11/24/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - If you sat down, pen in hand, and were to write down who you think will be the top teams in the National Trail Conference for 2023-24, you would jot down Altamont and Effingham St. Anthony automatically.

The Indians and Bulldogs have been joined at the hip for the past several seasons as they have met many times in showdowns with conference hardware on the line.

Either regular season of the annual league tournament, the contests have been memorable.

None of the trips to the top for either program have been smooth as the quality of the teams in this conference can be measured by the success against non-league competition.

Last winter the NTC went 138-80 against the world, which is the best winning mark of any 1A conference in the state.

This has been the norm in recent seasons.

St. Anthony and Altamont both won regionals last season and four other schools (Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg, Neoga, North Clay, St. Elmo/Brownstown) won first round regional games.Geography is the arguably the only thing that keeps the National Trail from more postseason titles.

The four overtime loss for Altamont last March probably still stings a bit as Tuscola took care of St. Anthony in the semifinals and then the Tribe to win the marathon sectional title game.

St. Anthony and head coach Cody Rincker are still getting the job done against a brutal non-conference schedule which gets the Bulldogs ready for regional time.

The Northsiders added their 26th regional title to the resume last winter and the program sports 1,701-victories in 95-seasons.

Another postseason run is always on the table.

The other teams in the conference that appear to have a crack at the top two include W/SS who open the season with a Thanksgiving tournament at Cerro Gordo.

Coach Shane Smith has the Hatchets' (love that name) co-op working well together, although some good ones hit the bricks in the spring.

North Clay head coach Josh Zink will be missing the top player in the NTC from a year ago, ABV 1A “Player of the Year” senior Logan Fleener, who graduated in May.

The Cardinals fortunes have have been better since Zink's arrival.

South Central and Coach Blake Doehring won a regional two seasons ago and have consecutive 20+ win seasons in tow.

St. Elmo/Brownstown is another of the co-ops that works as the Eagles and head coach Greg Feezel continue to be competitive in a very difficult league.

CHBC and head coach Tanner Thompson returns some experienced players from a year ago that are looking at having an improved season.

Dieterich is looking for their first NTC championship since 2018 and the Movin' Maroons have some key players returning from a pretty successful season and a transfer into the program should help Coach Brent Bohnhoff.

Neoga head coach Andrew Snow lost a couple of good ones to graduation the ones returning look promising heading into the season.

Head coach John Niebrugge and his Altamont Indians were ever so close to making program history last March.

Hosting a sectional, the Tribe were sitting on a double-digit halftime lead against Tuscola and playing well against a team that had beaten them just a few weeks prior.

Everything pointed to the first sectional title in the school's history.

However Tuscola rallied, forced four overtime sessions and finally wore down the hosts.

The Warriors advanced to the Carbondale Super-sectional with a 72-68 win.

Tuscola went on the crush Mounds Meridian at SIU Arena and finished third in the state finals in 1A while Altamont would think about 'what if'?

The core of the Indians' lineup, representing most of the production from a year ago, have left.

Seniors, seven in number, departed in the spring.

Kienon Eirhart, Mason Robinson, Logan Cornett, Eric Kollmann, Jared Hammer, Wyatt Phillips and Avery Jahraus took 3/4ths of the scoring with them down the graduation aisle.

Jahraus was ABV first team 1A All-South while Robinson was honorable mention.

All played a role in the successful 29-5 regional championship run.

Coach Niebrugge's club won the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament and both the NTC regular season and tournament titles.

The five losses were all to teams with winning marks and two of them (Tuscola, Breese Central) won regional championships.

The seniors who played and helped as freshman on to graduation, were part of a 96-24 four-year run that included a abbreviated Covid19 season.

The main returning player/starter back for Altamont is 6-4 senior forward Dillan Elam, who worked his way into the starting lineup last winter.

Six-two senior Eli Miller will also be of service this season for the Tribe after providing reserve minutes as a junior for what was a deep bench in 2022-23.

Kaidyn Miller, a 6-5 senior forward, gives the Indians even more size on the floor.

Coach Niebrugge will have some others ready to move up.

In limited play last season 6-2 senior Aden McManaway was a big help.

He is coming off of knee surgery but should be ready to go when the season begins.

Five-ten Alec Jahraus is the third of the brothers that have played for Altamont and this coach.

Like his previous siblings on the floor, Jahraus will continue to get better.

Coach Niebrugge also mentioned 5-10 senior guard Kaden Davis who moves up from the junior varsity along with 6-2 sophomore Kade Milleville.

