12/01/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - Even the best teams will throw in a 'clunker' sometimes and usually it is in an inappropriate time.

Last season Tuscola picked a really bad time to have an off game.

During the semifinals of the 1A state finals, the Warriors played their worst game of the season.

Coach Justin Bozarth's club hit just 8-of-40 field goal attempts in its 40-27 loss to Scales Mound at Champaign last March.

Tuscola responded with a third place win over Bloomington Cornerstone Christian, 69-46 to close the book on a 31-7 season.

With six of their top eight players returning the Warriors are a safe bet for more hardware in 2023-24.

First team ABV 1A All-South pick 1. 2nd Team All State Jordan Quinn returns.

The 6-4 senior had a fantastic junior season and looks to pick right up where he left off in 2022-23.

Josiah Hortin, a 5-10 senior guard, was also part of the long postseason run a year ago as was backcourt mate Kam Sweetnam, a 5-9 junior.

Six-senior Jackson Barrett also was part of the starting rotation.

Last season 6-2 senior Chris Boyd was a big part of the final four run and will be missed but the others down list look to move up.

Coach Bozarth mentioned Parker James, a 6-3 junior who also started games as a sophomore.

Sawyer Woodard, a 6-5 junior, will also be of use in the frontcourt for the Warriors.

Logan Kurtz, a 5-10 sophomore, got into some games last winter as a freshman.

When the new enrollments came out back in the spring, originally it appeared that Tuscola was going to be bumped up to 2A but they stayed put at 1A, making them a serious contender to get back to Champaign in 2023-24.

If the IHSA keeps the same set up, the Warriors will have to reach the finals via the Carbondale Super-sectional again this season.

Which is 174 miles one way.

“We really like the group of guys we have returning and hope to build on last year's momentum. Our expectations are high because of the work ethic and commitment from our kids. We're a scrappy group that shares the ball well. One area of weakness is our defensive rebounding,” said Coach Bozarth who is 125-54 in heading into his seventh season in charge of the Tuscola program.

The Arcola Purple Riders and head coach Greg Gisinger should be very optimistic heading into the 2023-24 regular season.

After a putting together a 17-14 season, Arcola returns everyone from the roster a year ago plus they have a junior returning after missing his entire sophomore campaign from an injury.

Following a 1-4 start the season, the Purple Riders improved as the season wore on.

Arcola closed the regular season winning 6-of-8 and added a pair of regional tournament wins before falling to Tuscola in the regional championship contest, 63-46, at Tuscola.

Jackson Miller, a 6-3 senior forward, was all-conference in the Lincoln Prairie as a junior.

Other senior vets who return are Gerardo Alanis, a 6-1 point guard.

Senior guards 5-8 Tyson Lewis and 5-8 Ryan Lindstrom give Coach Gisinger some experience in the backcourt.

Braden Phillips, a 6-4 junior forward, will add to the size on the floor and another guard, 5-11 junior Tanner Thomas, returns after an all-conference season as a freshman and missing 2022-23.

Coach G also mentioned an incoming freshman; 5-9 guard Brody Phillips.

“We have everyone back from a 17 win team. We have a chance to have our best team since I have been here, but we will see,” said Coach Gisinger.

This independent school is forced, for the most part, to tackle much larger schools and very successful programs in and around the area along with some brutal road trips needed to fill up a schedule.

Coach Cody Arentsen, who prepped at Mater Dei, led his club to a 15-17 record last winter, including a loss to crosstown rival Breese Central, 51-37 in the title game at the Nashville Regional.

How difficult was the gauntlet of teams they collided with last winter?

The clubs they tangled with won nearly 64 percent of their games last season and 15 of the 32 opponents topped 20-wins.

Only six of the team sported below .500 marks and nine of the squads won regional championships.

Five seniors are missing from last season's squad.

Connor Loepker, Seth Winkeler, Dalton Marcus, Jacob Hustedde and Cole Peppenhorst.

That leaves some job openings.

Drake Wagner, a 6-2 senior guard, averaged 10.8 points a game as a junior.

He was a sharpshooter as he made 44 percent of his shots from the 3-point line.

Five-eleven senior Nick Lampe added 8.8 points a game in scoring for the Knights last winter and will run the show again for Coach Arentsen.

Six-three senior Garrick Winkeler and 6-4 junior Elliott Rakers returns along with 6-0 senior Luke Haake.

Coach Arentsen has some juniors ready.

