BY JACK BULLOCK It didn’t take long for Trico head coach Shane Hawkins to make his presence felt around the Black Diamond Conference – West Division. In his first season as a boy’s high school varsity coach – Hawkins won the league title and reached the semifinals of his school’s own Class A Regional. He was also named ABV Carbondale Supersectional Area “Coach Of The Year.” With eight of his top eleven scorers from last season returning – the Pioneers will be the ABV choice to repeat. Sesser-Valier has a fine group of veterans returning to make a strong challenge. Zeigler-Royalton has the top scoring threat in the whole league in four-year starter Aaron Jones. Carterville and head coach Scott Burzynski has a good group returning as soon as they get finished with football while Elverado and Christopher must regroup under new head coaches. 1. TRICO With veteran leadership returning for Coach Hawkins coming off of an undefeated conference title run – Trico is the ABV choice for 2007-08. This group won the Trico and Sparta tournament’s last winter before being edged by Waltonville at the Trico Class A Regional semifinals. In spite of losing three quality seniors from a year ago - including team MVP Brandon Crain - Trico is the choice because of the backcourt players returning for a second season under the Hawkins Plan and a solid scoring threat in the middle. Skylar Barlow – a 5-foot-10 senior guard - tossed in 7.5 points a game as a junior and added two assists a night. Having a floor leader in the backcourt that can take instruction from one of the best point guards in the history of southern Illinois high school hoops (Hawkins) gives the Pioneers a big edge in the BDC West. Six-foot-one Casey Bollmann will join Barlow to form the best starting backcourt in the league. This senior added 6.7 points and rebounded well with three boards per night. However the top scoring threat on the Pioneer squad is up front. Allen Brandon had some big games last season for Trico and more is expected from this 6-foot-4 senior. Hitting on 67 percent of his field goals last season – Brandon averaged 10.3 points a game while topping the club with 6.2 rebounds a game. Three other veterans in the frontcourt will add strength in the paint. Six-foot-five senior Brandon Dilday and 6-foot-5 counterpart junior Milo Richmond add the type of size needed to advance very far in the state tournament. These two combined just 3.9 p.p.g. a contest last season but look for a significant increase in offense this season. Jacob Carlock is also a senior small forward at 6-foot tall. Carlock played a lot of minutes as a junior – scoring 4.2 points while grabbing 2.8 rebounds a game. Providing backcourt support will be 6-foot-2 senior Nick Schutte (2.4 p.p.g.). Hawkins has four other kids to look for on the bench when needed from last year’s roster. Five-foot-ten senior Bryce Coleman, 5-foot-8 senior Jaime Stocks, 6-foot senior Cole Rieckenberg and 5-foot-6 senior Caleb Walker all had uniforms last season and should help out before the season ends. “After the success of last season our expectations have risen to a new level here at Trico,” said Coach Hawkins – who has won a state title as a player and would love to win one as a coach. “The Black Diamond Conference will be deeper and more balanced that is was a year ago.” OUTLOOK – They are experienced enough and talented enough to make a run at Peoria in 1A. Coach Hawkins has the right amount of size and quickness to put on the hardwood and have enough depth to be able to play 10 or 11 kids early in tournament games. This season could be a special one with a schedule that will make the Pioneers ‘show up’ each night ready. Depending on how the IHSA ‘fillet’s’ this state tournament – Trico could be a threat to represent the South in the first state finals with four-classes. 2. ZEIGLER-ROYALTON One of the top playmakers and scorers in southern Illinois returns for his senior season at Z-R. Aaron Jones – a 6-foot-5 guard/forward – averaged 19 points a game as a junior and his senior season he has a lot to prove if he expects to play at the next level. Jones is a strong athlete and he will need to lead by example if the Tornadoes are to improve on a 9-16 mark from 2006-07. There were some highlights last season – a last second win over Carterville at home was one of them. But they opened the season poorly and then when things got rolling in the second half of the campaign – head coach Jaime Moyers lost some players because of disciplinary issues and bowed out quickly to Cobden, 68-61, at the Carterville Class A Regional. Three seniors from 2006-07 (Josh and Matt Bramlett along with David Fletcher) are missing from that Z-R squad. Those three represented the bulk of the inside play and rebounding for the Tornadoes. Someone is going to have to pick up the pace in the paint but the guard position seems to be in capable hands with Jones and 6-foot-1 sophomore Tyler Mitchell. Mitchell is a lefty that hit some big shots – including the last second shot that sunk Carterville last winter – and averaged 11 points a night. After those two Coach Moyers will have some decisions to make on who will gets the most minutes. One other senior hold over is 5-foot-11 guard Tim Downen. He is very athletic and was the teams’ sixth man as a junior. But there is an underclassmen group that will want to hog some of the varsity court time. Six-foot-five junior Kyle Fitch is a strong one and - at 250 lbs. - he will be a load to move around. Five-foot-eight junior Chase Fann will likely get one of the starting spots while Jimmy Stevens – a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard – will also be in the running. Both are talented. The bench