11/22/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - When you go to a game this season in the Midland Trail Conference, you will need to pick up one of the rosters they hand out because there have been a slew of changes for the teams set to compete in 2025-26.

Apparently the transfer portal (joking) was wide open in this part of the Deep South.

Last season two of the teams (Waltonville and Webber) battled each other and split the league's top honors.

Head coach Anthony Lowery's Spartans won the conference tournament championship, beating the Trojans in the finale on their home court.

Webber turned the tables in the rematch two weeks later for Coach Jaxon Helm.

Both clubs won regional championships and both dropped first round sectional games.

Those losses were to the eventual super-sectional qualifiers Effingham St. Anthony and Mounds Meridian.

Two of the best players in the league will lead their teams again in 2025-26.

Gage Peterson of Waltonville and Nathaniel Marlow of Webber Township, which translates into great expectations for both programs to secure more postseason hardware.

Woodlawn was going to have another good team this season but they will be much improved with a couple of transfers into the school, one each from the Waltonville and Webber for Coach Luke Cooper.

When you start talking about the rest of the MTC, there is a major coaching change with Cisne hiring a new coach.

Collin Klingler takes over the spot previously held by Kevin Bowen.

The Runnin' Lions faded fast last season after their top player was injured and the team limped home for a share of last place in the standings with the other Wayne County squad.

Wayne City and head coach Jake Talbert have some exciting news with their long-time holiday tournament switching from a pre-Christmas event to an after-Christmas tournament.

With issues over the years attracting teams to play during finals week, the switch was made and the 72nd annual tournament will be played December 27-30, 2026.

The Indians and Lions have some talent coming back to try and scale the MTC mountain.

Red Hill and head coach Bryan Havill would also like to move up.

The Salukis finished fourth in the conference at 5-3 and nearly reached the .500 mark overall.

Four returning senior starters and some promising youngsters could turn things around in the western part of Lawrence County.

Grayville sent away some seniors but two top starters return for Coach Travis Thompson.

Sandoval and head coach Don Shaffer will look to rebuild with just one returning starter and an inexperience roster.

The Patoka/Odin cooperative continues to work but they, too, will have a new coach.

Coach Joe Eddy stepped down and moved down to the junior high level to make a difference in the youngsters basketball progression.

Former Patoka player Dylan Back, an assistant for Coach Eddy, takes over the Warriors' program for 2025-26.

If you project anyone but a “W” winning the conference this season, a fool and his money are soon parted.

Coach Anthony Lowery and his Waltonville Spartans have been ever so close to get over the hump in the IHSA postseason.

His club in the past two seasons have won regional championship games only to be vanquished in the sectional semifinals.

In both cases, they ran into talented Mounds Meridian teams that ended the dream seasons.

Last year the Spartans had a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter against the Bobcats, only to falter late in a 54-51 loss to close the 2024-25 season at 28-5.

If you examine the Waltonville resume from a year ago, it was quite impressive.

The Spartans won their first 17-games, which included a trio of tournament championships (Christopher Thanksgiving, Sesser-Valier Holiday, Midland Trail Conference) before losing to Class 3A teams Marion and Centralia on consecutive days.

Although they lost big to the Wildcats, they held there own with the Orphans at the Pinckneyville Showcase Shootout, before dropping a 49-45 decision.

The other two defeats came against conference rival and regional winner Webber Township and a loaded 2A Carlyle club.

Waltonville will have nearly all of the important pieces returning from last season with one notable exception.

Kyle Cooper, their 5-11 point guard from the last three seasons, transferred to nearby rival Woodlawn over the summer.

He will play for his older brother Luke Cooper as will automatically make the Cardinals better for 2025-26.

Waltonville will still be good, no question, with everyone else returning.

Gage Peterson, a 6-6 forward who will now be a four-year starter, returns will a legit shot at scoring 2,000-career points and becoming the program's all-time leading scorer.

At 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as a junior, he will likely improve on those numbers this winter.

The other returning starter with numerical credentials is Jagger Mayville, a 6-5 junior forward.

He was the third Waltonville starter with a double-digit scoring average (10.7 p.p.g) while being second to Peterson on the boards with 4.4 per outing.

