BY JACK BULLOCK The top rated team for most of last season in the ABV 1A Deep South resided in the Black Diamond. The Trico Pioneers had a nearly dream season. Winners of their own early season tourney, the prestigious Carbondale Holiday Tournament and also the West Division of the BDC with a 10-0 mark, the Pioneers were right in line for a trip way up north for the state finals. Coach Shane Hawkins club was just a win away from the school's first ever supersectional appearance but the Pioneers ran into an athletic Meridian team in the finale of the NCOE 1A Sectional. A poor start and some difficulties converting free throws ended the Trico dream of reaching Peoria. The news got a bit worse heading into 2011-12 as the Illinois High School Association made some changes to the classification cut offs between the four-classes. Trico was bumped up from 1A to 2A. Not a place that this coach or program envisioned. However there is talent left from last season and the Pioneers will be one of the favorites in this league and shouldn't be counted out of the postseason picture. Sesser-Valier also had a unexpected ending to its season last February on its home floor. As the top-seed in their own regional, S-V lost a heartbreaking game in the final seconds to Crab Orchard in the title game, 58-57. Coach Chip Basso's club had a shot at the buzzer that misfired and then the Devil's saw the Trojans celebrate on their own floor. Both Trico and Sesser-Valier have kids back that will remember those endings and the results should help fuel the fire heading into 2011-12. A newcomer to the Black Diamond Conference this season on the West side is Goreville. The Blackcats were a long time member of the South Egyptian Conference but chose to follow rival Vienna up north to the BDC. The Blackcats have something in common with Sesser-Valier from a season ago. They, too, lost on their own floor in the regional title game. Meridian, who ended Trico's season in the sectional, blew past Goreville, 76-54 in the 1A Goreville Regional championship game. Coach Todd Tripp and his program will fit right into this league in look for Goreville to challenge the top two listed here in the chase. Chester finished its first season in the Black Diamond last season with a 4-6 league mark and they will have a new coach in place when their season begins. Speaking of new coaches, Matt Morgan steps up from assistant coach to take over the top spot at Zeigler-Royalton. Head coach Jaime Moyers stepped down after last season after doing a fine job with the Tornadoes' program in his five seasons running the show. Coach Eric Stallman will head into his second year at Christopher after the Bearcats came in fourth last season in the West Division. Elverado has a new coach as well with Mark Riley taking over after John Harrison stepped down. The Falcons managed to win a conference game last season and finished 4-19 overall. The 2011-12 West Division race will come down to Trico and Sesser-Valier battling it out with newcomer Goreville with an outside shot at the crown. Turning to the East Division, the 2010-11 boy's basketball season was the worst since this division was formed. The “proof was in the pudding” as the six teams in the BDC East were a woeful 69-108 overall. Only division champ Fairfield (17-14) finished above .500. The Mules have some good kids returning for Coach Scott McElravy to work with this winter. Hamilton County has a new head coach for the first time since the 1985-86 season as former Fox player Keith Welch takes over for long time head coach Curt Reed. Carmi-White County likewise has a new mentor as Eric Dixon takes over the boy's team after nine seasons running the CWC Lady Bulldogs. Eldorado's TJ Zurliene enters his third season as head coach and again he has a lot of points to replace due to graduation. Vienna head coach Cory Waters is back for his second season as head coach at his Alma Mater. Johnston City head coach Wade Thomas enters his third year running the Indians program. Of those six teams, Fairfield has the most back but there is talent at each of the schools. The Mules should be optimistic to defend their league crown.

