Marshall, EA-WR, Robinson top northern ABV leagues
Strong crews at Flora, Red Hill, Vandalia, Pana, East Richland are solid programs
LITTLE ILLINI CONFERENCE
Projected Order of Finish
1. Marshall
2. Flora
3. Red Hill
4. Casey-Westfield
5. Hutsonville-Palestine
6. Lawrenceville
7. Cumberland
8. Edwards County
9. Oblong
SOUTH CENTRAL CONFERENCE
Projected Order of Finish
EAST
1. Vandalia
2. Pana
3. Litchfield
4. Greenville
5. Hillsboro
WEST
1. East Alton-Wood River
2. Southwestern
3. Roxana
4. Carlinville
5. Marquette Catholic
APOLLO
CONFERENCE

Projected Order of Finish
1. Robinson
2. East Richland
3. Effingham
4. Salem
5. Mount Zion
6. Charleston
7. Newton
8. Paris
BY JACK BULLOCK
Heading into this season ABV fully intended to do a full preview of the Little Illini, South Central and Apollo Conferences.
As I have grown accustomed to – certain coaches and schools don’t cooperate.
After sending out questionnaires, making calls and leaving messages I had had enough.
You will notice the head coaches who sent me nothing. Those are the ones highlighted in "GRAY" in the projections to your left. I feel sorry for the kids. I feel distain for the coaches.
In any rate here is a thumbnail sketch of the teams in those leagues.
LITTLE ILLINI CONFERENCE
The run that the Marshall Lions made a season ago broke all the important team records.
Marshall finished third in the state in 2A with a 32-1 mark that included a 31-game winning streak.
Coach Tom Brannan got the monkey off of his back in a big way as his club put it all together in running the regular season table to win the team’s third consecutive LIC title.
Although the Lions are missing two of the best players from last season (Logan and Lucas Eitel) don’t look for this team to give up the crown.
Taylor Duncan – a 6-foot-3 senior guard – returns after averaging 16.2 points a game.
Three other players that Coach Brannan is counting on are Dustin Morey – a 6-foot-6 senior forward and 6-foot sophomore guards Jacob Duncan and Logan Cannady.
“I’m extremely excited about the upcoming season with good players returning with size, toughness and shooting ability,” said Brannan who is 340-138 in 17-years at the school. “Taylor Duncan is the best defensive player I’ve ever coached.”
Flora returns one of the best sophomores in the South in Paul Knapp – a 6-foot guard - who averaged 19 points a game last season for the 12-16 Wolves.
Bryton Krutsinger is a 6-foot-3 senior who tossed in 11 p.p.g. and 6-foot-5 sophomore Nick Painter added eight points a game as a freshman.
”Providing that we can stay healthy we should be much more competitive this year,” said Flora head coach Phil Lieb. “We only have one senior but all the kids returning have significant varsity experience.”
Red Hill (16-11) made its way to a Sweet 16 berth last March – losing to eventually state runner-up Woodlawn in the sectional final.
Head coach Bryan Havill (105-89) returns four starters from the team – 6-foot-3 senior Matt Wirth and 6-foot senior guard Trevor Albertson. Albertson is the leading returning scorer at 11.7 p.p.g.
Senior Eli Latch – a 6-foot-3 forward – and 6-foot-3 junior forward Robert Young.
Others that Coach Havill think will help are Dereck Brewers – a 5-foot-11 senior guard – 6-foot-4 junior Andrew Jones and 6-foot-2 junior Cameron Lewis.
The Salukis look to have a lot of depth and experience heading into 2009-10 and begins the season ranked in the ABV 1A “Top Ten” Rankings.
Casey-Westfield graduated a pair of good seniors in Mitch Snyder and Kirk Shawver but according to new coach Brad Carrell the ones returning are going to be a good group.
Nine letterwinners are back with eight of the players in the senior class.
Six-foot-two senior Seth Brewer was one of the players mentioned along with Kruz Kusterman - a 6-foot-2 senior.
Chris Unzicker - a 5-foot-10 senior guard, 6-foot-1 senior Josh Thais and 6-foot-4 junior Clinton Scott were part of the Warriors' football playoff team as were
Riley Scales is a senior that should see action along with seniors Kaleb Barnhart, Lucas McVey and Ryan Shull.
"With nine returning letterwinners and eight of them being seniors we should have the leadership to turn things around from last year," said Coach Carrell. "This being my first season we are looking to change the attitude and face of the basketball program and get back to competing with the areas better teams."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfortunately a SNAFU accord in putting this preview together. The correspondence between Coach Carrell and myself got lost in the email world. Fortunately after Coach Carrell contacted me I was able to recover the email and added the Warriors to the preview. ABV errored.
