BY JACK BULLOCK The broken record keeps skipping. For those of you youngsters who don't remember the phonograph record players, bare with me. Over and over again the crackling and popping. The needle stuck at the end of the album, The Cahokia Conference championships will be won this year again by Breese Central in the Mississippi and Lebanon in the Kaskaskia. Pretty simple, pretty straight forward. The Cougars and the Greyhounds; the Greyhounds and the Cougars. Ditto, ditto, and ditto. Head coach's Eagleson and Cruthis have had their way with these two divisions recently. Don't be surprised if it doesn't happen again this season. Lebanon showed they were a bit human by sharing the Kaskaskia pie with Steeleville last winter. Look for them to go back to being selfish again, in a basketball sense of course. Central returns a lot of talent, again. Last season the Cougars won 30-games, again. Skip, skip, skip. Lebanon has size and numbers back, again. Pop, pop, pop. Two very good programs leading two pretty good divisions. Central returns three starters and three reserves from an “Elite Eight” team from last season while Lebanon has seven talented players in a division in which everyone else lost a lot to graduation. On the Mississippi side, Coach Stan Eagleson has been the best coach in this school's history and this team he has coming into the season has the potential to be one of his best. Columbia will have to rebuild after losing all five starters and a top reserve from its 20-12 regional championship team. Wesclin had a coaching change in the middle of the season and the coach that took over at the end saw some good ones leave via graduation. The Warriors have some talent back ready to challenge. Carlyle under Coach Andy Palmer has four returning starters back from a team that was learning how to win games last season. Look for stark improvement this winter from the Indians. Red Bud lost some good players from last season but Coach Dave Gillingham will have a new bunch ready to battle in this division. Freeburg has had some rough sailing in the past few seasons but Coach TJ Hoover has his kids excited about playing basketball. A number of coaches who saw the Midgets this past summer noticed marked improvement. Hopefully that improvement will carry over to this season. In the Kaskaskia division Coach Cruthis has some size for the first time in a while. The last few season's the Greyhounds haven't fared too well in the postseason and this mentor hopes to change that this season. Steeleville lost all five starters and nine total seniors from 21-10 (9-1) team that shared the conference title with Lebanon for the first time. Coach Gerald Mumbower will start over with only a handful of kids with varsity experience returning. New Athens lost to graduation one of its best players in school history and head coach Marc Derwort will have to replace a lot of production. Marissa-Coulterville lost four senior starters but Coach Dirk Miller has a trio of players back with varsity time spent. Valmeyer will return several kids who played last season for Coach Nathan McSchooler's club that “never met a 3-point shot it didn't like.” Dupo's coach Doug Orcutt has some talent but there will be a lot of work to do. A very good junior group could produce more wins for the Tigers. The overall outlook here is that Breese Central appears to have another postseason run in them and that Lebanon should get back to dominating the Kaskaskia. “Breese Central will be a load again, a scary team with great defensive pressure and athleticism along with Brandon Book in the middle,” said Columbia head coach Mark Sandstrom. “It makes them the team to beat, hands down. Carlyle is very athletic and should be the number two team. Positions 3-5 will be up for grabs.”