WEST DIVISION 1. TRICO Watching his club lose a second consecutive sectional game to Meridian last season, Coach Shane Hawkins must have believed in "deja vu." In 2010 at the Eldorado 1A Sectional semifinals, Trico dropped a 55-52 decision to Meridian after hitting just 10-of-26 free throws. Last March at the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield 1A Sectional championship contest, the Pioneers faltered again from the foul line, connecting on just 10-of-25 from the charity stripe in the 63-58 defeat. Two playoff losses to the same program with nearly the same scenario playing out. But knowing this coach and this group of kids, look for marked improvement this season from that dreaded line 15-feet from the basket. This coach will have a lot of missing pieces from a near championship squad from graduation. A club that set a school record with a 30-3 final mark. Gone is ABV Class 1A All-South Team first team choice Jessie Smith, a 6-foot senior guard, who was second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points a game while dishing out a team best 3.1 assists a game. He was voted team MVP by his teammates. Four other seniors, including one of the emotional leaders of the club, have also left via graduation. Logan Thies left after having a painful senior campaign. Playing through a torn ACL with a brace on his knee for the season after suffering the injury in preseason practice, this 6-foot-2 forward “gutted out” a lot of minutes off the bench for Coach Hawkins. A lot of kids in his situation would have just given up and called it a career but Thies managed to contribute to the great season run. He was never 100 percent but he gave a 100 percent effort in the minutes that he played. Six-foot-three senior Taylor Pyatt, 6-foot-2 senior Tyler Coleman and 6-foot senior Dennis Froemling also left last spring. The rebuilding of a club of this stature is made a lot easier if one of the players returning is considered one of the best in the area. Chase Heins, a 6-foot-7 senior power forward, was the top scorer and rebounder on the Trico squad from a year ago. His 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds a contest earned him an ABV Class 1A All-South Team first team spot along with Smith. He is a very tough matchup for anyone in the lane because of his strength and touch. Heins was a phenomenal 175-of-284 from inside the 3-point line (61.6 percent) and he snagged 77 offensive rebounds. To say he dominated the lane at times last season is an understatement. The bad news for the Trico opposition this season is that Heins is a year older and probably a lot stronger. One of the key ingredients from last season's run is also part of the returning formula. Dylan Witthoft, a 6-foot senior guard, averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds last season for Trico. A third player Coach Hawkins mention as a potential starter from last season is Daron Meyerhoff, a 6-foot-2 senior, who played in 29 of the Pioneers' games and averaged 1.8 points a game. Those three have the most experience returning. The other two starters and the reserve unit will be relative unknowns from the JV ranks. Coach Hawkins will have several to choose from. Trevor Compton, a 6-foot-3 senior, managed to get into 26 of the games last season in mostly the final minutes. Trico will also have another senior in the mix, Bradley Goetting is a 6-foot-1 senior guard. The kids that served time in the junior varsity as sophomores are now juniors and could be ready to make a move. Six-foot-four forward Blaine LePere tossed in a few varsity points last season as did Lucas Watson, a 6-foot-4 forward. If this mentor goes with these two in the starting lineup, he will have one of the bigger front lines in the area. Six-foot junior guard Klayton Bunselmeyer was also part of the scene last season for Trico in a reserve role as was 6-foot-3 forward George Kluhlman. For a team that lost five important senior leaders from a year ago, the Pioneers don't look like they will take much of a step backward in 2011-12. Coach Hawkins is optimistic about his clubs chances this season. “We will have very good overall size and length coming back,” said Coach Hawkins, who is 121-40 in his five seasons at Trico. He is also a combined 47-3 in the league in that time frame. “We should be a bit better from the perimeter this season but we might not be as good defensively as we were last season and we will have a lot of work to do there.” OUTLOOK - Although the classification change hurts, last season showed that they could handle playing against larger schools. They toppled Carbondale to win the CHT while also taking eventual 2A regional winner Du Quoin into double-overtime before losing on the road. Their only other loss of the season came at the hands of 2A Peoria representative Murphysboro in the title game at the Sparta Mid-Winter Classic. Heins could have a monster type season which could earn him a lot of awards. He is sitting at 920 points and should crack the 1,000-point mark early in the season. Witthoft and Meyerhoff have varsity experience and the newbies have some talent and size. Trico probably won't get close to the 30-wins from last season but with this slate, 20-plus is pretty much in the bag. ABV believes they will end up in a 2A regional setup which will include a couple of Perry County teams. If this is the case, these Pioneers will be a threat to win a 2A regional to match the other three this program has won since this coach arrived. As for the BDC, Trico is the slight favorite to win yet another championship.

