11/23/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - This is the part of the preview that ABV refers to as “Programs Without Partners.”

A mixture of teams that are either full-time independents or are part of conferences in which not all of the schools responded to the annual preview questionnaire.

In any case, most of the ones on this list of teams have thrived over the years and a few of them look to be much better this winter.

Alton Marquette and head coach Steve Medford could be the most improved team in the ABV area.

This mentor takes over the program after a two-season hiatus and the talent returning from a year ago, which is everyone, should catapult the program back into the conversation for postseason seedings and success.

Arcola has a new head coach as a change was made recently as Coach Greg Gisinger will move over to coach the girls program and his assistant last season Mitch Pollack takes the reigns of the boy's team.

Breese Mater Dei is a true independent as they haven't been in a conference since the end of the 1996-97 school year when the Mid-State Conference disbanded and most of the membership formed the South Central Conference.

That league had the distinction of having two schools (Shelbyville and Breese Mater Dei) play each other in the 1996 Class A state championship game, with Shelbyville winning.

This was the first finals held in Peoria.

Cairo, another true Indy, will have some kids back to compete for head coach Joshua Baldwin.

They battle a mostly a tough schedule of games each season.

Central A&M is another of the schools up north that sends me information.

Coach Rob Smith has taken three of his Raiders' teams to sectional championships and one third place finish in 2018-19.

Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran is also part of the Gateway Conference with Marquette but a couple of the schools never send in information so the Silver Stallions land here.

Coach Dan Kueper will have an experienced group back from a regional championship game team a season past.

Glen Carbon Father McGivney is a newer school in the Metro-East and are also in the Gateway for Coach Cory Clouser.

Macon Meridian is a familiar program for the ABV with head coach Justin Allen leading the Hawks.

This program broke some southern Illinois hearts back in 2008-09 by topping Woodlawn in the 1A state title game.

After two seasons in 2A, Meridian will be 1A again for the 2025-26 campaign.

Maryville Christian has a new head coach with Mark Allaria taking over a program that is a small school with some big programs to deal with in the Gateway Metro Conference.

Allaria was a standout high school player for Coach Mike Waldo at Edwardsville before playing collegiately at the University of Evansville.

Nokomis head coach Dan DeWerff and his Redskins are coming off of consecutive 16-17 finishes and this mentor would like to revert three year ago success-wise as they were 27-7.

The Redskins are members of the MSM conference, which in an acronym for Macoupin, Sangamon and Morgan Counties.

Okaw Valley also has a new head coach, Colby Rothrock, leading the Timberwolves with some talent returning, including a 1K scorer.

St. Joseph-Ogden is a school that has been part of the recent state tournament path that would lead them to SIU Arena in Carbondale to make it to the Final Four.

The same goes for Tolono Unity as both of those schools are a few miles south and east of Champaign/Urbana where the state finals are held.

Tuscola and head coach Justin Bozarth have been on successful streak in the past few seasons, with five regional championships and a third place finish in the past eight seasons with Bozarth under center.

The Warriors are part of the Central Illinois Conference.

Waterloo Gibault and head coach Dennis Rueter had a bit of an anomaly last winter with the Hawks finishing 8-23.

Losing seasons don't happen often for a coach who has won 804-games.

Six games in 2024-25 the Explorers lost games by 10-points or less, including the Southwestern 50-46 defeat.

Marquette will turn to the most successful coach in the program's history to try and regenerate some excitement.

Steve Medford comes back to the sidelines as the mentor.

In his 12 seasons as head coach, Medford was 276-85 and won eight regional titles and one sectional championship at the school.

He has some young kids returning to work with, so expect substantial improvement.

The good news from last season is that there wasn't a senior on the roster, subsequently no lost production.

Everyone who will suit up this season will have some sort of experience from a year ago.

The scoring last winter was balanced but the defensive end of the floor is where the improvement needs to surface.

Coach Medford has no shortage of kids named Jones heading into 2025-26.

Six-three senior Carson Jones, and 6-5 sophomore twins Chase and Cameron Jones.

It reminds ABV of the late 1970's version of Texas Longhorns' football when the roster featured three players named Johnny Jones. The nicknames for them were Bam, Jam and Lamb.

Chase led Marquette in scoring with a 10.6 per game average while Cameron added 9.3.

Carson checked in at 4.7 points a contest.

The others from the starting rotation and reserves from a year ago will all be important.