Ben Roedl, a 6-6 junior forward, will add to an already deep bench.

There is one thing that they all have in common; they will play defense and rebound or they won't play.

Coach Niebrugge has 243-wins at Altamont, just four shy of Coach Doug Hill's school mark of 247.

After losing seven letter-winning seniors from a 29-win team, this 2023-24 team is looking to prove all doubters that Altamont is rebuilding. We lost over 75 percent of our scoring from last year and the only returner with significant playing is Elam. We aren’t supposed to be as good as we were last year, but this team went 18-1 in junior varsity last year. They have had success all the way back to junior high. We are not as deep as we were a year ago, usually going nine or 10 deep each game, but our top six can play with anyone. There are many interchangeable parts and each player can guard the 1-5 positions. We may be a better shooting team than a year ago as we had guys who could really put it on the deck. All five positions will be able to shoot it from anywhere on the floor. Defensively, this group has a great basketball IQ and will be able to disrupt teams and get easy baskets each night. This team is ready to compete for the same championships as last year.”

Head coach Cody Rincker has done such a fantastic job at this school that is sometimes gets overlooked.

But everyone eventually takes notice when they add hardware to the trophy case.

This season the Bulldogs have four returning starters from the 22-13 club that added a regional championship with a win over Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran in the title game of the South Central Regional, beating the state-ranked and higher seeded Silver Stallions, 40-34.

For the second consecutive season, Tuscola ended the Bulldogs' postseason run with a win, 48-45 in the sectional semifinals at Altamont.

Four starters return for Coach Rincker.

A pair of 6-2 seniors return for St. A; forward Max Keonig and forward Collin Westendorf.

A key junior, 6-3 Brock Fearday has been a starter the past two seasons for Coach Rincker.

Six-four junior Ryan Schmidt also started for the Bulldogs last winter and these four returning give this program the experience to once again challenge for all of the trophies this season, especially the postseason.

Six-three junior Brady Hatton and 5-11 sophomore Henry Brent along with 5-11 junior Maddox Wiedman, 6-2 senior Andrew Brandenburger and 5-10 sophomore Aiden Lauritzen should all contribute this season for the Bulldogs.

“The speed of the maturation of our juniors/sophomores will be a big factor in the success of the Bulldogs this season. We have a talented group with a strong desire to compete, but we will need to see that translate to success on the court and that is always a mystery from year to year,” said Coach Rincker who is 223-87 in 10-seasons at St. A.

Logan Fleener, the ABV 1A “Player of the Year”, has graduated along with teammates Alex Boose, Levi Smith, Aiden Hardiek, Matt Sullens and Enoch McCrary.

All will be missed as they were a part of the Cardinals' of the 21-10 season that had a lot of success.

North Clay won the Wayne City Holiday Tournament, second in the Cumberland Thanksgiving Tournament, and third place in the NTC Tournament.

A 62-45 defeat by St. Anthony ended the season in the regional semifinals.

Two main players return for North Clay as both were starters a year ago.

Five-ten senior Ethan Kuenstler and 6-1 sophomore Cody Zimdars return.

Each contributed points a season ago (seven and 10 points a game respectively) as part of a squad that very successful.

Coach Zink will turn to some other kids ready to move up.

Six-five sophomore Carder Walden and 6-0 senior Jessie Weidner will move up to the starting lineup for the Cardinals.

Both were important off of the bench last winter.

Coach Zink added the names Gavin Hosselton, a 6-1 junior, 6-2 freshman Lucas Griffey, 6-0 senior Andrew Casolari and 6-0 sophomore Mason Byers to the list of suitors for varsity minutes.

“We have lost a lot of scoring and experience from last year, but this group is 'hungry' and I love that! We have a young team and hope to gain experience early so we can compete with some of the great teams that area has to offer. Our schedule is once again filled with good teams, so we want to see a lot of growth throughout the season to get in position to create some problems for teams come post season time. With all indications, we believe we can get to that point as we have coach-able kids who are driven to win. We have created a culture of winning here, and this group is committed to keep that standard going. I really like our team," said Coach Zink.

Coach Brent Bohnhoff is looking forward to the 2023-24 as he has a group of players returning from an 18-13 team that was one of the seven clubs that were over .500 in the NTC last season.

Dieterich played 13 games last season against teams that won 20+ games.

The Movin' Maroons won their final six regular season games before a 63-52 loss to North Clay at the loaded South Central Regional ended the year.