2. SESSER-VALIER The Red Devils return a lot of talent from last season's 20-10 club that finished second in the West Division behind Trico. Coach Basso's bunch finished 8-2 in the division with both losses coming to Trico. This group he has coming back would like nothing better than to turn the tables on the Pioneers in 2011-12. One key contributor from last season has graduated. Dustin Hicks, a 6-foot-1 shooting guard, was the top scorer at 16.7 points a game for S-V last season. Third on the scoring list last season was senior Curtis Edwards (7.2 p.p.g.) who is also gone. Those were the two most notable of the five seniors who are no longer in the program. But this coach has some size and experience back this season as they will push towards another winning campaign, which will be their fifth consecutive season with at least 20-wins. One of the players back was a double-figure scorer last season for the Red Devils. Six-foot-five senior Tim Witcher returns for S-V after averaging 13.7 p.p.g. as a junior. He was the best shooter on the team last season by percentage from inside the arc and also from the foul line, hitting 71.4 percent of his free throws. He also hit 60.7 percent of his 2-point field goal chances. Witcher has a chance at really making difference in Sesser-Valier's season with a strong senior year. He was by far the best on the glass for the Devils last season, corralling over 100 more rebounds than his next teammate and averaging 7.5 boards a game. Drew Dorris also returns for his senior season and at 6-foot-3 this kid can help out in the middle. Dorris hit 52 percent from the field last season will all of the shots coming in close and was third on the team with a rebounding averaged of 3.6 per game. Kyle Stanley is a 6-foot-1 guard who also returns following a good junior season in which he chipped in 3.5 points a game. More help will come from Greg Jenkins, a 6-foot senior, who last season averaged right at three points a game. Six-foot senior forward John Vercellino (3.6 p.p.g.) was also in a lot of action last season. These five returning seniors played in all 30 Red Devil varsity games last season, so a lack of experience is a non factor for this club. Coach Basso also has a good junior that could be involved in the frontcourt as 6-foot-5 forward/center Justin Kulich played in 25 games as sophomore and could make an impact early in the season. Kurlich averaged 5.4 points while hauling down 4.5 rebounds a contest. According to Coach Basso, all six of these players started at one time or another last season and that he has veteran players back he will enjoy those preseason practices a lot more this season. “We are returning a lot of minutes from last year's team,” said Basso, who is 46-20 in his two season's as head coach heading into a third campaign with much hope. OUTLOOK – This coach has gotten a lot accomplished since his arrival from the grade school level in the same school system and this club looks athletic enough to make a big push in not only this league but in the postseason. Guard play will be a big key to their success because they will have the size to battle anyone in the 1A South. ABV projects that the Red Devils will be right there with Trico and the two games against the Pioneers (January 7 and January 27) will decide this conference championship.

3. GOREVILLE The Blackcats became another of the teams recently in this state that have shifted into another conference. Say goodbye to the South Egyptian and hello to the Black Diamond. This won't be a big stretch for the Blackcats. After all they are familiar with most of the teams in this league after having played games against Christopher, Sesser-Valier and Zeigler-Royalton in the recent past during non-conference action. Coach Tripp spent a stint as head basketball coach at Elverado so he knows the way to Elkville. This move shouldn't surprise anyone since Goreville is in a football cooperative with Vienna in football. Coach Todd Tripp has back-to-back seasons of 20-wins in the last two campaigns. In fact this mentor has been very successful since taking over for veteran head coach Jerry Qualls back in 2004-05. In the seven seasons at Goreville, Coach Tripp is 138-65 with five 20-win seasons under his belt. Look for that success to continue despite the new surroundings. Priority number one for this coach is to replace a very good senior group that hit the road after last season. Of the eight players for the Blackcats that played in at least 28 of the 30 varsity games, only two of them return. A lot of offensive numbers are missing, including Lee Sopczak's 18.6 points a game last season for Goreville, tops on the team. The 6-foot senior guard was one of the team leaders on a club that won the SEC Tournament and finished second in the Harrisburg Invitational Tournament, the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament and then runner up to Meridian in the regional final. Second is much better than finishing last and Goreville had a great season that ended at 21-9. This year look for this coach to rebuild around a good returning players who showed up prominently in the final stats from 2010-11. Nathan Webb, a 6-foot-3 senior, played in all 30 games for the Blackcats as a junior and averaged 10.6 points a contest and was an ABV Class 1A All-South Team special mention. Coach Tripp mentioned the names of three juniors who are all the same height. Dayton Tripp, a 5-foot-11 junior, along with 5-foot-11 Colton Brown and 5-foot-11 Clayboy Shadowens. Also part of that class are JT Russell, a 6-foot-1 junior forward. Those five could end up in the starting lineup when the Blackcats travel to Harrisburg to open its season the HIT. Another kid that could play some is Blake Gray, a 5-foot-9 junior, who transferred in from Vienna. Six-foot-three junior Alex Andros is also among the candidates for playing time as are a couple of sophomores; 6-foot-3 Zeke Snell, a transfer from Agape Christian Academy, and 6-foot Kyefer Cavins. Three seniors will play some according to Coach Tripp. Six-foot-two Ty Taborn, 6-foot-1 Trenton Potoki and 6-foot-4 Derek Herren. As far as Coach Tripp is concerned, he mentioned he could have as many as ten different starting lineups during the season, especially early in the season. “I believe this will be a fun group to coach. We're going to have to grow and to get better as we go along,” said Coach Tripp. “There will be some growing pains but this group will learn from its mistakes and will be a better team at the end of the season.” OUTLOOK – There isn't a whole lot of difference between the SEC and BDC West so this shouldn't be a big transition for Goreville. This coach will get a lot out of this team and will at least challenge to get back to 20-wins. There will be some answers needed early, especially the first week of the season. This coach will get the most out of this team.