MISSISSIPPI DIVISION 1. BREESE CENTRAL Head coach Stan Eagleson has made a habit out of getting his Cougars involved in more games than the rest of its league. Most schools end up playing 20-to-25 games but not these greedy Cougars. Breese Central has won, not just played but won, 30-games three different times. His squads have won at least 25 games eight times. Since getting on this roll in 1998-99 season with a regional title, Central is 315-100 overall, which is a 76 percent winning percentage. Coach Eagleson will say you can't win without good players. He has had some very good ones and this year is no exception. Central returns a senior who is a four-year starter and by the end of the season will be the school's all-time leading scorer. Six-foot-six senior forward Brandon Book enters this season with 1,128-points, just 515 points shy of David Wiegmann's school mark of 1,643. Book averaged 15.9 points a game while cleaning up around the glass with 7.3 r.p.g. He is a legitimate first team all-state candidate and last season he was first team ABV 2A Deep South. Two other starters are back with 5-foot-10 senior Nick Grapperhaus and 6-foot-1 sophomore Jacob Timmerman. Grapperhaus averaged 8.3 points a game for Breese Central last season while Timmermann had a very good freshman season with 7.9 p.p.g. These three returning starters are the key to any success that Breese Central will have this season. The remaining players coming back have experience from last season. Five-foot-eight junior Justin Becker came off the bench last season and added some offense (1.4 p.p.g.) while Austin Rickhoff, a 6-foot-2 junior, got to help out in 22 games as a sophomore. Six-foot-five Kyler Scheer averaged 1.5 points in 30 games off the bench in 2010-11. Of those three, two will likely start while the other one will be one of the first off the bench. Coach Eagleson listed three other kids that could help out this season. Two of them are seniors. Gavin Thomas is a 5-foot-10 guard who could come off the bench for Bresse Central along with 6-foot-1 Andrew Schulte. Both should give quality reserve minutes. Greg Meyer, a 5-foot-9 junior, can come in for backcourt backup, especially at the point. Four good players were lost to graduation with Brandon Rakers, Alex Timmermann, Blake Norrenberns and Keaton Scheer leaving the program and their collective marks on this school's basketball legacy. They took 20.8 points a game with them and a lot of defensive quality. However this season won't be about individual records, it will be about getting back to Peoria. It is a place that this school and this program knows so well. Breese Central has made four trips to the state finals in the past nine seasons. They brought home the fourth place trophy in their last march in March and came just a game short of reaching Peoria once again last season. Murphyboro exacted some revenge on the Cougars with a 41-34 win at the West Frankfort 2A Supersectional. “We will have good senior leadership in Brandon Book and Nick Grapperhaus,” said Coach Eagleson. “The junior class of Becker, Rickhoff and Scheer are going to have to step up if we are to duplicate last years success. Our perimeter defense should be a strength of the team, along with Book.” OUTLOOK – ABV has little doubt that the kids Coach Eagleson will need to step up, will. All the other teams he has had have stepped up at the right time. Since this coach came into this school, success has happened. Pieces of hardware have piled up at this school and Coach Eagleson has had a great deal to do with it. ABV believes there could be another piece of hardware left that this coach hasn't gotten yet. Book is probably the best player in the Deep South heading into the season. If this crew can stay healthy and the bench kids can do the job when asked, there is no reason to think that Breese Central won't make as deep a run as they did last season. Add one more win to that run this season. The Cougars are the ABV Peoria pick, again. Skip, skip, skip.

2. CARLYLE The Indians haven't exactly set the world a blaze in the past few seasons but the youngsters that took the losses recently have gotten better because of the experience. Head coach Andy Palmer has four returning starters and some experience off the bench back from its team that tried to slow down Breese Central last February at the Nashville 2A Regional. Carlyle kept the score down but couldn't keep Central from winning, 44-31. This Tribe finished 13-16 overall and 4-6 in the Mississippi Division. But Coach Palmer may actually crack a smile or two this season because the ones he has back appear to be ready for a change in those numbers. The four back that laced them up and heard their names called on a PA all bring something to the table. Two of the players are senior vets. Jordan Smith, a 6-foot guard, averaged 9.3 points a game last winter while pacing the Indians with 2.3 assists. None of the Indians averaged double-figures in scoring and Smith was at the top of the list. Hunter Hartung is a 6-foot-2 senior who led the Indians in rebounding with four rebounds a game to go with 8.1 p.p.g. Look for 6-foot junior guard Cody Huels to continue to improve. Huels put up 7.5 points and dished out a couple of assists a game. The fourth player from last season returning is Matt Hilmes, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, who netted 8.1 points a game that was tied for second on team in average. Those four are a pretty good group to have back when Carlyle heads out on its journey in 2011-12. Coach Palmer mentioned some others who will be in competition for the fifth spot in the starting lineup and the reserve unit. Six-foot-four junior Nathan Miller returns after playing in 12 games as a sophomore. Since basketball is a vertical game it is nice to have tall kids to play. Miller will add some size to the lineup if Coach Palmer wants to go in that direction. Karnealus Walker, a 6-foot junior, got his feet wet a bit last season off the bench, appearing in a few varsity minutes. Five-foot-eleven junior Logan Zachry and 6-foot-2 sophomore John Becker should be part of the equation for Carlyle this season. When you play basketball in this conference and this county, you better have plenty of warm bodies ready to battle. “We will be young again with only three seniors but we have experience and some depth. Those should be our strengths this year.” said Coach Palmer, who has a 316-176 mark in 17 seasons as a head coach. “We're looking to improve on our won/loss record and conference finish.” OUTLOOK – ABV believes that Carlyle will improve both marks this winter. A funny thing about taking lumps in life or basketball, all of those defeats add up to some very good understanding about what it takes to get better. Look for this team to show marked improvement. They might not leap into any sort of title picture but they have the makings of a much better team than last season. With this sort of schedule they could be a lot better and still not win that many more games. But when the playoffs start in February, the Indians will be a lot tougher “OUT” in 2011-12.