Cameron Golike, a 6-1 senior, was an 8.9 points per game scorer as a junior.

Noah Menke, a 6-foot senior guard, is back for the Explorers and he helped with a few points a game.

Another Cameron (Daniels) a 5-11 junior, helped out the scoring (2.9 p.p.g.).

Six-nine senior Nolan Robinson played in about half of the varsity games as a junior and his playing time could increase as Coach Medford hopes from production from the reserves.

Six-foot senior guard and multi-sport athlete (football) Jack Rea is back as well as Isaiah Redd, a 5-9 senior guard.

More size upfront will be provided by James Sehorn, a 6-5 senior.

The schedule will be challenging for the Explorers as the Gateway Conference in which they play in has some powerhouse teams.

“We do have a lot of experience coming back I feel like we will be very competitive our team and our goals will all be determined on how well we defend and rebound. We had a very good summer. We learned how to guard the right way and we learned how to execute I think it’s just gonna be a matter of do we rebound the basketball and defend the right way if we do those two things really well we will be extremely successful,” said Coach Medford.

The Arcola Purple Riders had a nice run two seasons ago going 27-7 and getting to a sectional final and last season was a fine 24-8 finish.

The main difference in the two seasons came down to upsetting Effingham St. Anthony in a regional championship game in 2023-24 before having the tables turned the following year by the same Bulldogs.

The 43-31 defeat at the Central A&M Regional ended the prep careers of a pair of 1K point scorers last February.

Braden Phillips and Tanner Thomas each passed that scoring plateau for the Purple Riders and have moved on.

Phillips to Milliken University for basketball and Thomas to the University of Louisville for baseball.

That's leadership and production out the door in Arcola.

New head coach Mitch Pollock, an assistant at Arcola, moves up to take over.

The ones returning will try to keep the winning ways going for another season.

Brody Phillips, a 5-10 junior, was a starter as a sophomore last winter.

Five-nine senior guard Canton Wesch will also be in the starting snapshot as will 6-1 sophomore Kaden Hohlbauch and 6-3 junior Remi Roberts.

Kids moving up is nothing new at small school programs and look for 6-4 senior Haris Mayhal to round out the starting five.

Six-foot junior Eddy Garcia and juniors Joey Hout and Evan Rardin.

The sophomore class will be represented by Sawyer Maxwell and Ronnie Vega.

The Cairo Pilots will be missing a bunch of players from a season ago for head coach Joshua Baldwin heading to the 2025-26 season.

This team finished up 12-16 last winter, losing to Galatia in the regional semifinals at Goreville.

Five seniors are gone from that club who played in four regular season tournaments and posted a handful of impressive victories.

Kamron Jenkins, Maceo Childs, McKenlee Pirtle, Ezekiel Gilker and Donnez Spence left the building.

The Pilots topped Johnston City twice, both times in Elverado and Cobden tournaments while also handling 21-game winners Century.

Cairo won the Cobden Holiday Tournament but this season Coach Baldwin will turn to some youngsters to help right the ship and improve on last season.

Five-nine sophomore Jakwon McAllister and 6-3 senior Vance Tuck, Jr. are back for Cairo bringing the most experience to the court.

The rest of the roster will be underclassmen.

Jawuan Simelton, a 6-foot junior, along with 5-10 junior Kris Farley, 5-10 junior Zomarrion Johnson and 5-11 junior Robert Oliver are all part of the game plan.

Coach Baldwin has a sophomore; 5-9 guard Tory Nelson, Jr. and 5-9 freshmen Rahjon Woodson and Anthony “Tim” Duncan, Jr.

“All the kids I named will be important. We only have two players with a decent amount of varsity experience. If there was another ABV questionnaire around January maybe I could be more in depth but there are still a lot of variables for this young team,” said Coach Baldwin.

Head coach Cory Arentsen and his program take on all comers, small school or large, at home or away, short trips and long trips, etc.

They have done so for decades.

The teams they battled with a year ago won overall 60 percent of their contests and out of the 31 games played, only eight of the teams had losing records.

Mater Dei took the floor in 12 contests against teams that won over 20-games and two teams (Effingham St. Anthony, Belleville Althoff) who were 32 and 31 game winners and both ended up in the 1A and 2A state finals.

To put it an other way, the Knights don't back away from challenges.

This season the schedule will be its usual gauntlet of difficult battles.