Five-eleven junior guard Witten Devor is back for the Spartans as he returns after averaging eight points and a couple of rebounds a game for Coach Lowery.

Senior Riley Stewart, a 6-1 guard, added about four points a game as a junior.

Coach Lowery will need some reserves from last year to step into the spotlight this season

Five-eleven senior guards Weston Rose and Brendan Klingler return after getting into double-figure varsity games as juniors.

Junior Carter Stewart, a 5-10 guard, and 6-2 junior forward Aiden Wilson will also have the opportunity to move into more minutes.

Brighym Bequette, a 5-10 junior guard, transfers in from Woodlawn and should help out.

The non-conference schedule is absolutely stacked as the Spartans will travel to six Saturday shootouts at Marion, Carbondale, Highland, Pinckneyville, Benton and Riverton in an attempt to get the Spartans prepared for a deeper trip into the postseason.

“We have a lot of experience returning this year with Peterson, Mayville, Devor, and Stewart playing a lot of minutes last year,” said Coach Lowery. “But with the improvement of Rose, Klingler, and Stewart plus the addition of Bequette, our guard depth will be a strength. We also have a lot of versatility with our bigs in Peterson, Stewart, and Mayville who all have the ability to step out to the perimeter and handle the ball. Wilson will help with front court depth as he continues to improve as well.”

It was an interesting past off-season for Coach Luke Cooper and his Woodlawn Cardinals.

A couple of key transfers come into the program and a long time successful head coach returns to Jefferson County to help out the program as an assistant.

So for the 2025-26 season, the Cardinals look like they have the roster to get back to winning regionals, which would be the first one since 2019-20.

Coming off of a season that ended about as poorly as you could think of, Woodlawn looks to take the next step after a 19-13 season in 2024-25.

The Cardinals were blown out of the gym in a 71-42 shellacking at the hands of Christopher in the semifinals of the 1A Christopher Regional.

The 2024-25 season started out pretty well but ended with a large thud.

Woodlawn lost its final four regular season games and, after a first round regional win, were sent packing by the Bearcats.

The best possible news for Coach Cooper, and his new assistant coach Rob Flanagan, is that nearly everyone who suited up a year ago will return this winter.

The seniors that return are 6-5 forward Baylor Rollie and 5-10 senior guard Logan Heater.

Luke McKay, a 6-3 junior guard/forward and younger brother of ABV 2019-20 “Player of the Year” Blake McKay, showed last season that he belonged in the same sentence.

The other junior will also be important; 6-5 forward Tyson Frick.

Sophomores 6-1 Ian Bennett and 6-3 Tucker Downes will move into the playing time picture.

But two key transfers will have the biggest impact on the 2025-26 season.

Kyle Cooper, a 5-11 senior guard and ABV 1A first team all-south selection a year ago, moved a few miles north from Waltonville to play for his brother.

He averaged over 17-points a game last season and is nearing 2K in career points.

His presence, leadership and scoring ability will be welcomed.

Kylan Moser, a 6-4 senior who was a starter for MTC conference regional champ Webber Township, will add more talent to an already beaming roster of talent.

Frick, McKay and Rollie all have a shot at reaching 1K career points.

“This year's Woodlawn team will be a veteran team with a lot of length. We will have multiple scoring options this season as we return our two leading scores from last year,” said Coach Cooper. “This year's team should be able to play 7-8 guys without skipping a beat. We should be able to put together a pretty well-rounded ball club this season.“

As the 2025-26 begins in earnest in November, a lot of eyes will be on the kid that wears #31 for Webber Township.

His name is Nathaniel Marlow and he is on the cusp of a milestone that few players in the history of high school basketball in Illinois have ever accomplished.

Marlow, a 6-3 senior and now two-time ABV 1A “Player of the Year” and first team Associated Press all-state player, returns as a real threat of reaching the 3,000-point club.

Marlow ended last season with 2,188 career points. Currently that total ranks him at #92 all-time, right between two legends from Lawrenceville; Jay Shidler with 2,183 and Doug Novsek at 2,193.

With an entire season remaining he could reach that 3K plateau, which would put him in unique company.

Only six players in IHSA boy's basketball history have ever reached 3,000 and none since current Duke University head coach Jon Scheyer scored 3,034 in his four seasons at Glenbrook North back in 2006.