3. COLUMBIA The Eagles' mentor Mark Sandstrom sent away a good bunch of kids last spring from a team that won a regional title and with a 20-12 mark. Sandstrom is 121-65 at Columbia with four regional titles in his six seasons at this school. The ones missing from last season compiled a lot of stats. Bryce Bastien, Taylor O’Connor and Wilson Baab could all score and rebound. They remove 38.2 points per contest from the totals with graduation. This trio led the Eagles to yet another regional title with a 59-43 win over Metro-East Lutheran to win the Columbia 2A Regional championship. But this program has enough talent coming up that it is doubtful anyone feels for the Columbia club. Coach Sandstrom listed seven players who he believes will step it up this season. Six-foot-three Tommy Lewis is a senior forward who was one of the top players off the bench for the Eagles as a junior. He came off the bench to score 10 points in the regional title win and averaged 3.5 points a game. Lewis will give the Eagles some inside strength and will be a part of the offensive framework. The next three are juniors on the list. Coach Sandstrom has Hayden Landgraf, a 6-foot-2 junior, who played in 25 games last season. According to this coach, Landgraf has potential to be a very good player for the Eagles. Six-foot junior Michael Hunsaker loves to hang out in the gym (gym rat) and it has proven productive as he has improved his game to the point that Coach Sandstrom will count on him to be one of the playmakers on the club. Good point guards are essential for team success and that role will be filled by 5-foot-10 junior Adam Babb. Coach Sandstrom calls this one a “traditional” point guard as he is very unselfish and he is a good defender. The rest of the group is untested heading into this season. But with an early season tournament looming, this group will be tested early. Cole Foster is a 6-foot-4 sophomore who should mature into a good low post player. Coach Sandstrom likes his competitive fire and expects big things from him in the future. Six-foot-seven sophomore Jacob Wessel will bring a lot to the lineup with good size to have. Wessel should mature into a very good player as has skills away from the basket. Tyler Schutzenhofer is a 6-foot-4 senior who didn't play last season and should help out by adding some scoring punch. Coach Sandstrom mentioned some other kids who could see some action. Six-foot senior Christian Pilch, 5-foot-8 senior Ryan Murray, 6-foot-3 junior Eric Jessen, 6-foot-4 sophomore Chris Donovan, 6-foot junior Nick Rodenberg, 6-foot-3 junior Connor Mallinckrodt and 5-foot-10 sophomore and Trey Search. If this coach mentions them, they are likely going to play some minutes at some point during the season. With the schedule this club plays and the tournaments that they are involved with, numbers are a big component. “I’m really excited about our team this year, it will be fun to build this team. We are basically starting from scratch as we return limited experience, but I really like our pieces. I’m excited about the progress we made over the summer. We will have good size and I think we will have balanced scoring instead of our two-headed attack last year,” finalized Coach Sandstrom. “We are relatively young with the trio of junior guards and trio of big men in the sophomore class, so our future is bright. However, it will take some time though to get them experience at the varsity level so we could have some bumps in the road early in the season. I think our key will be how high of a level we can defend at and how quickly we adjust to speed and physicality of varsity basketball. OUTLOOK – Look for the Eagles to adjust and this team could be quite a tough challenge for anyone late in the season. They possess some size, some skill around the perimeter and should be able to hold their own defensively. Look for the Eagles to win way more than they lose but it may be February before the experience of the early season begins to help. If the regional setup stays the same, Columbia could end up with its second consecutive regional title. As for the league, they and Carlyle should battle it out for second in the Mississippi Division.