Coach Justin Roedl led his Cumberland club to a 17-11 mark last season and returns four starters; Silas Gabel (12.6 p.p.g.), Reed Draper (6.1 p.p.g.) and Jaton McMeechan (4.7 p.p.g.) from a team that lost a two-point decision to Neoga in their own regional semifinal.
”We lost a lot of height so we much defend well take care of the basketball,” said Coach Roedl.
Lawrenceville went 18-9 last season with some big wins and finishes.
The Indians topped Robinson last winter and finished third at the Pinckneyville Holiday Tournament.
Coach Jason Green has a pair of 6-foot-6 seniors back from a team that lost to East Richland in the regional semi’s last February.
Dane Kelly (9.7 p.p.g.) and Nick Potts (9.0 p.p.g.) are different types of players as Kelly can step out and shoot from the perimeter while Potts is a banger.
Both are effective defenders.
After playing several games as a freshman in 2008-09 - Zach Benson – a 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard – will be asked to run the Green offense.
Six-foot-two junior Michael Leighty and 5-foot-11 senior Drew Goins should fill out the starting lineup.
”We will be as good as our guard can be because we should be very strong in the middle,” said Coach Green – who played for the Indians back in the 1990’s. “For us to win games Potts and Kelly will need to play strong and stay out of foul trouble.”
Hutsonville-Palestine has a new coach taking over as former player Travis Titsworth returns home to coach the Tigers – a team that went 13-15 last season.
Six-foot-three senior Blake Calloway is the top returning player for Titsworth to work with.
Austin Callahan – a 6-foot-4 sophomore – along with sophomore guard 6-foot-1 Casey Newlin and 6-foot senior Luke Mehler are the top returning players.
Edwards County finished 13-16 overall last season and the Lions have four starters back from that club that lost to Cisne at the 1A Edwards County Regional.
Chad Smith – a 6-foot-2 senior guard – is one of the team leaders for Edwards County as he is one of nine seniors on the roster.
Five-foot-nine senior guard Michael Aaron, 6-foot-3 senior forward Nathan Winemiller and 5-foot-9 senior guard Ryan Head were all starters for head coach Nick Toothman.
SOUTH CENTRAL CONFERENCE
This league has gone through some recent changes with Staunton and Gillespie leaving the league – dropping the conference down to ten teams (five on each side of the East-West setup).
This season all of the crossover games will count toward the league title in each division.
In the East – Greenville must replace some good players from a sectional finalist team a season ago.
Head coach Todd Cantrill will rebuild with Todd Eaton a 6-foot-1 senior forward and letterwinners from last season (6.7 p.p.g.).
Eaton was the quarterback on the Comets’ football playoff team but should step right onto the hardwood ready for action when the season tips.
Coach Cantrill mentioned 5-foot-8 guard Trevor Suess and 6-foot-1 forward Adam Stroud as returning letterwinners.
Three senior double-figure scorers (Derek Atchison, Kyle Dannaman and Rutger Neece) are missing from last season’s 26-6 team that lost to Breese Central in the sectional title game.
Vandalia heads into action this season as one of the favorites on the East side with head coach Kevin Jackson having two scorers back from a 15-12 crew that finished 8-2 in the East in 2008-09.
Six-foot-three senior Will Cowger averaged 10 points a night for the Vandals as a junior.
Marty Johnson – a 6-foot-3 junior added 10.5 p.p.g. for a squad that lost two other double-digit scorers Austin Wollerman and Drew Bell to graduation.
Jackson looks to Angel Osorio – who averaged four points a game last season – and a freshman point guard Tim Ritchey who Jackson says doesn’t play like a freshman.
”We think he has the potential to do a good job there or we wouldn’t be putting him there,” said Coach Jackson – a Mulberry Grove prepster from years past who has had successful coaching stints at both St. Elmo and Vandalia. “I would like to think that we could compete for the conference title because we have a lot of kids back.”
Starter Derek Ade – a 6-foot-2 guard is one of the leaders for head coach Gary Bowker at Pana as the Panthers (16-13, 6-4 in the SCC East) also hope to be in title contention in 2009-10.
Adam Metzger is a 5-foot-10 guard that is also a vet for this team that last to Greenville in the regional title game last season on their home floor.
“Our conference and our area look pretty even,” said Coach Bowker – who is 203-97 in 10 seasons at this school with a pair of state finals appearances. “No one stands out.”
Bowker mentioned four other players of note that should help.
Six-foot-one guard Clint Epley, 6-foot-2 senior forward Jake Adcock, 6-foot-4 junior forward Nick Sprackler and 6-foot junior guard Phillip Arnold should all be in contention for minutes in the up-tempo offensive style of this winning mentor.
Litchfield head coach Andy Kassenbaum returns just two starters from last season’s 16-15 squad that bowed out to Greenville at the Pana Regional.