I'm sure if you asked him, winning another regional and advancing farther in the state tournament would be much nicer than scoring more points.

“Nathaniel Marlow will be approaching many points this season for his career. Who knows what that number can get to but it's something I'm sure a lot of people will be interested in,” said Coach Helm, who also played at Webber Township.

The Trojans in the past two seasons have won regional championships only to drop decisions in the first round of the sectional.

Two years ago it was Arcola, last year it was Effingham St. Anthony.

Five of the six defeats last winter came from teams with over 20-wins and two of them won 30.

Fast forwarding to 2025-26 this team, led by head coach Jaxon Helm, might have the best shot of advancing to a sectional final.

Marlow will have some good teammates with experience returning from the 27-6 finish a season ago.

Six-foot senior guard Waylon Jones, 5-11 sophomore Bryden Dalby and 6-2 sophomore Jacob Marlow all started games for the Trojans a season ago.

Also last winter there was a player who missed the season, 5-11 senior Carter Bain, who is returning after getting hurt in the first game of the season.

He was a starter for Coach Helm as a sophomore and should play an important role for Webber Township in 2025-26.

Five-eleven senior Grayson Fairchild is another returning regular who played noteworthy minutes as a junior.

Coach Helm added junior Colter Stone, a 5-11 junior, who will add depth.

“Our team will be a little different this year with returning experience which we haven't had for a couple of years now. Hopefully we put that experience to good use and have a great season,” said Coach Helm, who has a two-season record of 57-10.

Red Hill and head coach Bryan Havill head into a season where they're looking to get back over the .500 mark, a level they haven't reached since the 2018-19 season.

Since that 22-10 campaign, the Salukis were 42-114 with the best finish coming last winter.

Red Hill ended up 14-17 last year but a pretty good 5-3 in the MTC.

They're also a member of the Little Okaw Valley Conference that has just four teams.

The Salukis tied for that league crown.

Included in the wins was a couple of conquests in taking home the consolation championship of the MTC tournament.

Three of its Midland Trail victories came early in the season on the road but the end part of the schedule resulted in five-consecutive defeats, culminating in a 76-75 loss to Grayville at home in the opener of the Webber Township Regional that ended the season.

While other programs in the state suffered varying degrees of graduation losses, Coach Havill had zero 12th graders last season.

This translates into somoe one with experience returning at all spots on the floor for 2025-26.

The top scorer from last season was Ozzy Ash, a 5-11 senior guard, who has his sights set on the school's all-time scoring mark this winter.

Ash will begin his fourth year as a starter at the brutally tough Lawrence County Capital Classic just 335-points shy of the mark of 1,813 held by former Saluki standout Brandon Christy, a 2004 grad.

Five-ten senior guard Avery Arbuckle is also a returning and he has some scoring goals as well.

Arbuckle has 737 career points heading into the campaign and is also a four-year starter.

Having a veteran backcourt will be helpful for Red Hill as they look for an improved finished.

Abram Clark, a 6-4 senior, gives the Saluki some legitimate size in the frontcourt.

Clark had a severe foot and ankle injury in February on 2025 but he is on the mend.

Elijah Stitt, a 6-2 senior, is another starter returning who is a swing guard/forward type and gives Red Hill another scoring option.

The fifth starter from last season was 6-2 junior Marcus Davis.

Those five worked well at times last winter and they should all be improved.

According to Coach Havill, his club has more depth than any that he has had in his 24-years at his alma mater.

Senior 5-11 Brody Wattles is part of the returning group along with 6-foot junior Levi McCullough.

A trio of sophomores; 6-2 Baron Young, 6-3 Colby Crutchfield, 5-8 Braden Carie and 6-1 Ross Moore will provide talent off of the pine.

“We are returning everyone from last season. We expect to have a good season. The goal is to win 20-games and compete for a regional. Our conference will be very strong again this year,” said Coach Havill. “This team has the most depth I've had in my 24-years hear at Red Hill.

Four seniors graduated last season for Wayne City and head coach Jake Talbert from a club that managed just an 7-23 mark and a quick departure from the postseason.