4. WESCLIN Andrew Wilson was promoted to head coach last winter after then head coach Chris VanderBunt abruptly resigned. Wilson scrambled together a game plan and got the Warriors in good shape heading into the Nashville 2A Regional. Unfortunately for the seniors last season, Wesclin ran into the host of perhaps the toughest regional in the South and were sent home with a 19-11 mark. There were some highlights. They rallied for a big win over Flora to capture the championship of the Vandalia Holiday Tournament and the senior group heading out can remember a nice run. Six-foot-seven senior center Phil Kunz closed out his prep career with 17.2 points and 7.9 rebounds a game to top his team. Kunz was named ABV 2A second team and also received all-conference and IBCA honors. The other five seniors from last season, Josh West, Chad Klein, Kyle Emig and Austin Hilmes all will be missed as will their point totals. Counting Kunz' scoring, the Warriors will be down 35 points per contest heading into 2011-12. Coach Wilson, a standout player for Nashville during his prep days, will need to have some new kids help out the ones back if they are going to move up and challenge the teams in this conference and in the Clinton County neighborhood. The top returning offensive marksman is Alex Wilken, a 6-foot-2 senior who has been a part of this program's productively for three previous seasons. Wilken chipped home 13.3 points a game while leading his squad with 2.5 assists a game. This senior leader will look for a few new recipients of those assists this season. The players back with experience include 6-foot senior Eric Detering who played in 23 of the games last season. Another senior in the group is a transfer from Sparta. Six-foot-two guard Alek Sopiars comes into the program and should help out, according to Coach Wilson. But it is the youngsters that should have everyone in Orange and Black excited about Warriors basketball in 2011-12. A pair of sophomores return after playing a lot of minutes as freshmen. Six-foot-four Brady Kunz, younger brother of Phil, played in 28 of the 30 Warrior wars last winter and averaged 3.3 points a game. Those numbers could rise in a hurry this season because Wesclin is going to need players get better. With more minutes under his belt, look for Kunz to become a real threat in this league. Those same words can be said about Michael Klein, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, who tossed in 3.6 p.p.g. in limited duty. With two up and coming sophomores in the lineup, Coach Wilson has some tools to work with this season and two more. This mentor mentioned Daniel Takacs, a 6-foot-4 junior, who could earn some minutes in this rotation as will 6-foot-1 junior Trent Rieger, 5-foot-9 sophomore Alex Smith and 6-foot-2 junior Chase Klein. Chase Haselhorst, a 5-foot-10 junior, and 6-foot-3 sophomore Kyle Eversgerd could end up in some games, too. All of those kids are newcomers to the varsity ranks but could help out with reserve minutes. “This year's team will be quite different from last year after losing an all-state center. This year we have only one true post player who has limited experience. Our senior leadership along with Klein and Kunz continued development will be a key to our team. I'm sure someone will step up and surprise me as well,” said Coach Wilson. OUTLOOK – This team could surprise some people this season. Although they are missing a lot of firepower, don't look for a huge drop. The tournaments that they play in will be tough and those regs will be difficult as well. This team as a whole could be quicker and they look a bit deeper than last season's club. The two sophomores (Kunz, Klein) will get better and as they do, so will the Warriors. They could be right in the hunt for 20-wins, even though there is a lot of work to be done.