4. CHESTER The Yellow Jackets have a new head coach in Brad Norman, a Dongola native who both played and coached at that school before taking over a Chester club that finished 13-15 overall and 4-6 in its first season in the Black Diamond. Gone from the team is Zach Lochhead who was a special mention ABV 1A All-South as a senior last season aver averaging over 18 points a game. He was one of six seniors to leave the program in the spring and Coach Norman will tackle the chore of rebuilding. Chester bowed out to Steeleville, 69-52, in the New Athens 1A Regional semifinal last February. But there were some highlights in 2010-11, including a fifth place finish at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament. This season the Yellow Jackets, like Trico, are bumped up to 2A and will face tougher competition in the postseason. As for the rest of the campaign, Coach Norman does have some kids back with experience. Caleb Arbeiter returns as a 5-foot-10 junior after playing in a lot of games as a sophomore. Coach Norman also listed Kyle Landon as a potential starter. Landon has grown three inches from last season and is listed as 6-foot-6. Landon is also part of the junior class. Five-foot-ten junior Link Cushman and 6-foot junior Chris Swartz will be a part of the backcourt for Chester. There are two senior hold overs from last season and shouldn't be counted out of the picture. Six-foot-one guard Matt Heberlie and 6-foot-5 forward Greg Rowold will be part of the mix. There are some other promising juniors that could end up starting or coming off the bench for extending playing time. Six-foot-seven center Reed Koeneman could end up being a big factor in the frontcourt for Chester. Coach Norman mentioned one other player, 5-foot-11 sophomore Cody Mileur, who could see some varsity minutes. “Those are the top eight players for us and I'm not sure who will start. I figure we will make some young mistakes considering that the majority of our kids are juniors and sophomores,” said Coach Norman. “We should be a solid club by Christmas and I look for us to give some teams in the Black Diamond trouble. We have some length but I expect us to be toughest on the defensive end.” OUTLOOK – This coach takes over a program that has had some good runs but never the sustained consistent success as some of the other teams it will face this season in the upper part of the conference. Replacing the points from Lochhead will be difficult this season and the move up to 2A will make the postseason path a much tougher one to travel. They should be able to hang with the good ones on the schedule.

5. CHRISTOPHER The second season of the coaching tenure of Eric Stallman could be a bit tougher without all-conference guard and ABV special mention pick Steven Dial. Dial led the Bearcats with a 13.4 points per game average as senior in 2010-11 while the 6-foot forward also led the club with 5.9 rebounds a game. Also missing from last season are seniors Devin Austill, who also averaged double-digits in scoring (10.0 p.p.g.), 6-foot Ryan Dawson, 5-foot-10 Joey Bailey and 6-foot-5 David Ragan. All will be missed. The Bearcats won a regional game last season at Sesser-Valier and fell to Crab Orchard 63-49 in the semifinals to close their year at 10-15. The 2011-12 season will begin as all Christopher seasons, at home in a tradition rich Thanksgiving Tournament and Coach Stallman has six kids back that put up stats last winter in varsity games. Kolten Pedigo is a 5-foot-11 senior guard who is the top returning scorer from a year ago. Pedigo was third on the scoring parade as a junior with 7.3 points a contest. He also passed the ball pretty well averaging a little over an assist a game. Six-foot senior Scott Marchetti is also back after averaging 3.7 points in 20 varsity contests. Coach Stallman mentioned a pair of juniors who should rise up to start. Five-foot-eleven senior Tyler Atchison scored 2.5 p.p.g. as a sophomore while classmate Kevin Mercks, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, got into 17 games last winter and tossed in a handful of points (1.4 p.p.g.). Two sophomores should battle out for the remaining starting spot. Both Eric Young and Jake Towers played enough last season as freshman to get in the scorebook. Young added 1.8 points a game in his 10 opportunities last season while Towers played in eight games. Those six kids round out the nucleus of the Bearcats' club that will open with Thompsonville in the first round of their own tournament. OUTLOOK – This club's conference just got tougher with the addition of Goreville to the schedule twice. Add to that fact that both Trico and Sesser-Valier aren't getting any worse will make for a rough winter for Christopher. But there are enough wins on the schedule for this team. Whether or not they can climb above .500 remains to be seen.