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

James Walker, a 5-10 senior guard, averaged 20.3 points and 3.5 assists a game as a junior, where he made fist team all-MTC and all-tournament teams at all three of their regular season tourneys.

Six-two senior Javen Loker is back for the Indians (5.4 p.p.g.) as is 6-3 junior forward Rhyver Tibbs who posted 7.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest as a sophomore.

Ladnis Musgrave, a 5-7 junior guard, added 4.9 p.p.g.

Others who Coach Talbert is counting on are juniors and sophomores.

Six-foot junior forward Evan Keen, 6-foot junior guard Sam Braddock, and 5-8 junior guard Kayne Gregory.

A couple of sophomores; 6-3 forward Cole Tucker and 6-1 guard Peyton Harrison will likely make a mark this winter.

With just a 15-47 record the last two seasons, Wayne City is looking for some changes in fortune.

"We have struggled to win the past two years. That has forced us to reevaluate our program, identify our strengths and weaknesses, and then rebuild around the traits that can make us successful. Obviously, the MTC will be tough this season, but we look forward to competing at a high level like we think we can," said Coach Talbert.

Grayville was another of the teams that had a “when it rains, it pours” finish to its 2024-25 year.

The Bison produced some pretty good outings early in the season but the second half wasn't nearly as strong.

Coach Travis Thompson's club had a few good early wins and flirted with a winning finish of the season before an extended losing skid dropped Grayville down to a 13-20 ending.

They lost nine of their final 10 regular season contests before topping Red Hill in the first round of the regional.

They became a 69-58 regional semifinal victim to eventual winner Webber Township on the Trojans home floor.

Two of Coach Thompson's starters from a year ago return.

Six-five senior Jake Hosman is back.

He has 1,355-points heading into 2025-26 and, with continued success, he could pass former Bison standout Josh Bell to become the school's all-time leading scorer.

Bell, a 2002 graduate, finished his career with 1,989-points.

Hosman averaged 16.3 points a game as a junior, second to Zach Leavens' 21.7.

Leavens, along with senior teammates Owen Funkhouser and Canyon Neeley, graduated in the spring.

Ian Kleinschmidt, a 5-11 junior, is another of the starters back for Grayville.

He contributed 8.5 points a game as a sophomore.

Those two are the mainstays of the 2025-26 team and they will need some help from some others.

Coach Thompson will turn to some sophomores to begin the season.

Five-eleven Zarian Cheadle and 6-1 Daniel Smith played as freshmen and will get more minutes.

Santiago Ramirez, a 5-11 senior, and 6-foot junior Zeke Colyer.

“Losing leading scorer in Zach Leavens to graduation, Jake will get his points, and it is going to be the additional scorers that determine how good we become,” said Coach Thompson. “The expectation is Ian, Zarian and Daniel will take big step forward with their offensive games.”

Not much of last season's total production and minutes for the Sandoval Blackhawks basketball program are still in uniform for 2025-26.

Graduation took four starters from Coach Don Shaffer's team that, unlike some others in the MTC, had a better second half of the season.

The Blackhawks, following a play-in game loss at the annual MTC tournament in January, Sandoval won five games in a row and 6-of-7 contests to finish the regular season.

They were no match for eventual regional champion Dieterich in the first round of the postseason and ended up 12-16 overall and 2-7 in the league.

There were a couple of highlights, namely winning a 71-69 3OT contest at Wayne City during the holiday tournament and they finished second in the Elverado Thanksgiving Tournament.

Four seniors from last season's roster; Drew Gore, Jeron Andrews, Trayton Adams and Quentin Heinzmann, are gone from the squad via cap and gown.

So Coach Shaffer and Company will start the season with just two kids who have experience.

Six-five senior forward Josh Gordan and 5-11 senior guard Cameron Reynolds were both part of the Sandoval game plan a year ago and will be the focal point for the Blackhawks in 2025-26.

Others from the 2024-25 roster returning are 5-9 seniors Preston Brown and Calvin Melton.

Juniors return from list are 5-10 Austin Hoffman, 5-9 Jaxon Dykstra, 5-10 Jaden Williams and 6-foot Jakobe Arnold.

One freshman from last season; 5-10 Owen Caldwell, is back.