Six-two Luke Brefeld, 6-4 junior Jared Hemker, 6-0 Carter Murphy and 6-0 Chase Jansen will provide some minutes.

One player; 6-1 sophomore Gavin Peppenhorst, tore his ACL in July and will miss the season.

“With our backcourt returning, looking forward to seeing their jump on the court and with their leadership,” said Coach Arentsen. “Winkeler is one of the toughest kids around and will be our vocal leader. We are looking forward to seeing our junior class take the jump to becoming reliable varsity contributors.”

However Altamont spoiled the potential title celebration with a 59-37 triumph.

While the Indians went on to their own sectional, the Redskins ended up their splendid season at 27-7.

The 27-victories tied for third most in the program's long and successful history (over 1,600-wins).

Coach DeWerff lost a pair of starters to graduation; Elijah Aumann and Ryan Eisenbarth.

Both were key players for a team that begin just 3-3 but finished strong, ending up second at the Vandalia Holiday Tournament and going on an 11-2 run to close the season.

Both of the loses, however, were to Altamont.

This mentor has some kids returning with experience as Coach DeWerff, a Nokomis graduate, enters his fourth season as head coach in his home town.

The players ready to go for 2023-24 include Reece Lohman, a 6-5 senior forward who was a 12.9 points per game scorer and added 6.1 rebounds per outing as a junior.

Ian Keller, a 6-3 junior forward, also posted some good numbers in 2022-23 who was also one of the top defenders for Nokomis.

Kennedy DeWerff, a 6-2 senior guard, improved throughout the season and his role will be more important now.

Two 5-10 senior guards; Mason Stauder and Saint Newman will be backcourt players.

Stauder running the point and Newman being part of what appears to be a strong defensive unit.

Maddux Himes, a 5-10 senior, 6-0 senior Brody Steele and 6-4 junior Drake Taylor look to add to the minutes and depth for Coach DeWerff.

Atticus Bertolino, a 6-3 junior, played at Hillsboro the past two seasons before moving to Nokomis and should be of help.

“We have nine upperclassmen, including 6 seniors, who will be able to contribute. Many of these seniors played a secondary role last year off the bench and are looking forward to having their opportunity to play a primary role as seniors. We have four or five guys who can score in double figures and did so at one time or another last season. We'll just have to figure out who can be that guy consistently,” said Coach DeWerff. “Defense, rebounding, and taking care of the ball will be keys as always. If we can do that we'll have a good year this season.”

Jaxon Boldt, Gavin Hendrix, Trevin Magee, Maddox McElravy are the starters missing from the club that lost to Macon Meridian at the Cumberland 1A Regional.

Bryant Weber was the other senior that graduated and left minutes for Coach Justin Roedl to replace.

The only returning starter for the Pirates is 5-5 senior guard Blake McMechan, who is not only a experience guard but was an honorable mention IFCA all-state football running back this past fall.

Besides McMechan, there are two other kids who earned letters last winter; 6-1 junior Kelby Bierman and 6-0 sophomore Kaleb Bierman.

Five-eleven senior Zack Buescher, 6-5 sophomore Zack Harmon and 6-0 sophomore Grady Jones are also part of the plan.

Some underclassmen for Cumberland will have opportunities.

Three of them are sophomores; 5-8 Kade McMechan, 5-8 Hudson McElravy and 5-5 Reed Miller.

The freshman class will be represented by 5-8 Cameron Roedl, 5-8 Chase Stewart and 6-1 Isaac Venatta.

“We did lose five seniors from our team which we will be looking to replace. I'm excited to see where we go this year as I have a large group of underclassmen looking to make the jump to the varsity level. When we played with pace and effort this summer we were very competitive with everyone we faced. We will be young and inexperienced to start the season but should have overall depth to help us along,” said Coach Roedl.

Macon Meridian head coach Shannon Houser, in a few short months, went from having a team in the Elite Eight playing for a chance to get to the state finals (2021-22) to a young team that struggled to win games (2022-23) and had a long losing skid to begin the year.

The Hawks finished 28-8 after the super-sectional loss to Steeleville and the next season Meridian dropped their first 13-contests and at one juncture of the season were 2-20.

However the team won eight of its final nine games to get to a regional championship game.

Casey-Westfield ended the year for Meridian, 52-46.

Coach Houser has two missing starters; 6-5 Brett Brown and 6-6 Roy Ralson.

But there are kids who have waited their collective turn to play more varsity minutes.

Six-two junior guard Colton Denny along with 6-4 junior forward Paul Ralston and 6-5 junior Brooks Brown were a big part of what happened in the turn around of last season.