6. ZEIGLER-ROYALTON The Tornadoes have a new head coach as assistant coach Matt Morgan moves up to take over the chore from Jaime Moyers who stepped down after last season. The Tornadoes lost to Waltonville, 55-47, at the Sesser-Valier 1A Regional to finish 11-17 overall. They started the season pretty strong with a good showing at the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament where they finished second to Wayne City. Two key starters are missing from that team, graduated seniors Dylan Arvai and Jordan Domineck. Arvai was the top scorer on the team with 17.3 points a game for Z-R. Domineck ranked third in scoring with a 2.6 points a night average. Coach Morgan will turn to some kids who have some time served in varsity games to start the season. Payton Clark, a 6-foot senior, is back after averaging 7.5 points a game for the Tornadoes in 2010-11. Five-foot-eight junior Jeffrey Pedigo is also one of the returning starters for Z-R as he averaged 4.2 points per outing as a sophomore. Those two are the ones in which this new mentor will build his team around. Two kids back who helped out last season are 6-foot senior Ryan Leposky (2.1 p.p.g.) and 6-foot-2 sophomore Nick Mcphail (1.6 p.p.g.) who both should improve and contribute more this season. Mcphail will run the offense this season as a point guard as Coach Morgan believes Mcphail will provide a spark on both ends of the floor. Morgan mentioned some additional sophomores who he believes will work their way into varsity minutes. Five-foot-eleven Brandon Jones, 5-foot-10 Gabe Jelly, 5-foot-9 Bailey Schimp and 5-foot-9 Boris Moskoff could all get into games early in the season for Zeigler-Royalton. “We will be a relatively young group this year and will be looking to our upperlassman (Clark, Pedigo, Leposky) for leadership throughout the season. We hope to continue to build on the foundation and improvement within the program that Coach Moyers established the previous five seasons,” said Coach Morgan. “The ability of Clark and Pedigo to provide leadership and solid contributions will be key to any success we have this season. Additionally, the play of our sophomore PG Nick Mcphail will be huge this season. With a year under his belt we are really leaning on him to run the offense and provide us with a boost of energy on both ends of the floor. I am hoping that the hardwork and dedication that these kids put in during the off-season can help us during the regular season.” OUTLOOK – This coach will work hard and the kids will follow suit. They lack overall size but this isn't as big a deal as one would think if the ones playing can use their quickness to their advantage. They will open the season with Wayne City at Christopher and that game will give Coach Morgan an idea of how much work will have to be done. The Tornadoes could surprise a lot of teams this season who overlook them.

7. ELVERADO The Falcons have a new head coach as Mark Riley takes the reigns of a program that did have a few highlights from its 4-19 season. One of the bright spots was an actual conference win (45-44 over Christopher on December 7) which hadn't happened in too many years to count. Coach Riley has some kids to work with in his first season as a head coach at this school. From the looks of things, the Falcon will start three guards when they open the season at the Crab Orchard Thanksgiving Tournament. Kyle Whittington, a 5-foot-10 junior, is one of the projected starters for Elverado. Five-foot-seven senior guard Bryce Mathis and 5-foot-10 senior guard Dalton Porter both have experience from last season. Whittington and Porter were both starters last season. Coach Riley will look to a pair of seniors up front to add some size. Six-foot-two senior Casey Hicks and 6-foot-2 senior Jake Lipe are the two tallest players on the squad. Lipe is also a returning starter. Besides those five, there are five others that Coach Riley can turn to for help. Five-foot-seven senior guard Skyler Roach is back as well as two other seniors, 5-foot-9 guard Wade Bowlin and 6-foot forward Kody Body. Six-foot-one junior forward Andrew Jeschke and 5-foot-7 junior Kody Ellet also could play important minutes. OUTLOOK – Elverado made strides last season in an attempt to get better. Picking up a league win was big for the Falcons and the ones returning with experience can look towards building for the future. Anything more that single digit wins would be a big story in the conference.