will come from some juniors that are relatively unproven. One transfer – Bohn Jasper is a 6-foot-3 senior from West Frankfort – will help according to this mentor. “We feel like we can compete with everyone on our schedule,” said Coach Mitchell – who sports a one-season 9-16 coaching mark. “We had a successful summer of basketball. Jones and Mitchell should be in the upper tier of the Black Diamond Conference players.” OUTLOOK – The Tornadoes haven’t lived up to many expectations in a while but with this group coming back a winning season is possible. Jones and Mitchell are solid and the other kids a pretty athletic. They had a hard time stopping the real good teams a year ago. Defensively they must get better if they are going step up into the big time in 1A. 3. SESSER-VALIER With the right combination of veterans and youth – Coach Danny Kirk has the athletes to challenge Trico for the BDC West crown. With three returning starters and a good core of reserves – S-V is looking at turning the won-loss numbers around from last winter’s 10-18 overall mark (2-8 in the BDC W). Six-foot-six senior center Todd Carpenter returns for his final prep season after leading the Red Devils with 15.4 points a game in 2006-07. This three-year starter and varsity performer also led the team with a sparkling 9.4 rebounds a game. His game has improved by leaps and bounds since he first stepped onto a high school floor and his final winter wearing Maroon and White could be special with a BDC West Division championship. With just two seniors lost to graduation from last season (Ty Vandekerkhove and Tyler Wingo) Coach Kirk has experience in abundance suiting up. Six-foot senior Kyle Crocker also returns for his prep finale. Crocker netted 5.3 points a night as a junior and added a team-best 5.2 assists a night (134 total). A quartet of freshman from a year ago stepped into the varsity shoes without issues while setting themselves up for what could be a very impressive sophomore season. Justin Matyi made his presences known in the Deep South while he became one of the top freshman varsity scorers with 9.3 points a game. Matyi is 6-foot-4 with skills and athletic ability. He can hit the mid-range shot or drive to the basket. Six-foot-three sophomore forward Kendall Gibson is also a frontcourt standout. His numbers were solid at 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds. T.J. Eubanks – a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward – averaged 4.7 p.p.g. and 2.9 r.p.g. A good backup for Crocker at point guard is 5-foot-9 sophomore Myles Tinsley. Some juniors that were passed over by that talented freshman group from a year ago will fill out the rest of the roster. They are important to the program and will provide back up minutes. The list includes Treg Vandekerkhove – a 6-foot guard – 5-foot-11 Jordan Kirk and 5-foot-10 Stevie Vercellino. One other senior – Michael Marlo – will have a shot at some leftover minutes. “If you look at our conference – Trico is the top team and Carterville is second,” said Coach Kirk – who is 23-56 in his three years as head coach of S-V. “After those top two, it is a toss up for the rest of us.” OUTLOOK – The outlook here is that Coach Kirk is rating his team a bit low. They have a good shot at knocking off the Pioneers to claim the West title. Carpenter, Crocker and the sophomore group will have plenty of firepower to hang with most of the teams on the schedule. They do have some improving to do this winter especially in the assist/turnover ratio that was about even from a year ago and some progression in their 3-point accuracy. If any of those stats show improvement in 2007-08 – the Red Devils will indeed turn those won/loss numbers around. 4. CARTERVILLE Coach Scott Burzynski has some experience back this year and he should get these Lions ready by the end of the season. With an extended playoff run in football taking several of the star athletes away from preseason basketball practice – Carterville may not hit its best stride until late in the campaign. With just three seniors missing from last season’s squad (15-17 overall, 7-3 in the BDC W) and six returning letterwinners – Coach B will have his club in the BDC W race until the end. Six-foot senior Tony Brown is back in the backcourt for the Lions. Brown is one of the top athletes in the league who is the quarterback on the very successful football squad. He is one of the leaders and huge part of this quality sports school. He averaged 14 points, three rebounds and three assists a game as a junior. He will open the season as the top shooting guard for Coach Burzynski and will handle the ball some for the Lions. Brad Drust is a 6-foot junior who is also still wearing football pads as this preview is written. Drust is a tough one to keep off the boards even though he gives away inches to most forwards. This one averaged 11 points and four rebounds a contest last winter. Six-foot-three senior Tyler Thomas has some size for Coach Burzynski to work with. Bradley Griffith is a 6-foot-2 senior who has experience. According to this coach – Griffith is the squads’ top glass cleaner at six rebounds a night. He also tossed in nine points a game. Junior Stephen Bleyer – a 5-foot-11 guard – handles the ball some for the Lions. He played mostly JV ball as a sophomore but came up to help out the varsity in the second half of the season. The sixth player back that earned a letter is Alec Lenzini – a 5-foot-10 senior. This one is a ‘blue collar’ play who will dive for the loose ball or jump into the stands. Lenzini added three points a game to the Carterville offense in 2006-07. Six-foot-one junior Clint Dolce was a key player on the JV team and 6-foot-4 Justin