cardinals team will be young but will have some varsity experience,” said Cooper.

It was a special run by Webber Township, culminating with a regional championship and a trip to the Effingham St. Anthony Sectional for Coach Jaxon Helm in his first season leading the way.

Although they dropped a tough decision to Arcola in the sectional semifinals, the Trojans made some lasting memories.

Three important seniors departed the club last spring; Damian Fleener, Dylan French and Nikkos Ulm are missing from the 30-4 squad but the top player from last season is back after a sensational sophomore season.

Six-two junior Nathaniel Marlow, the 2023-24 ABV 1A “Player of the Year” is back after notching over 1,000-points combined in his first two seasons.

His 23.2 points a game last season (788-points in 34-games) was one of the top totals in Illinois.

Coach Helm also has returning starter Carter Bain, a 5-10 junior, back from last winter.

Webber Township will need some others to step when the season starts.

Six-foot senior Jaxon Dalby, 5-8 senior Hunter Bigham, 6-1 junior Kylan Moser, 6-0 junior Waylon Jones, 5-10 junoir Brennan Tate, and 6-1 junior Kaden Richardson have some experience while incoming freshman 6-1 Jacob Marlow and 5-11 Bryden Dalby will also have a shot at PT.

“After losing some very important pieces to last years team we are hoping to come in and be competitive this year. We're going to have some guys that are going to have to step up in some positions that they are not used to and develop them into varsity level basketball players,” said Coach Helm, who played at Webber Township as a prep.

Five seniors and a ton of minutes graduated last season for Wayne City and head coach Jake Talbert from a club that managed just an 8-23 mark and a quick stay in the postseason.

Seniors Koby Anderson,Tanner McNeil, Joey Greenwalt and Cody Nguyen are missing from a year ago.

Coach Talbert will turn to some underclassmen to try and turn around the program that for the first time since 2015-16 didn't produce at least a .500 record.

James Walker, a 5-10 junior guard, averged 11.6 points a game as a sophomore.

Throw in Javen Loker, a 6-2 junior, who also has experience along with 6-1 junior Jax Scarbrough.

Five-ten senior Jacob Thomason is part of the crew along with 5-7 sophomore Landis Musgrave, 6-3 senior Will Braddock and 5-11 senior Ryan Strader.

“We will be a young team with quite a bit of varsity experience. Many of our sophomores and juniors have played with each other for almost a decade now. I'm excited to see them grow and mesh with each other and with our seniors,” said Coach Talbert, a Wayne City grad who is now 61-50 after four seasons as varsity mentor.

Coach Kevin Bowen's Cisne Lions had a forgettable season in 2023-24, as they went just 11-19 overall and tied for fourth in the Midland Trail regular season standings.

The Lions didn't make it past the first night of the Edwards County Regional, dropping a 61-58 decision to the hosts.

Gone from that team is four-year starter Anden Atwood along with senior classmates Kaden Baker and Ty Mix.

Atwood took a lot of points with him.

But the good news is there are some veterans returning, including the coaches' son 5-10 Cooper Bowen, who is back for senior campaign.

Seniors 5-11 Kayden Dagg and 6-3 Ryan Atwood return for the Runnin' Lions as they look to turn things back around after a rough 2023-24.

Coach Bowen will look to pairs for his potential playing time.

Two juniors, two sophomores and two freshman will fill out the rest of the list.

The third year preps are 6-0 classmates Brennon Williams and Brody Bowles while the sophomores are 6-0 Will Coin and 5-10 Zach Dagg.

Two freshman; 6-1 Harv Keyser and 5-10 Tucker Bowen, will get chances to play.

“We will be a fairly inexperienced group other than Cooper and Kayden. Those two have the most varsity experience. Cooper has been a starter the last three years and expecting that again this year. Kayden has started off and on the last two years. After that we have seen some good things from Dagg this summer,” said Coach Bowen. “Like most years, I believe defense and rebounding will be important. We will have some different options this year so I am excited to see how things work out. It could be a bumpy start as we learn to play at this level, but I truly believe we will be a better/different team later in the year,” said Coach Bowen.

The bad news is that one of the ones carrying the diploma down the aisle was one of the school's all-time best players.

Senior Ty' Zae Rowland took a ton of stats out of the program when he left (1,927-points for his career) and Coach Travis Thompson will have much to do in keeping the improvement going.

Rowland is now second on the school's all-time scoring list (Josh Bell, 2001-02 graduate finished with 1,989-points).