EAST DIVISION 1. FAIRFIELD The Mules last year were one of the few bright spots in the entire East Division and their top player last year got an inadvertent ABV snub when it came to the 2A All-south Team. Tyler Hutcheson averaged 16.5 points a game last season as a junior while hauling down 7.5 rebounds a game. He deserved recognition last season and didn't get it. It was a major ABV error. The 5-foot-11 Hutcheson will get that recognition this season from this publication. He was not only the best player for Fairfield last season but he was arguably the best player in the division. Hutcheson returns this season and look for Coach Scott McElravy to put a team on the floor that will be even better than the squad that won the East Division before losing to Benton in the title game of the Carmi-White County 2A Regional, 54-39. Hutcheson was a first team BDC pick and he had a teammate on that team the returns to Fairfield for his senior season. Cody Bailey is also a 5-foot-11 senior who netted 8.5 points a game last season to go with 2.8 rebounds per contest. These two form a solid backcourt but both proved that they could be effective around the basket. But this coach believes that at least ten of the kids he has wearing uniforms in varsity can all play and contribute. Two other seniors are in line to inherit starting assignments as three seniors from a year ago (Andrew Atteberry, Tyler Vaughn, Victor Skaggs) left last spring. Zane McMeen, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, is back for the Mules after scoring 5.6 points a night as a junior. Five-foot-nine senior Colton Slover added 5.3 p.p.g. last season while topping the regulars with a 78.3 free throw percentage. Those four have varsity experience heading into this season. The fifth starter for Fairfield is a foreign exchange student from Italy. Six-foot-four junior forward Edo Ferrari comes into the program and will start according to Coach McElravy. He will add some much needed size to the lineup, which will come in handy against their rivals in the Black Diamond and also the three quality tournaments that they will compete in. Two juniors who got their feet wet in the varsity pool last season are back as juniors looking to help off the bench. Storm Kollack, a 6-foot-2 forward, along with 5-foot-9 guard Will Griffith, will play key reserve roles. Coach McElravy mentioned three other players from the sophomore class that could also lend a hand coming off the pine. Five-foot-nine Joe Rodgers, 6-foot-2 Cody Simpson and 6-foot-1 Tristan Fry may all see important minutes, especially early in the season at the always difficult Lawrence County Capital Classic where Fairfield begins its season. “We have a lot of experience back with four starters returning although we don't have a lot of size,” said Coach McElravy, who is 14-victories away from 100 for his career. “I hope Edo Ferrari can help us in the middle. We want to repeat as conference champs and we feel like we can compete for a regional championship. Our team should be very competitive and have a few juniors and a good sophomore group we hope will push the seniors.” OUTLOOK – This team has 20-wins written all over it and should win their second consecutive BDC title. Coach McElravy has four experienced kids which includes the top gun in the league in Hutcheson. This team will be a lot deeper than last season's crew and this should turn out to a good situation for improvement by the underclassmen. Despite the tough non-conference schedule that will be very tough, ABV projects that the Mules will win this title again.