May will see more action this season as a junior. “We want to play an up tempo game and solid defense and I think that the experience that we got from last season will really help our team this season,” said Coach Burzynski – who is 177-134 in eleven seasons coaching at Elverado and Carterville. OUTLOOK – Advancing to the quarterfinals in the football playoffs will hurt the early season product that Coach Burzynski put out on the floor in the opening month of the season. It will take a couple of weeks at least to turn this gridiron gang into cagers. But by the end of the season the Lions will be in the pride that is at the top of this league. Brown, Drust and Co. will likely turn the success from the football team into a basketball winner. If they can weather the early storm of games – including the games in the Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic – they can finish above .500 and be ready for a postseason run. 5. CHRISTOPHER The Bearcats sent away a fine group of seniors from last season’s 21-7 club that lost in the first round to Du Quoin at the Trico Class A Regional. Gone from that group was First Team ABV Carbondale Supersectional Area pick Nick Minor. Also joining Minor in the cap and gown parade was Todd Twitty, Justin Palmer, Josh Overturf, Kyle Hargis, Zach Thomas, Nick Crnokrak, and David Motsinger. Nearly every point scored last season came from those eight. The Bearcats accomplished a lot in 2006-07. They won the Waltonville Invitational Tournament and took home the consolation championship from the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament. Christopher went 7-3 in the BDC West - which was good enough to finish second to Trico. The returning players are for the most part untested in varsity games. New head coach Jeff Minor takes over a ballclub that is the most inexperienced in the conference. Christopher averaged 56.8 points a game scoring in 2006-07. All but 6.1 points a game are gone. Four of the kids returning earned letters but none of them made much of a dent in games. Shawn Menckowski is a 5-foot-7 junior guard that averaged just 1.9 points a game as a sophomore. Coach Minor lists three other juniors that he hopes will step up. Five-foot-ten junior Chris Harrison, 5-foot-9 Rodney Fourez and 6-foot Derrick Threadgill all had mop up minutes in the big show. “This year we will be young, very young,” said Coach Minor who has been the freshman and JV coach at Christopher the past four years. “In the past we’ve had senior leadership and we are definitely lacking that this season. This will be a learning experience for many if not all of my players this season.” OUTLOOK – The sky won’t fall in Christopher but don’t expect the Bearcats to be nearly as competitive as they have been in the past. You can’t lose eight seniors and expect the youngsters to step in and become champions. They will win a few along the way but they will have to fight hard to keep an improving Elverado club from passing them in the standings. 6. ELVERADO New head coach Jon Hampton is excited about his program getting better and he has the kids ready to play. He is hoping to turn around a program that didn’t win a game in 2006-07. It only took a few days of practice to weed out some of the ones that didn’t want to play the Hampton way. In the long run it will help out this system. One of the best Falcons’ is coming back out to the team after sitting out a year. Five-foot-ten senior Jon Crane is a guard that has some quickness. He played a lot of varsity minutes as a sophomore and will help out the Elverado cause in 2007-08. Another kid who is a pretty good athlete in another sport has decided to come back to the round ball. Lee Stewart concentrated on archery and made a few headlines by being 25th in the nation by USA Archery Rolling Ranking Lists. But he is back to playing basketball and Coach Hampton believes he will be bring that winning attitude to the Falcons. Stewart is a 6-foot-2 forward. Also looking at playing time is 5-foot-8 junior Coy Cobin. This one also got into a lot of games as a sophomore and he will likely see a lot of time in the Elverado backcourt. When looking for size in the front court Coach Hampton is looking at 6-foot-5 sophomore Jordan Sarensen to help out a great deal. Although raw this one might turn out to be a big part of the Falcons attempt to get back to respectability in the next three seasons. There are four seniors that still want to be part of the picture and will continue to see playing time according to Hampton. Five-foot-ten guard Clay Cochran along with 6-foot Austin Hardwig, 5-foot-10 Robert Johnson and Cory Wilson will all suit up for the Falcons. Johnson has a broken left (non shooting) hand and could miss some early games. Blake Bishop is a 5-foot-8 junior guard who will also be in the running for time. There are also three newcomers to the varsity. Kyle Kempfer is a 6-foot-1 sophomore who Hampton thinks will help out. Five-foot-nine junior Teagan Armstrong and 6-foot junior Grant Choate are also part of the team and should get some minutes. ”We will be a small but competitive ballclub this year,” said an optimistic Coach Hampton who is in his first season as a head coach after working with freshmen at Murphysboro and the junior varsity at Elverado. OUTLOOK – Hampton isn’t a miracle worker but look for improvement in the Falcons play and record. With Crane and Stewart back and some size with the sophomore Sarensen – Elverado should at least be able to stand up to some of the teams in this area. Wins will be hard to come by but ABV projects a few. Five wins would really help the mental state of this program.

Your browser is not Java capable or Java has been disabled.