Kannan Worley was another senior that will be missing from the squad from a year ago but the good news for Coach Thompson is that everyone else returns.

All Conference 6-5 junior forward Jake Hosman is back.

The Bison will have 5-10 senior Canyon Neeley returning along with 6-0 classmate Zach Leavens.

According to Thompson that duo could both reach 1K in career points before the season ends.

Last season the first one off the Bison bench was 6-1 sophomore Ian Kleinschmidt and another sophomore, 6-2 Zeke Roosevelt.

Two freshman; 5-11 Zarian Cheadle and 6-0 freshman Daniel Smith will also be counted on by Coach Thompson.

Coach Thompson mentioned 6-4 junior Titou Vokert, a foreign exchange student from France, who will help out.

“Collectively I think we will be able to score enough to win most nights, but we have to get better on the defensive side of the ball. We have to hang our hate on tough, physical defense that makes our opponents uncomfortable. We just haven't had that over the last couple of years. We went 15-17 last year and left so much more on the table because of our defense. If our defense improves, I don't see why we can't get over that 500 mark,” said Coach Thompson.

In Sandoval head coach Don Shaffer took over a program last season and the growing pains were evident when the Blackhawks finished last in the Midland Trail (0-8) while ending up 9-21 overall.

A pair of important seniors left the building as 6-5 Armoni Dempsey and 6-1 Braeden McClelland hit the road.

Sandoval must turn to some returning players for the second season for this mentor for perhaps some additional success in the way of the win column.

Three seniors who started as juniors return.

Six-foot senior Drew Gore returns as does 6-0 Jaron Andrews.

Another senior; 6-6 Quention Heinzman, is also back in Black and Red for the Hawks.

Coach Shaffer has others ready to come into the picture.

Six-one senior Tyson Eagan and 6-3 senior Trayton Adams should be ready to help Sandoval this winter.

Five-nine sophomore Austin Hoffman and 6-4 sophomore Josh Gordan along with 5-9 sophomore Cameron Reynolds were part of the varsity as freshmen.

Jaren Andrews, a 5-10 senior, missed most of last season with an ACL tear and Coach Shaffer is hoping this point guard will be back by the Christmas break.

“We will be 3-4 deep this season. I will have four seniors to lead this team with some young talented players behind them. We will have multiple ball handlers this season that should click the offense. Defensively we still are in the works of achieving five players on the floor with high intensity defense We are also very excited on the underclassman for this year’s program. Hopefully it will all come together & achieve our goal,” said Coach Shaffer.

For head coach Joey Eddy, the 2024-25 season will have a key player missing from last season's 9-18 team.

Five-ten senior Owen Landreth graduated after leading the Patoka/Odin Warriors in scoring while securing a spot on the ABV 1A All-South Team.

The Warriors didn't last long in the postseason (loss to St. Elmo/Brownstown at Altamont) and this coach will turn to some newcomers and hold overs to try and keep the mesh between the cooperative going strong as the agreement enters the fourth year.

Three other seniors; Braden Meyer, Lane Arnold and Wade Voelkel have also left.

Coach Eddy returns 5-11 senior Tyler Huffman and 5-8 junior Lincoln Roberts for 2024-25.

The pair played a bevy of varsity minutes a season ago.

Also with PT on the varsity level are 6-1 senior Landon Robb, 6-2 sophomore Brady Cain, 5-7 senior Jace Bodine and 5-10 senior Camden Parrish.

Huffman and Cain were shelved last season with injuries and Coach Eddy hopes to have them both back full-strength this winter.

There will be others ready when the season begins at the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament.

Coach Eddy mentioned 5-9 senior Reed Jourdan, 6-2 junior Ben Spencer, and 6-0 junior Easton Johnson.

Two others stepping up are freshmen 6-1 Kody Burks and 5-9 Brady Haines.

The Warriors have been competing in both the Egyptian Illini Conference and the Midland Trail Conference.

A long standing member of the EIC, the transition into duel conferences hasn't hurt the scheduling at all as they play some good teams in each league.

“We spent a lot of time this off season going back to the fundamentals of defense and simplifying the offense to make sure we are all on the same page. It has been a complete group buy in to sellout for each other on the floor at both ends. If this team can continue to grow and fight for each other day in and day out I believe we will surprise some people. This is a group of players ready to make a name for themselves as the year goes on,” said Coach Eddy who enters his 21st season at the helm. “It has been a fun group to watch develop and grow. We will go into the season with a lot of questions, but I think that the effort on the court will turn into some positive returns.”