2. HAMILTON COUNTY The Foxes have a new coach running things in Hamilton County as Keith Welch takes over for long-time coach Curt Reed. Reed led this program since 1985-86 as it will take some getting used to not seeing Coach Reed on the sidelines for this program. But Welch, who played for Reed as a starting guard back in 2000, has been an assistant under Reed for the past three seasons and takes over a club that was just 8-21 last season after falling to Mount Carmel in the first round of the Carmi-White County 2A Regional. Coach Welch's transition to head coach will be a much smoother one with four returning seniors that have experience. C.J. Lemmons is a 6-foot senior guard back for the Foxes. Lemmons averaged 7.4 points a game while snagging 3.7 rebounds. Six-foot-four senior Chad Flannigan put up a 6.7 points per game averaged while also grabbing 7.1 rebounds. Five-foot-nine Adam Rubenacker (7.6 p.p.g.) is also back for Hamilton County. Those four seniors are the cornerstone of what Coach Welch feels should be a turnaround season in the Black Diamond Conference for the Foxes. Two juniors should play a lot of minutes for Hamilton County in 2011-12. Levi Lueke, a 6-foot-2 forward, added 4.9 p.p.g. last season while 6-foot-5 forward Garrett Biggerstaff added 3.6 a night. Coach Welch believes he has a number of underclassmen that will push for playing time. Tyler Cross is a 5-foot-9 junior who played some varsity last season as did six sophomores who got into some varsity contests. Five-foot-nine guard Justin Reyling; 5-foot-10 forward Logan Billington, 5-foot-10 guard Austin Reed, 5-foot-10 guard Nathan Anselment, 6-foot-2 guard Travis Stevens and 5-foot-10 guard Balee Gay all will have an opportunity to have some more varsity fun in 2011-12. “I’m really looking forward to working with the four seniors I have coming back,” said Coach Welch. “Their attitude and leadership will go a long way in the development of our program.” OUTLOOK – Look for some marked improvement in this program this season and ABV believes this could be the beginning of a new look of Foxes' basketball. Sometimes it takes a coaching change to shake things up a bit. With six kids coming back that have a lot of experience and some good young blood to push for playing time, this could be a fun season at Hamilton County. Coach Welch will have some depth at every position, a luxury not many teams in this league can brag about. The Foxes are a threat to unseat Fairfield to win the BDC East.

3. CARMI-WHITE COUNTY The Bulldogs sent away a couple of really good starters that put up some big stats last season. Lawson Warren was the biggest graduation loss, as the 6-foot-5 senior averaged 16.3 points and nine rebounds a game for the 13-15 team that lost to Fairfield in the regular season finale that decided the conference championship and then fell to the Mules, 48-46, in the regional semifinals at home. Josh Capps is also gone and so are his 12.1 points and four rebounds per try. Laramie Immel also left and so did his 6.7 p.p.g. and 2.4 r.p.g. New head coach Eric Dixon will begin the reconstruction process by turning to the two remaining starters from last season, Chase Sailer and Trenton Veach. Both of these players were fourth and fifth in scoring on the Bulldogs list in 2010-11. More will be expected this season. Sailer is a 6-foot sophomore while Veach is a 5-foot-9 senior. Six-foot-two senior Dalton Bartley also played a lot of minutes last season for CWC. Bartley added 2.6 p.p.g. last winter. Carmi-White County could use some size up front and may turn to Patrick McKenzie, a 6-foot-4 senior, who got into limited varsity contests last year. Another 6-foot-4 senior is Isaac Hayes, who like McKenzie, didn't play a lot of varsity as a junior. Five-foot-ten junior Lukas Matsel got into a handful of games last season as did Colin Winter, a 6-foot junior. Those seven players are a start for this coach who took over for Jarrod Newell this season after leading the Lady's program since the 2002-03 season. This coach also mentioned a pair of sophomores, Brodie Brown and Andy Vaughn, who might fill in some minutes. “Hopefully the player's success in football and cross country will carry over to basketball,” said Dixon. OUTLOOK – The Bulldogs sent away a lot of weaponry from last season's club and their new coach will have his hands full this season adjusting to boy's basketball. The two kids coming back with the most experience will have to become leaders after the three other starters from last season departed. They should be in the chase for the top spot but both of the teams rated ahead of them on this list have more experience returning.

4. ELDORADO Head coach TJ Zurliene (28-33 overall) returns to the sidelines for the Eagles in the wake of yet another season in which he saw a 1,000-point scorer leave the program. Six-foot-five senior Cody Johnston strolled down the isle at graduation and left the building towing with him 1,208-points in a stellar career. Johnston topped all Eldorado scorers with 20.5 points per game last winter while “cleaning the glass” at 8.3 r.p.g. Senior classmate Nick Stewart (5.4 points, 4.0 rebounds per game) left right along with Johnston and now Coach Zurliene will regroup his club again behind three returning starters. Six-foot-four senior Lucas Weir is back after finishing second on the club in points with 7.9 p.p.g. on average with bringing down 3.8 rebounds. He also topped the squad last season with 2.7 assists per game. Weir is a veteran who will end up as one of the best players in the BDC in 2011-12. Ryan Langley is a 6-foot-3 senior who can play either guard or forward. Langley added 7.5 points and 4.7 rebounds a contest. The third returning starter is Brennan Unthank, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, who contributed 2.5 points a game as a sophomore. Coach Zurliene mentioned four reserves from last season that will provide the two other starters and the two top players from the bench. Six-foot-two senior Trey Sigler, 5-foot-9 junior Joel Boulds, 5-foot-10 junior Dakota Prather and 5-foot-11 sophomore Dylan Lawrence should all vie for those other starting slots. The Eagles were Class 1A last season and got upended by the host Cougars at the Hardin County 1A Regional. Unfortunately Eldorado moves back up to 2A this season and the level of play will be considerably higher. “We will rely heavily on Lucas Weir who is a three-year starter for us,” said Coach Zurliene, who prepped at Fairfield and then played at the University of Southern Indiana. “Ryan Langley is also back and was a second team all-conference pick. Those two are going to have to pick up the slack from last season's loss of Johnston.” OUTLOOK – The conference race aside the 2A postseason isn't going to be nearly as friendly as 1A would be this season for Eldorado. The top three look to lead the rest of the returning players a more respectable finish that last season's 12-18 record at the end. The Eagles could make a run at the top three in this division.