5. RED BUD Head coach Dave Gillingham has had some talented kids roam his hallways since he arrived at the school but they all seem to be lacking something. Mostly height. It is no slight on this program, but the guards at this school have always been very good and have overshadowed the bigs. And not having much size in the frontcourt doesn't help matters when playing in this conference. Don't look for that to change too much as this coach has some additional diminutive Musketeers returning from last season. There are some good ones missing from 2010-11. Top scorer Adam Kunkel, a 5-foot-10 guard, who scored 20.7 points a game as a senior. He is one of five senior players gone from the team that traveled to Sparta for a 2A Regional where they were ousted by the host Bulldogs, 49-36 in the tourney opener. Coach Gillingham saw Kunkel, Tyler Magruder, Jake Hoffman, Kollin Liefer and Andrew Schlueter walk the isle last spring. Without those seniors, a lot of minutes are now ready for the taking by a new group. There are some key personnel returning to the Musketeers and this coaching staff to work with. Maybe the best of the returning players is in the frontcourt for the first time in many years for this school. Six-foot-four senior forward Jacob Kueker led the club with 168 rebounds, an average of right at six per contest, while finishing second on in the scoring parade with 10.9 p.p.g. On a team that didn't have a lot of size, Kueker was the one who played “mas grande” in the middle. Kueker blocked 35 shots in the lane. He will need to continue to come up big for Red Bud on both ends of the floor. Alex Phegley is also back for his senior season. At 6-foot-1 this experienced forward averaged 5.1 points a game last winter while hitting some big shots to keep the opposition honest on the defensive end. Another potential starter for the Musketeers is Garrett Salger, a 5-foot-11 senior, who is one of the best athletes at the school while possessing a high basketball sense. He improved his game offensively and he can be added to the weaponry that Red Bud will have on display. Coach Gillingham also added Jordan Schneider to the list of prospects for minutes. The 6-foot senior worked on getting physically stronger which should help his game. Gillingham says he “may be the most improved shooter on the team” which will help program that always seems to have kids that can score. One of the players is coming off of an injury and should be available before Christmas. Travis Schwartz is a 5-foot-11 senior who could be the best shooter on the team but wasn't consistent last season. In limited time, he hit 77 percent of his free throws. If Coach Gillingham is looking for more size in the lane then he can turn to 6-foot-4 senior Jason Greer, who will be playing organized basketball for the first time but had a good summer with the team. Red Bud could also use some minutes from 6-foot-1 senior Ben Huegle who, like Greer, hasn't got a lot of experience after playing just one year of basketball on the junior varsity a year ago. Six-foot-one junior Kenny Wilson should also continue to develop and will see varsity minutes as will 5-foot-10 junior Greg Godier. “As usual, Breese Central is the team to beat in the Cahokia Conference as they have a great nucleus returning. They have really dominated our league for a few years now and this year looks like more of the same. In my opinion, Carlyle might have a little separation from the rest of us also as they were playing very well at the end of last season and several of their key players are back. Wesclin appears to have their coaching situation settled and with the return of their point guard and a couple of talented sophomores who saw a lot of time last year as freshman, I look for them to have a nice squad. Columbia had some key personnel turnover but as their newcomers get some game experience they should evolve into a pretty solid group. Watching Freeburg play this summer I can say they are headed in the right direction after a couple of rough years. We hope to finish in the upper tier but as always, our conference is always challenging and will have its share of surprises,” finalized Coach Gillingham, a Carrollton native who was a guard on the 1984 Hawks' team (with Marshall head coach Tom Brannan) that that went to Champaign. “I think these kids understand better than previous years that if we don’t defend and rebound, we have little chance against most of the teams on our schedule. I really believe we’ll play with almost everybody if we execute our defensive fundamentals, that’s where it has to start whether it’s man or zone. Since I’ve been at Red Bud, we have certainly taken our share of beatings on the boards, we have never averaged more rebounds than our opponent in any season. Part of the reason has probably been a lack of emphasis on my part coupled with a lack of toughness and desire but regardless, a lot of our inability to control the glass has simply been that we were undersized. Although this is not a huge team either, I really think we will be much improved in this phase of the game … at least all of our players are taller than me.” OUTLOOK – This coach knows that for his club to hang with the bangers in the Cahokia Conference they need to get tougher on the defensive end. They have some taller kids in the system now and that should make things a bit better when they play against these larger teams. Kueker is a key component for the Musketeers but he won't have to do it alone. There is improvement across the board. Red Bud should add a few more victories this season and play the top ones tougher in 2011-12.