Jacob Clapp is a 6-1 senior guard while classmate Cooper Greenwood is also a 6-1 guard who can also play forward.

Two juniors; 6-4 forward Wyatt Weybright and 6-3 guard/forward Lucas Miller give the Hawks some additional height.

Key newbies include 6-2 freshman guard Bryce Brown and a pair of incoming transfers to the program.

Sebastian Hill, a 6-4 senior guard, played at Decatur Unity Christian last season as did 5-9 senior guard Lleyton Miller.

Added up this appears to be a pretty good squad that look to carry on the winning ways of the final weeks of 2022-23.

“All of our players are important this season and our senior leadership will be the key of our success,” said Coach Houser, who must now deal with a 2A postseason after their enrollment increased.

Since that time the Raiders have struggled, winning just five games in two seasons and 4-23 in 2022-23.

A&M lost to regional champ Casey-Westfield at the Cumberland Regional in the first round.

Former head coach Rob Smith, who has 192-wins at Central A&M, takes the helm again and hopes to get the program straightened out.

The Raiders have some kids returning for Smith to work with.

Six-five senior forward Maddix Pain returns along with 6-3 senior guard Gavin Houchins.

Hunter White, a 6-2 senior, and 5-11 senior Drew Damery return as all four of the players have experience coming back and averaged between eight and six points a night, which are numbers that can improve in 2023-24.

Coach Smith also has a pair of senior guards who suffered injuries last year that cause their absence from the 2022-23 campaign.

Five-nine Carter Thomas and 5-8 Hayden Sams were on the DL and were missed.

Kaden Piersall, a 6-1 senior, was also a contributor as a junior.

Others who should be involved are 6-2 senior Paul Brown, 6-1 freshman Ace Spinner, 5-11 freshman Emett Stenger and 5-9 sophomore Jamesly Jesse.

“This group has been through a ton. They have lost three teammates in 4 years to tragedy. They have missed sports and school due to the pandemic. It is our goal to build culture and do things the right way,” said Coach Smith, who has 247 career wins.

The South County co-op between the schools Franklin and Waverly has players returning that appear to be ready for a big season.

Coach Bryon Graven had a club that went 16-16 last winter that dropped a 37-32 decision to Greenfield/Northwestern at the Jacksonville Routt Regional.

Coach Graven has four returning starters from that squad coming back.

Five-ten junior guard Trevor Colwell put up some choice numbers in 2022-23.

He averaged 14.7 points a game for the Vipers and shot well from the arc, the field and the foul line.

Noah Lyons, a 6-0 senior, added 11.1 points per contest last winter while 6-2 junior Clark Nelson added points and rebounds (6.0 and 6.1 per game) while 6-2 Bishop MacDannald added 4.9 points a night.

South County has Gabe Lyons, a 5-10 junior, who earned a letter last season.

The Vipers will have some sophomores ready to step up.

Five-eleven Caden Colwell, 5-10 Chase Doughtery, 5-10 Collin Johnson and 5-8 Owen Paluska will suit up and be ready when the season starts.

One starter from last winter; Thad Bergschneider, will be missed.

“This group is going to be a lot of fun. We were young and relatively inexperienced last year with two sophomores starting who saw limited to no time as freshman. Colwell and Lyons will be three year starters this year, they are returning captains, and are the heart and soul of this team. We will need to replace Thad Bergschneider from last year's group, which will not be easy as he was a "do it all" kind of player with his work ethic and athleticism,” said Coach Graven, who played in the Elite Eight for his father Doug Graven at Auburn in 2002-03. “This group has athleticism, quickness and toughness that South County fans are going to enjoy watching. Our guys will compete hard on every possession, rebound the ball and guard their tails off. This year's group gained a lot of experience last year that we hope will pay off this year. This year has the potential to be a fun year for the South County program, and the Waverly/Franklin communities.”

There wasn't a lot to crow about last season for the Barry Western Wildcats.

The member of both the West Central and Pike County conferences managed just a 4-26 season in 2022-23.

The Wildcats dropped their last 14 contests, including a 51-29 decision to Griggsville-Perry in the first round of the Payson Seymour Regional.

The four victories all came before the new year.

Western beat Liberty early in the season at the Pittsfield Thanksgiving Tournament, Greenview, Sciota West Prairie and White Hall North Greene.

Those four teams were a combined 17-98 for the season.

Four seniors are missing from that group.