The difference this season is that Coach Arentsen will have to replace seven key seniors and he has just one starter returning from the club that lost to Nashville 51-48 in the opening round of the brutal Carlyle 2A Regional.

Ethan Rakers (10.4 p.p.g.), Luke Brefeld (7.3 p.p.g.), Conner Diekemper (7.1 p.p.g.) Jared Hemker (6.0 p.p.g.), Ben Pollman (1.6 p.p.g.), Nolan Goebel (1.5 p.p.g.) and Chase Jensen are no longer prep eligible.

That's a ton of missing numbers from the 21-10 team.

The lone starter returning will need the lead the Knights.

Six-three senior guard Gaven Peppenhorst was the top scorer for BMD in 2024-25 at 16 points a contest and he crashed the boards for five rebounds a night.

Reagan Woomer, a 5-11 senior, came off of the bench a year ago in 30 of the contests and added 2.7 p.p.g.

Beckett Wade, a 6-1 senior, played in a few varsity games last winter as did 5-11 senior Reed Pingsterhaus.

Coach Arentsen also has 6-2 senior AJ Poettker available.

Others mentioned on the roster of players that will jump right into the schedule the first week against Nashville, Columbia and Wesclin at the Wesclin Thanksgiving Tournament.

Five-eleven senior Brett Hilmes, is the only other 12th grader as the rest of the roster will be underclassmen.

Juniors 6-foot Jack Reynolds, 5-11 Bennett Moss, 5-9 Jackson Zurliene, and 6-3 freshman Chase Luebbers as well as sophomore 6-2 Dominic Koopman, 6-2 freshmen Roman Zambrencia and 6-1 Stuart Parkin round out the roster for Coach Arentsen.

“We'll be pretty small but can play an intriguing style with our athleticism and ability to shoot the ball. Thsi team has a high IQ and a great feel for each other's strengths and weaknesses. We have two dynamic lead guards with a smart players around them that can stretch the floor. We are very encouraged by what we've seen from our younger guys fighting it out for rotational minutes,” said Coach Arentsen.

The past few seasons for Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran have been really good with a regional and sectional championships coming in 2023-24.

The Silver Stallions finished just 15-18 last season but they were also in a regional title game, losing to Webber Township on the Trojans' home floor.

For head coach Dan Kueper the team will be missing a pair of senior starters with Jayden Bazile and Christian Nollman leaving the building after making things better for the program.

But this season, Coach Kueper has some weapons that will help out with the stiff competition in the top loaded Gateway Metro Conference.

It will start with the three returning starters from last winter.

Six-four senior Landyn Mitchell returns for the Silver Stallions.

Blake Hanke, a 6-1 junior, also is back for CORL.

The other starter is 6-3 sophomore Bradey Diehl.

Joining that group will be some underclassmen.

Jaitlen White, a 5-10 junior, and junior Anderson Engele will also start with 6-5 sophomore Jona ten Voorde and junior 5-11 Alton Davis getting involved off the bench.

“We return five of our top seven players from last years team that fell to Webber in the 1A regional championship game,” said Coach Kueper. “Shooting and size will be the strength of this years club.”

The injury bug will bite programs from time to time and this year it took a big chunk out of the roster for Coach Rob Smith and Central A&M.

Two sophomores who would have likely had their names called in the first game of the 2025-26 season, won't be in uniform because of knee injuries.

Rhett McLain, a 5-10 sophomore who put up senior-like numbers as a freshman last winter, will miss the year with a torn ACL.

His 16.5 p.p.g., 5.9 r.p.g., and 3.5 a.p.g. will be missed as he was an all-league performer in the Central Illinois Conference.

Another important player; 6-foot sophomore Victor Ravelo was a part-time starter for the Raiders (5.3 p.p.g./2.4 r.p.g.) also went under the knife for a torn labrum.

This changes drastically what Coach Smith wanted to do this season in the backcourt.

Favorable news comes from three other players, all juniors, who return with credentials after sophomore productive seasons.

Six-three senior guard Ace Spinner averaged 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds for CAM.

Talon Rhodes, a 5-9 junior guard, added to the offensive attack a season ago with 7.1 p.p.g. while handing out three assists a game.

Six-one junior forward Emett Stenger added to the numbers in 2024-25 with 5.5 points and 4.1 rebounds.

Coach Smith, who has over 200-wins at the school in 13-seasons, will need some others to help out.

Six-six senior Briston Sims looks like he is ready for the varsity games, as he led the JV in scoring.