Coach Shaffer added that he has eight incoming freshmen who will be seeking playing time.

“Hopefully we can stay away from injuries & have a great season. With this very young team our goals are still very high as always. We have high expectations for this upcoming season to see how it unfolds,” said Coach Shaffer. “We definitely will be a young squad this season but the have the desire & attitude to compete. With all guards I’m anxiously waiting on development to see what lies ahead on this team. We are mostly a sophomore/junior team with eight freshmen coming aboard so it will be an interesting year. Gordan and Reynolds are the leaders of this team that will hold a ton of responsibility moving forward. I’m definitely looking forward to this season to see what we can accomplish.”

Patoka/Odin has a new head coach as former player Dylan Back takes over from Joe Eddy and will inherit a 9-18 team that didn't post a victory over a winning team last winter.

The Warriors lost to Altamont in the opener of the South Central Regional to Altamont to end the year.

Coach Back will need to replace five seniors but a key underclassman returns after being injured.

The seniors gone are Landon Robb, Reed Jourdan, Tyler Huffman, Jace Bodin and Camden Parrish.

Six-three junior Brady Cain has recovered from a pair of knee injuries and will be back in uniform in 2025-26.

Lincoln Roberts, a 5-11 senior, is back with a shot at reaching 1,000-points for his career with a good 2025-26.

Coach Back also mentioned 6-foot Kody Burks and 5-11 Brady Haines as ones to watch.

Seniors Ben Spencer and Easton Johnson are hold overs from last season's roster.

“All of my players are important, but we will be a younger squad that has a lot of upward potential as long as we stay healthy. We have battled injuries the past few years,” said Coach Back, who has been an assistant to Coach Eddy before moving up this season.

It is a new beginning for the Cisne Runnin' Lions as the 2025-26 campaign will feature a new head coach who is familiar with the program and some new pieces to the puzzle coming off of a dismal season.

Cisne from December 16th to February 24th, the Lions won one game, a 45-37 triumph over Patoka/Odin on January 31th.

That added up to a 1-18 for that stretch, 6-22 overall.

They hung with Edwards County before dropping out of the state tournament with a 55-52 defeat in the first round of the Webber Township Regional.

Four seniors are missing from last season and new head coach Collin Klingler takes on the task of rebuilding the Lions' program.

Cooper Bowen, who tore his ACL during the Wayne City Holiday Tournament last December, has graduated along with classmates Kayden Dagg, Ryan Atwood and Ashton Stine.

Four very important missing players as Cisne will turn to underclassmen last winter to step into new roles.

The best news of the situation is that Coach Klingler will have kids to work with in 2025-26.

Zach Dagg, a 6-foot junior, played significant minutes as a sophomore for Cisne.

Another junior; 6-1 Will Coin also got into action last winter.

Tucker Bowen, a 5-11 sophomore, got introduced to varsity action last winter after his brother Cooper was injured.

Coach Klingler thinks that this trio will be will move forward in the maturation process.

Senior Hagen Howard didn't play as a junior but is returning for Cisne.

According to Coach Klingler, Howard and Bowen will be backcourt mates with both handling leadership duties on the floor.

Six-foot senior Brennon Williams will also see his PT increased this season.

Add the names Brody Bowles, a 6-foot senior, 6-1 senior Quentin Brooker, and Ben Spitzner to the list of kids wanting time on the varsity floor.

Erick Atwood, a 5-7 sophomore, also has moved up the ladder after a good summer.

Cisne will have a large freshman group coming into the program were part of a successful grade school team in 2024-25.

Coach K mentioned Trey Bullard and Brody Hutchcraft who are a pair of ninth graders that could find themselves playing important roles on the club.

Add the names Will Carson, Brock Brooker, Nate Spitzner, and Tyler Baker to the roster from the freshman class who will add depth to the program for both varsity and junior varsity.

“Coming off a six-win season last year, and a new coach coming in I feel it is most important to regain that culture and winning mentality back into the program. It won't be an overnight fix, but I feel like we have a great group of guys who put in the work this summer and are poised to break out and have a good season. The goal is to continue that mindset and get Cisne back to its winning traditions,” said Coach Klingler, a 2016 graduate who played for former head coach Kevin Bowen at Cisne.