5. JOHNSTON CITY For the first time in recent memory the Indians had a few good things to brag about heading into the 2011-12 campaign. Head coach Wade Thomas' club picked up some hardware by winning the consolation championship at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament last December and improved by two games the win total from the season before. JC ended up 9-22 last season but didn't dent the win column in the BDC (0-10). However this coach has this program thinking better things this season with several experienced kids returning from the team that lost in the opening round of the Herrin 2A Regional to West Frankfort. It was the only win for West Frankfort last season. The top scorer from last season 6-foot-3 Brandon Crider (11.6 p.p.g.) graduated but most of the rest of the offensive totals return. Johnston City has six players that started at one time or another last season. The top scorer from that group from 2010-11 is Austin McPheron, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, who netted 7.8 points a game as a soph. Five-foot-ten sophomore Hunter Zeigler averaged 5.5 p.p.g. as a freshman last season. Tyler Johnson is a 5-foot-11 junior who is back after added 5.2 points a night to the scorebook. Six-foot senior Angelo Hightower was also in the varsity waters last season and put up 2.7 points per contest. Five-foot-ten senior Cody Watkins averaged a point a game as a junior while Jake Davison, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, added the same. Those are the top six in the race to see who can open the season in the starting lineup. Coach Thomas, who has served as a head coach at Carmi-White County and Johnston City, believes the top two in the league are going to battle it out for conference supremacy. “Fairfield and Hamilton County are the two best teams in the race,” said Coach Thomas. “The next four teams are pretty even.” OUTLOOK – Things are getting better for this program. Coach Thomas' team made a nice run through the consolation bracket of the S-VHT and that is something to build on for this season. An oddity about the 2010-11 season is that of the nine wins that the Tribe picked up, six of those wins came on neutral courts in the three tournaments that they played in. If they can somehow come up with some regular season wins it will give this group even more confidence as this program moves forward.

6. VIENNA The Eagles and second-year head coach Cory Waters will take on a new look this season. Gone from last season's 10-18 team that ended its campaign with a loss to eventual regional winner Harrisburg, 73-54, at the Massac County 2A Regional first round are seven seniors. Coach Waters will look to what he feels are some “interchangeable parts” with a lot of kids he is going to use in the opening week of the Vienna “Thanksgiving Classic.” Four of the players back are seniors and will get the first look. Six-foot-five senior forward Clayton Wright will provide size in the lane. Also looking for a starting assignments are a pair of 6-foot-3 guard/forwards in Brandon Futch and Ethan Haney. Usually when a roster lists players with the G/F at the end of the names, it means this one is skilled enough to play all over the court. The other senior is a backcourt specialist, 5-foot-9 guard Chase Taylor. Coach Waters mentioned a sophomore who could start, 5-foot-9 Dylan Graves. Vienna can turn to some other upperclassmen for bench strength. Six-foot-one senior Pat Gray and 6-foot Jacob McGill could gain some minutes off the bench. One junior, 6-foot-1 Lake Norris and 5-foot-7 sophomore Blake Crain should also be ready when the season begins. “We have a good group of kids that are very coach-able,” said Coach Waters. “These kids work hard and we are hoping to build off of last season's success.” OUTLOOK – This coach heads into season number two with a better understanding of how tough it is to win games in this league. With seven seniors to replace, the going is still going to be difficult but the Eagles will work hard to make some things happen. He has some size and athletes to work with. They could finish anywhere from third to last in the division, but they should be much improved by the end of the season.