Juniors wanting to make a mark include 5-9 junior guard Kadyn Higgins, 6-3 sophomore forward Lathyn Pedigo, 6-1 junior forward Dawson Templeton, 5-11 junior forward Max Taylor and 5-10 junior guard Zach Snow.

While the Raiders will be missing two key backcourt players, two others arrived via transfer from nearby Macon Meridian.

Twin brothers Aiden and Griffin Sites were players for the Hawks last season as sophomores.

They're listed as 5-7 junior guards and they should help the Raiders.

Central A&M is the smallest program in the very tough CIC and it showed last season with an 11-19 final mark.

They lost eight very winnable games in 2024-25 and will be trying to do better at closing out victories.

“We need to be able to figure out a way to replace Rhett's scoring and play-making ability in order to take the next step. We have a large talented junior class and a talented sophomore class. We will be very young again. Our schedule is upgraded and we return to the Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Classic,” said Coach Smith. While some teams have jumped up in classifications for the postseason, Macon Meridian and mentor Justin Allen get to drop back down to 1A after a pair of seasons running with the 2A big dawgs.

While some teams have jumped up in classifications for the postseason, Macon Meridian and first year mentor Justin Allen get to drop back down to 1A after a pair of seasons running with the 2A big dawgs.

This is a spot they belong as they have had recent success in the small school tournament.

The Hawks made it to the 2021-22 Carbondale Super-sectional before being ambushed by a very well prepared Steeleville team.

It was the second super-sectional appearance for the program. The first time it was in 2008-09 where Coach Jack Blickensderfer led his club to the state championship with a win over Woodlawn.

Last season, the Hawks didn't last long in the playoffs, losing their opener to Maroa-Forsyth to close the book on an 11-21 season.

Unfortunately for Coach Allen, only two varsity experienced players return for Meridian after three seniors; Brooks Brown, Paul Ralston and Colten Denny left after their senior years.

The two coming back with experience are 6-2 junior Bryce Brown and 6-3 senior Ted Jones.

Coach Allen added six names, all juniors, who are going to be moving into varsity action.

Six-eight junior forward Jaden Doty will bring size to the lineup.

Six-foot center Jonas Henderson, 6-foot forward Grady Stock and 6-2 guard Carter Miller are on the list.

Drew Smithers, a 6-foot junior guard, and 6-foot junior guard Kolton Horn round out the six-pack.

The Hawks will have a couple of sophomores in the convo.

Five-eleven guard Cameron Dean and 6-foot forward Trenton Dowdy will have a shot.

Another factor is the transfer loss of twin brothers 5-7 junior guards Griffin and Aiden Sites to Central A&M.

“We are a young team all around, only returning two players with varsity experience. My staff will be looking to get our first win, as this is all our first season coaching HS basketball on the boys side,” said Coach Allen. “We're looking to re-establish ourselves as a prominent program in the central Illinois area. With a young team and a staff entering their first year at the helm, we are looking to establish a strong foundation to rebuild the program. After graduating five seniors and only returning two players with varsity level experience, there are plenty of roles for this young squad to fill. With the class of '27 having a great year as eighth graders, they look to continue that success at the varsity level. Sophomores Cameron Dean and Trenton Dowdy will contribute right away.”

The Griffins and head coach Cory Clouser won 15-games in 2024-25 and return nearly everyone from that team that fell victim to Hardin Calhoun at the Raymond-Lincolnwood 1A Regional.

They did pick up a postseason win over Bunker Hill in the first round.

With just one senior missing (5-9 guard David Carroll) from last season, Coach Clouser is looking forward to the new challenges this season in both the regular campaign and the state tournament.

Carroll was the second leading scorer for Father McGivney at 12.5 points a game.

Six-three senior Chase Jansen will lead the way for the Griffins after topping all scorers and rebounders a year ago.

Jansen averaged 13.2 points and 5.7 boards a contest as a junior.

Owen Kolesa, a 6-2 senior forward, chipped home 7.5 points per game last winter.

Six-two senior forward/center Aiden Willis added 4.9 p.p.g. and three rebounds a game.

Carson Barone, a 5-10 junior point guard, will help set the table for the Griffins' offense/

Coach Clouser looks to have some bench players that will increase their ability to hang with the top teams in the Metro-East.

Six-foot senior guard Landon Hall got into 24 varsity games as a junior as did 6-2 sophomore Brenden Kayser.