Five-nine senior guard Zach Rucker, 6-0 forward Andrew Wilson, 5-9 guard Max Koeller 5-10 forward Blane Miller and 5-11 forward Jaxen White.

A new coach is in place at Western as long time mentor Curtis Stout has been replaced by Reece Dunker.

Dunker has some kids returning to work with heading into a new season.

Two of the returning players were starters last winter and both are juniors.

Six-three junior guard Mason Smith returns along with 6-0 guard Casen Tobias.

Smith topped the team with a 16.4 points per game as a sophomore.

Looking to move up are a couple of seniors and two juniors.

Five-eight senior guard Boston Hall and 5-10 senior guard Luke Weir.

The juniors are 6-1 guard Isaac Coventon and 5-10 guard Dylan Ross.

Those six are the top ones to start with for Coach Dunker.

The rest of the has some size to it.

Conner Fesler, a 6-4 senior forward, and 6-3 senior forward Aaron Vincent have some height that will help out the relatively small roster for Western.

Coach Dunker also mentioned 6-1 senior guard Jedd Abney and 6-0 freshman Orion Bowen.

Everyone in a uniform will have a shot at playing time.

“We're looking to rebound from one of the worst seasons (record-wise) in program history. While we don't return much scoring from last season, we have an interesting pool of guys. Multiple guys took big steps forward this summer and will be ready to play at the varsity level,” said Coach Dunker. “This is arguably the longest and most athletic team Western has had in the last 10 years. What we lack in shot making, we hope we'll be able to make up for in turning opponents over and getting up and down the court.”

However a winning season of 16-15 last winter for then head coach Todd Strong shows improvement.

A new coach from southern Illinois takes over and things should continue move forward.

Cory Clouser, who was an assistant recently at Carterville, takes the reigns of a club that picked up a regional win last season over SIUE Charter before losing to eventual 1A state champion Waterloo Gibault at the Dupo Regional.

All five starters from last season are long gone, leaving jobs open.

Noah Garner, a 6-2 senior forward, and 6-1 senior guard Ryker Keller have some experience from a season ago along with 5-9 junior point guard Drew Kleinheider.

This trio had some starts in 2022-23.

But the underclassmen coming up will be ever so important.

Six-five junior forward Spencer Sundberg and 5-9 junior guard David Carroll were listed by Coach Clouser.

The sophomore class could become a factor for the Griffins.

Nolan Keller, a 6-2 forward, along with 6-3 forward Chase Jansen, and 6-2 forward Isaac Wender are 10th graders who will have to earn minutes.

Ben Sink, a 5-9 sophomore guard, will round out a good sophomore group.

"Our group should be really good defensively. We have size and athleticism and play very hard,” said Coach Clouser. "The kids we have now in the program are starting to buy into a winning culture and are beginning to get really excited about basketball."

Cairo native and former player Jimmy Johnson takes over as the head coach of the Pilots' program that was just 3-28 overall with victories over Dongola, Egyptian and Century.

Senior Jeserich Pilgrim, junior Maceo Childs and junior Mckenlee Pirle have the most experience returning for the program.

Some others that will have roles on the team are senior Domarion Nuniz, senior Kevin Robinson, junior Kamron Jenkins and freshman Lamonquez Vaughn.

“I’m very excited to get a chance to take over the varsity program,” said Coach Johnson, who played at Cairo before graduating in in 1974. “My focus will be on the growth and development of the student-athlete and working within the community to revitalize our once-proud basketball program.”

Okaw Valley has a new head coach in place as Kyle Pierce takes over from Brooks Inman to lead the Timberwolves.

This club lost to Arcola in the semifinals of the Tuscola Regional to end up 17-13 overall.

The Timberwolves won 12 of their final 15 games before the season ended.

So did the prep basketball careers of six senior players.

Senior guards Hudson Ruppert, Brett Lybarger, Evan Waldrop and Hunter Reed along with forwards Trey Hall and Jace Rickey.

Coach Pierce has four players back with some experience, including two starters.

Gibson Dickens, a 5-10 senior guard, and Braden Montgomery, 6-0 sophomore guard, return after starting in 2022-23.

Coach Pierce also mentioned Dylan Miller, a 6-1 senior forward, and Grady Sparks, a 5-10 junior guard as being ones to move up into more minutes.

“We graduated a lot of the minutes and scoring from last season. We'll be counting on several guys to step up that haven't had much varsity time, but we're confident they can greatly contribute by playing within their role,” said Coach Pierce.