The Purple Panthers had some highlights last season – beating Metro-East Lutheran and Raymond-Lincolnwood – but slumped to 2-8 in the SCC East.
Zach Wilkison – a 6-foot-4 senior forward – averaged nine points a contest as a junior.
Six-foot-three senior forward Dylan Treece added four points per outing last winter.
In the SCC West – as is the case in the East – the championship chase looks wide-open with any of the five teams capable of winning.
Head coach Adam Miller at East Alton-Wood River has several kids back from a program that Miller has helped turn around.
With just a handful of victories prior to 2008-09 – the Oilers went 10-19 last season and return four starters from the team that lost to Columbia at the Roxana Regional in the semifinals.
Six-foot-five senior Lucas Cobb was one of the conferences bright spots a year ago as he averaged 14.2 points a game to go with 6.6 rebounds a game.
Six-foot-five junior Colby Hall also played well last winter (8.9 p.p.g., 6.6 r.p.g.) as those two kids in the middle of the floor gives Coach Miller a strong inside presence.
Two backcourt players – 5-foot-8 senior Kevin Tharp and 5-foot-10 Brandon Cory – also return after helping out last season by adding 3.1 p.p.g. and 4.0 p.p.g. respectively.
Five-foot-eleven senior Detraze McElroy and 5-foot-9 junior Dusten Unverzagt earned letters in 2008-09.
Two other kids who have transferred into the program should help out right now.
Delarro and Jalen Smith – a 6-foot senior and 6-foot-3 junior – are athletic enough to step into this conference and have an effect.
Delarro Smith was on the Alton Redbirds roster last season and got into four games for the 4A team.
“We expect to be a strong defensive team this season. Smith is an excellent defender as is Tharp,” said Coach Miller. “Hall might be our best defender. I am also looking for a strong season from Cobb in the paint and Tharp as our team leader. We finished strong last season and we hot that success will turn into more success this season. We hope to start out quick.”
Southwestern has a new head coach in Curt Berger – former head coach at Red Bud and top assistant at Althoff Catholic.
He inherits a club that went 19-10 last season to go with 10-0 in the West Division.
Coach Berger listed two returning players – Ryan Gray – a 5-foot-10 senior (8.7 p.p.g.) and 6-foot-2 senior Brett Guthrie (11.5 p.p.g.) from the Birds’ nest that lost a regional title game thriller to Staunton last February.
Ryan Cox – a 5-foot-11 senior – averaged 6.1 points a game last winter while teammate Nathan Wegener chipped in 1.2 points while grabbing 2.3 boards.
Cole Hagen – a 6-foot-3 senior forward who averaged 2.9 p.p.g. last season – should help out in the frontcourt.
“We will be a blue collar/hard working team this season,” said Coach Berger. “We will be well balanced in scoring.”
After losing 34 points a game from last season’s team – head coach Mark Briggs of Roxana has to rebuild around two returning players.
Ethan Guss – a 5-foot-11 senior – was second on the team in scoring with an 11.7 p.p.g. average while 5-foot-10 senior guard Ryan Touchette added 4.6 p.p.g.
Hunter Reine – a 6-foot-7 freshman – will step in and start in the post for Coach Briggs – who saw his club finish 19-11 overall in 2008-09 after being upset by rival EA-WR in the regional.
“Hunter Reine will step into our line up and help out in the middle,” said Briggs. “Ethan is one of the better guards I have ever coached and Ryan is a three-year starter. Our kids will play extremely hard defensively and will find ways to win games.”
Carlinville (9-19 overall, 5-5 in SCC West) returns two full-time starters and two others that started games for the Cavaliers in 2008-09.
Head coach Mike Rigoni – a Nokomis grad – hopes that the hard working attitude from last season rolls over into this winter.
Team leaders include Zac Dixon – a 6-foot-2 forward – who averaged 6.7 points a game for Carlinville.
Trevor Rhodus – a 5-foot-10 guard/forward – chipped in a few points last season while 6-foot guard Josh Carnduff (4.1 p.p.g.) and Eric Gross (3.5 p.p.g.) are also back from the team that fell to Southwestern 81-73 in the regional semifinals.
Marquette Catholic (6-25) return three starters that endured a painful season in a basketball sense but look eager to make things better in 2009-10.
Brice Smith – a 6-foot senior guard – averaged 4.8 points a contest for the Explorers last winter.
Five-foot-ten senior guard Travis Helton (2.3 p.p.g., 2.3 r.p.g.) and 6-foot-3 sophomore Derrick Starrett (7.6 p.p.g., 5.6 r.p.g.) is the top stat guy returning for this Alton club.
Senior holdovers include 5-foot-6 guard Cecil Brimmage and 5-foot-11 guard Keenan Eberlin.
Two sophomores – 5-foot-10 guard Dalton Halm and 5-foot-10 guard Tyler Moore – could see a lot of minutes.