Six-foot sophomore guard Henry Willenborg stepped into 20 games.

Gus Range, a 6-2 junior, and 6-3 sophomore Noah Chleboun gives Father McGivney even more depth.

The Griffins haven't added a bunch of hardware to the basketball trophy case but they took home the championship of the Mulberry Grove Thanksgiving Tournament with wins over Ramsey, Lebanon, South Central and Maryville Christian, topping their Gateway rivals in the title game 49-43.

However the team will need to get away from any long losing streaks like they suffered through a year ago.

“The core of this group has extremely bought into basketball and we have more experience than usual as five players on this team started multiple games last year,” said Coach Clouser. “Our three seniors will play a big part on this team. Our schedule in conference is very tough and our tournaments will test us but it will only make us better.”

Levi Gray, Jayden Huff and Josh Coulby left the Maryville Christian boy's basketball team after graduation and the program also doesn't have former head coach Chad Ambuehl who stepped away.

Gray (10.4 p.p.g.) and Huff (5.8 p.p.g.) were the two top scorers a year ago.

Insert the name Mark Allaria to lead the program as the new head coach.

The former Edwardsville and University of Evansville standout player will have a big job to do in trying to improve on an 8-22 2024-25 season, which was last place in the Gateway Metro Conference.

Six-one junior guard Gavin Ambuehl is the top returning player for the Lions as he started as a sophomore.

Two seniors; 5-9 guard Judah Amsden (2.9 p.p.g.) and 6-1 senior Cade King (2.2 p.p.g.) will start for Coach Allaria.

The mentor mentioned juniors Nate Laughlin (6.1 p.p.g.) and Braden Waymire (2.5 p.p.g.) as potential starters.

Others looking for minutes include sophomores Nolan Hite and Jase Devary, junior Drew Kamadulski and freshman Conner Wuebbles, all of whom are untested.

The Lions lost 16 of their final 18 games in 2024-25, including a first round defeat to Lincolnwood/Morrisonville at the Raymond-Lincolnwood 1A Regional.

A new year and a new coach at Okaw Valley as Colby Rothrock takes command from Kyle Pierce after his predecessor spent two seasons there.

The Timberwolves lost six seniors from last season as they went a solid 20-12 in 2024-25.

That equated to an 8-3 mark in the 12-team Lincoln Prairie Conference.

Okaw Valley won a regional game over Central A&M last February before losing to LPC rival Arcola in the regional semifinals at Central A&M.

The six seniors (Seth Forlines, Parker Spellman, Chase Creviston, Cameron George, Camden Coleman and Grady Sparks) are missing.

Nevertheless, the Timberwolves will suit up for the season with some kids who answered the Jimi Hendrix question heading into 2025-26.

Answering "yes" to the question "are you experienced?" are some players that include their top scorer from last winter.

Six-one senior Braden Montgomery is approaching a scoring record at this school that has only been in existence since 2001-02 when Bethany and Findlay consolidated.

Montgomery is just over 1,100 points in his career and the top mark for the program is 1,517.

A good season should secure the record by February.

Tucker Montgomery, also a 6-1 senior and twin brother, is also a returning starter.

Senior guard 5-11 Brady McQuilling and 6-3 senior forward Wyatt Hildebrandt represent a bunch of varsity minutes from last winter.

Five-ten sophomore Logan Sarver is part of a 10th grade group that could make Okaw Valley a dangerous squad with a deep bench.

Kobe Drake-Corrington, a 6-1 sophomore, is part of that list as is 5-8 guard Tanner Lofland.

Five-eleven Ethan Tice is another sophomore on the list.

Three of our four seniors have played varsity now several years and will be huge for us this year. McQuilling will step in to a more advanced role this year as well,” said Coach Rothrock. “We also have a good sophomore class that has any number of 4-6 players that could contribute this year.”

The Redskins program isn't immune from the roller coaster ride that is 1A sports.

After a 27-7 season in 2022-23, Nokomis fell just shy of the .500 mark with identical 16-17 finishes the past two seasons.

Three seniors from last year said goodbye to the program with Ian Keller, Drake Taylor and Atticus Bertolino leaving after graduation.

This club had too many single-digit losses (five) that could have been stored in the win column.

But experience can help teams become more triumphant in close contests, especially on the road.

Coach DeWerff has three returning athletes that started last winter and that bodes well for the squad.