Two main scorers from last season return for Dieterich.

Six-two senior guard Caleb Gephart and 6-2 junior Lucas Westendorf return after each averaged 15 points a game.

Look for contributions from 6-0 junior guard Tanner Will, 6-1 junior forward Jaxon Funneman, 6-0 senior forward Luke Wente and 6-4 senior forward John Holste.

Senior guard Landon Keck averaged 14 points a game for Cisne last season before moving to Dieterich.

He should help out immediately.

South Central has been on quite a run with back-to-back 20+ win seasons and a trip to the sectional two years ago.

Coach Blake Doehring has this program going in the right direction and last winter the Cougars had a 10-game win streak during which time they won the Dieterich Holiday Tournament.

They went 21-11 for the year, losing 61-59 to Cisne in the first round of their own regional in February.

Aiden Dodson, a first team ABV 1A All-South pick, graduated along with fellow seniors Anthony Buonaura, Ethan Watwood, Shane Clark and Rahkeim Anderson.

Seniors returning for the Cougars are 5-11 guard Max Magnus and 6-1 forward Jacob Smith.

The junior class makes up the rest of the list.

Six-foot guard Brody Markley, 6-0 guard Kage Hiestand, 5-11 forward Callaway Smith, and 6-1 guard/forward Seth Bergmann.

Other juniors include 6-2 forward Seth Jones, 5-9 guard Evan Hoover and 6-1 forward Lucas Bursott.

“I like our group. Obviously, we have some production to replace from last year's group. We had a very solid summer. If this group can take care of the ball, defend, and rebound every single night, we will have a chance,” said Coach Doehring.

The Neoga Indians' program faced an uphill battle last season against multiple 20+ win teams, including a pair of games against a Tuscola squad the went to the Final Four.

Coach Andrew Snow and his program don't back down from challenges as the schedule featured the normal toughies in the NTC plus some really good teams from around the area.

Neoga lost to Casey-Westfield twice last winter, losing to the Warriors in the second round of the Cumberland 1A Regional to end a 12-21 season.

Gone but not forgotten from that club are seniors Brady Reynolds and Quintin Richards.

Other seniors missing are Ryan Koester, Aiden Helmeuth, Kaden Will, Bryar Hennesay and Malachi Stazak.

But the ones returning have some experience and produced in 2022-23.

Six-three senior Trey Sheehan was a starter for Coach Snow a year ago.

Sheehan averaged 7.9 points a game for the Indians and hit the boards for three rebounds a night.

Coach Snow also mentioned 6-2 junior guard Landon Titus and 6-1 senior guard James Bullock.

Both were starters for Neoga last season and have experience coming into the season.

Six-one junior Gavin Ray moves up to the varsity as will a pair of 5-10 junior guards; Brayden Letterle and Carter Young.

Luke Keller, a 6-4 junior forward, will also get more important minutes this season.

“We have a lot of unproven guys getting opportunities this season. So I wouldn't think we would be getting very high preseason expectations. But I like our group of guys and think we will be able to compete every single game and if we can limit turnovers and shoot the ball well I think we will be able to be up near the top of our conference towards the end of the year,” said Coach Snow.

The Eagles and head coach Greg Feezel won the Mulberry Grove Thanksgiving Tournament and finished third in their own holiday tournament.

SEB won seven-consecutive games and were 14-5 at one point during the season.

Three seniors from that club are missing; Jarrett Pasley, Wyatt Stine and Caleb Campbell.

After winning a first round regional game, the Eagles were dispatched at Nokomis by the host Redskins to close the campaign.

Coach Feezel will have a small, but quick lineup when they begin the season trying to defend their MG tournament title.

Adam Atwood, a 5-9 senior guard, returns from last winter as well as four of his classmates.

Atwood was an ABV 1A All-South honorable mention selection as a junior last year.

Five-ten senior Cade Schaub returns as does Collin Maxey, a 5-11 senior.

Josiah Maxey, a 5-8 senior guard, and 5-9 senior forward Brody Mason round out the seniors mentioned by Coach Feezel.

This mentor added Lowell Wilhour, a 5-8 junior, to the list of players he will send into battle this season.

“I will have a quick team and probably one of the hardest working teams I’ve had here,” said Coach Feezel. “We look for big things from these guys this year but we have a schedule full of good teams to try an handle so it won’t be easy to get wins. But if we come along like I think we can we could have a really fun year.”