Coach Brian Diskin also mentioned 5-foot-8 junior Ross DeVer and a pair of freshman Sam Scheiter and Jake Coddington as potential starters.
”We have a lot of young players but most of the youngsters played significant varsity minutes last season and were all contributors,” said Coach Diskin. “I was excited about our performance this past summer.”
APOLLO CONFERENCE
The Robinson Maroons (20-8) have the players to make a trip to Peoria this season, no question about it.
Head coach Bob Coffman are heavy favorites to win their conference and should be one of the teams to beat in the Capitol Classic as the season begins at the annual event.
The Maroons return seven seniors – including University of Illinois recruit 7-foot center Meyers Leonard. Leonard averaged 12.9 points a game to go with nearly nine blocked shots a game.
He also won last year’s 2A “Slam Dunk Contest” at the state finals in Peoria.
He has added weight to his slender frame and looks to be stronger heading into his final prep go-round.
Last season Robinson won a regional title but lost to eventual state qualifier Marshall in the sectional at home.
Coach Coffman has many combinations of veteran players he can use in his lineup with other returning starters.
Six-foot senior Ben Jones is back along with 6-foot classmate Derek Hannahs – both played a lot of minutes in 2008-09.
Six-foot-four senior forward Devan Dirks also returns to the lineup with guard’s 6-foot seniors Cody Chamblin, 5-foot-11 Scott Kirkwood and 5-foot-9 senior guard Austin Siler providing depth.
“Experience will be a positive aspect of our team this year,” said Coach Coffman. “We have returning starters from last season as well as some players that saw a large amount of court time last season. Our focus will be to win with our defense. We have 90 percent of our offense back so we must become dominant on the defensive end.”
Robinson will get a tough challenge in their conference and potentially in the post season from Olney East Richland as the Tigers and head coach Rob Flanagan return one of the Apollo’s top guns in 6-foot-4 senior Brandon Berry.
Berry is a three-year starter for ER and averaged 17 points a night last season for the 18-12 club that fell to Robinson in the regional final. He is also one of the top free throw shooters in the state as he hit 88 percent of his shots in 2008-09.
Other players back for East Richland include 6-foot-1 senior Mitchell Schonert (6.5 p.p.g.), 6-foot-5 senior forward Christian Kabbes (nine p.p.g.) , 5-foot-9 senior guard Blake Pampe (four p.p.g.) and Derek Van Gundy – a 6-foot senior guard (2.5 p.p.g.) all back with varsity experience.
“Our senior class is our strength with three starters back and two top reserves returning,” said Coach Flanagan. “Berry will be one of the best players in the state this year and I’m excited about how good we can be this season.”
Charleston turned the heat up in the final few weeks of the season and got on enough of a roll to win a 3A regional title last season before ending its run at 10-18 with a sectional loss to Carbondale.
Coach Trevor Doughty (114-89 in eight seasons at Charleston) will lean on five seniors as the Trojans look to get above .500 this season and contend for the conference title.
Six-foot-one Brad Wheeler averaged 5.5 points a game last year and he returns along with five classmates.
Six-foot-four forward Dylan Doughty (the coach’s son), 6-foot-5 forward Taylor Nead (3.8 p.p.g.) 6-foot-1 guard Jason Lord, 5-foot-9 Jason Coon and 6-foot-1 James Addison all saw action last season.
Joey Miller – a 6-foot-3 junior – also is back after averaging 5.6 points a game.
All of these players could be pushed by a group of juniors that includes 6-foot-5 Alex Shick and 6-foot-3 Evan Clark.
”We have a good nucleus to work with and these kids play hard so effort will not be a problem for us,” said Coach Doughty. “The keys for us will be being able to defend, rebound and trust each other on offense.”
Mount Zion (13-13) slumped a bit in the league and overall last season but head coach Jay Driscoll hopes to build this season around 6-foot-3 senior Ryan Hartman who is a baseball prospect who will attend Eastern Illinois University next season as a pitcher and 6-foot-4 senior forward Jordan Fortner.
Both of those players are capable of adding more punch to the offense this season.
Six-foot-two junior Joe Babich also returns for an inexperienced team that lost two seniors Caleb and Colby Long that took 38 points a game away with graduation.
”We need to find a new identity this season with not a lot coming back,” said Coach Driscoll. “Our younger players are going to have to step up.”
Newton and coach Doug Mammoser return just one starter from last season’s 17-11 club that lost to Robinson at the Olney 3A Regional. They also lost seven seniors to graduation including 6-foot senior guard Scott Mammoser.
Jake Pilman is a returning senior after averaging 6.1 p.p.g. to go with 5.9 rebounds.
Coach M also mentioned seniors Joseph Bear and Alex Frohning along with sophomore Peyton Wyatt as the ones to step into varsity minutes in 2009-10.