Six-one Kannon Jonas is a junior guard for the Redskins and he will have help in the backcourt with 5-10 junior Carter Wexstten.

Six-two junior forward Konnor Reynolds is the third player with starting experience coming into 2025-26.

Three of the returning players from last season are seniors.

Five-eleven guard Blain Goodwin and 6-2 guard Glavine Himes started some games a year ago as did 6-foot guard Kadynn Petty and 6-3 forward Colby Wilson.

It looks like Coach DeWerff will have some bench strength this season.

Six-one sophomore Luke Eisenbarth is in the picture as is 6-2 junior Halen Barnes and 6-foot senior Daryl Evans.

“Jonas, Wexstten and Reynolds all started last year gaining valuable experience as sophomores. They really improved as the year went along last season and into this past summer. We're going to need consistency, especially on the offensive end, from them night in and night out. We're not really big, but have athleticism, quickness, and shooting,” said Coach DeWerff. “Himes, who started a few games last year, looked really good offensively during summer ball. If he can lock in on the defensive side of the ball and take care of the ball he'll surprise some people as he is probably our best natural scorer. Goodwin and Petty bring some stability on both sides of the floor as guards. Wilson and Eisenbarth are going to have the opportunity to take on a starting spot at the forward position. They're not overly big but each has their strengths. It'll be interesting to see who steps in and earns the spot.”

It's been a nice run for the folks in and around the Tuscola Warriors' basketball program since head coach Justin Bozarth arrived in 2017-18.

If they can manage to win another regional championship this coming February, it will be the fifth in succession.

Bozarth is and outstanding 182-67 in his nine years, which includes 116-27 in the past four seasons.

The 2022-23 team finished third in the state but three other trips to the sectionals were nearly just as successful.

Twice in sectional games the Warriors were defeated by buzzer-beating shots, both at Effingham St. Anthony.

One by an estimated 75-foot shot by Macon Meridian's Graham Meisenhelter in the 2021-22 sectional championship game in double-overtime.

The other one was a sectional semifinal where Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran's Jayden Bazile hit a 3-pointer to end the Warriors season.

Last winter Tuscola took a 28-21 halftime lead against St. Anthony in the sectional title game at Red Hill, only to be held to just 12 second half points in a 54-40 loss to end the campaign at 29-7.

The good news this season is that St. Anthony was bumped up to 2A for 2025-26 and that means Coach Bozarth won't have to play them or play on their gym floor in February or March.

The bad news is that there are missing pieces from the roster.

Senior point-guard and three-year starter Kam Sweetnam is no longer running the offense for Tuscola after graduating in the spring.

Seven other seniors are long gone, which made for for quite a springtime parade out the door.

Sawyer Woodard, Kade Wilcox, Andrew Spillman, Parker James, Karson Jeffers, Zack Rennels and Aiden Devlin put down the uniforms.

However a pair of starters from last season return and they will get some new help from others.

Six-two senior guard Logan Kurtz was vital to the offense last season and will assume more of a point-guard role this season without Sweetnam in the lineup.

In the middle 6-6 senior Caiden Russo returns for the Warriors.

Those two kids have the most experience heading into the season.

Coach Bozarth will have 6-3 senior forward Kaedan Chenoweth and 6-foot junior guard Connor Musgrave again as both of them were key players off of the bench last winter.

Two others; and 6-foot forward Evan Vearil and 5-11 senior guard Dylan Graves have waited for their chances and will also look to move up into the lineup.

After the original six, there are two seniors; 5-10 senior guard Chase Nixon and 6-3 forward Ryker Gough.

Juniors Kale Wilcox, a 6-3 forward, and 6-1 forward Jon Pettry will have company on the bench with four sophomores.

Six-three forward Cale Wallace, 6-1 forward Brix Smith, 5-9 guard Tanner Block and 5-10 guard Myles McKinnie round out a potentially deep reserve list.

“We graduated a great group of seniors but will return four guys with significant varsity experience. Kurtz and Russo started all last year and Logan has been a mainstay in the line up since his sophomore year. Chenoweth started several games for us last year and Connor Musgrave received a ton of varsity experience in 24-25. We'll have pretty good size this year for Class 1A and need to use our size to our advantage on the defensive end and in the rebound battles. Kurtz will lead us on the offensive end but our balance in the scoring department should be a benefit for us,” said Coach Bozarth.

Not too often will head coach Dennis Rueter and his Waterloo Gibault Hawks head into a basketball season coming off of a sub .500 mark from the previous year.

But that's is happening this season.

Gibault, who faces as tough of a schedule as any 1A team in southern Illinois, slumped to 8-23 last winter.

It was only the 11th time in his 43-year tenure at the school that Coach Rueter had a club that lost more than it won.

Coming off of consecutive years where they won the state title and then reached a sectional championship game, the Hawks suffered through an eight-game losing skid during the meat and potatoes of the season and then they dropped 7-of-8 games to close out the year.

A loss to eventual regional champion Waltonville ended the misery.

But Gibault has some athletes returning with experience, including some underclassmen who showed that future success lies ahead.

Starting with six seniors who left after last winter the Hawks will look slightly different in 2025-26.

Ryan Biffar was the leading scorer for Gibault as the senior paced the team with 12.3 points per game.

Senior Payton Schaefer has also left the program after a 7.9 p.p.g. and 6.7 r.p.g. averages.

The other names of the departed are Michael Wessel (2.6 p.p.g.), Kyle Toenjes, Ty Frierdich (1.8 p.p.g.) and Grady Frierdich.

Jack Holston, a 5-10 junior guard, averaged 9.9 points a game for the Hawks as a sophomore.

Colby Kinchloe, a 5-9 sophomore, averaged 6.9 points and averaged 2.2 assists per game.

Coach Rueter will turn to some other returning players.

Dante Gianino, a 6-2 sophomore, played in about half of the varsity games last year.

Five-ten junior Nolan Snell, 5-10 junior Oscar Gedris, and 6-1 junior Kole Schilling are on the roster and potential starters.

Also 6-1 junior Evan Braun and 5-11 junior Jake Kipping will be in the running for playing time along with sophomore 6-1 Evan Niebrugge.

“Our team will be a young team but a group of players that we believe have talent that hopefully will develop throughout the season. We hope to be competitive and continue to work hard and improve during the season to position ourselves to be a tough out in the postseason. We hope to give ourselves a shot to get back to a regional final and go from there,” said Coach Rueter. “Colby Kinchloe and Jack Holston will be expected to play considerable minutes and to carry a good amount of the scoring load.”

St. Joseph-Ogden and its head coach Kiel Duval fell just short of adding the fourth consecutive regional championship to the program.

The Spartans lost to Warrensburg-Latham in the title game at Macon Meridian, closing out the 21-9 season.

Ironically SJO finished second in its two regular season tournaments.

They lost to state-ranked 1A Pecatonica in the title game of the State Farm Classic in Bloomington and fell short in the championship contest of their own SJO Classic to Kankakee Bishop McNamara.

A nine-game winning streak to begin the second half of the season led to a pretty high seed in their sub-sectional.

Three seniors (Coy Taylor , Tanner Siems, Collin Thoney) are gone but Coach Duval has kids back that were part of the 21-wins.

Five-ten senior guard Ryker Lockhart was a contributor of the offense last winter with 7.1 points and 2.5 assists as a junior.

Coach Duval is hoping for improvement from Lockhart and the rest of the squad.

Six-three senior forward Parker Fitch is another of the players from last winter with a 9.8 points a night average.

Those two are the most experienced of the Spartans heading to the early season tournament at home starting Monday.

The new ones coming up will earn their way into the starting lineup.

All bring something to the floor that will help the Spartans.

Kodey Mckinney, a 5-10 senior guard, will move into a starting role for SJO.

Forward Nolan Franzen, a 6-3 junior, is also in the starting lineup.

Five-eleven senior guard Asher Pruemer will make it a potentially crowded backcourt as will 5-11 senior guard Tim Blackburn-Kelley.

Coach Duval will also count on Tyler Hess, a 6-3 junior guard.

“This team will need to recognize their strengths early in the season. The defensive side of the ball should be a huge advantage for us because of quickness and athleticism. We have really boosted our schedule this year - so these guys will have to grow up very quickly for us to be good. Balanced scoring will be needed. We will also need to find guys that can rebound at a high level because we lost nearly all of our rebounding from last year,” said Coach Duval.

In the preseason he mentioned three seniors; 6-4 forward Coleton Langendorf, 6-5 forward Dane Eisenmenger and 5-9 guard Brayden Henry.

“We are a senior heavy team this year that returns a lot from a team that won 24 games last year. We should be very competitive,” said Coach Franks.