6. FREEBURG It hasn't been that long ago that the Midgets were standing tall in this conference, back even before the separation into divisions. When coach Norm toenjes was the head coach, Freeburg had some near regional title teams. But since the 18-10 team in 2006-07, Freeburg hasn't posted a winning mark. Coach Donovan McMillian had a three year total of 22-62 before last season when new head coach TJ Hoover took over. Hoover's first team last season went 2-27 overall and 0-10 in the league. But a few coaches who saw this club this past summer saw improvement, which is a good thing for all concerned. Freeburg graduated three seniors from that club that narrowly lost its opener to East Alton-Wood River 49-45 at the Columbia 2A Regional. Joe Kapp, Andy Koeller and Lucas Wolf were seniors on that team but none of them were the top scorer on the squad. That honor was bestowed on Justin Diecker, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, who as a freshman averaged 11.3 points and six rebounds for the Midgets. This one could turn out to be a rare gem for this program. Miles Money, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, was also part of that team last season and should start as will 6-foot-3 senior Andy Cockrell. Money was second on the team with 7.7 points a night while Cockrell chipped home 2.3 p.p.g. Two juniors are back after earning a letter last winter. Justin Livers, a 5-foot-10 guard, averaged 2.9 points per try while Cody Berger, 6-foot guard, got into 14 games. Dan Borrenpohl is a 6-foot-3 senior and Dalton Crunk is a 6-foot-1 junior. Both are newcomers to varsity play. “This conference is a gauntlet but you still have to expect Central to be the team to beat,” said Coach Hoover, who coached previously at Barry/West Pike as an assistant before taking over at Freeburg. “Carlyle should sneak up on some people this season as they have gotten older which means they will be better.” OUTLOOK – This team will also sneak up on some people this year. It may take a few more seasons but Freeburg will eventually get better. This school has a large enrollment and somewhere along the line they will field another winner. This season wishful thinking will add three or four additional wins and a better attitude overall.

KASKASKIA DIVISION 1. LEBANON Coach Chad Cruthis has had in very cushy in this conference since the split. The Greyhounds have lost a total of two league contests since the the Cahokia went small/large. The problems have always lay outside of the bubble. This club looks like it might have the talent to win that elusive regional title. Adding a IHSA Regional trophy to all of those conference awards would suit this coach. Cruthis is a former Piasa Southwestern Bird, a player on a near regional title team that was unbeaten and ranked number one in the state. From that 1989 squad he was teammates with a pretty famous former St. Louis Cardinals' relief pitcher. More on that in a bit. So we know that this coach knows a little something about winning games. For 2011-12, this might be the team that takes this school back to the postseason level of years before. When the state first went to the two-class system, Lebanon was one of the schools who benefited. In a 20 year frame, Lebanon won seven regional titles and reached three Class A Supersectionals. But the last regional crown came in 1995. Four seniors from last season's 23-9 team are missing. Tyler Sonsoucie, Taylor Johnson, Trae Crump and Kyle Moore are gone from the team that was on the brink of winning a regional title last February. However they fell just short with a 69-66 loss to nemesis Madison in the championship game of the Bunker Hill 1A Regional. His Greyhounds have the look of a potential regional titlist again this season. They have size and some kids back with varsity battles behind them. Six-foot-two senior Tommy Pilackas returns with his 14.7 points a game average to surely increase. Pilakas was “the man” on the boards for Coach Cruthis, nabbing a team-best 8.2 rebounds per contest. Two other seniors are back but both will be pushed for starting assignments from a good group of underclassmen. Cody Zurliene, a 5-foot-10 guard, played in 30 of the contests last season (1.6 p.p.g.) for the Hounds. Senior Alex Thole, a 5-foot-8 guard, was used sparingly and will probably fill that role again this season as did 6-foot-4 senior Harry Lanfersieck (1.4 p.p.g.). The real contributions to help out Pilakas should come from the underclassmen.” Lebanon will put some size on the floor with a two kids above 6-foot-3. Six-foot-six junior Zach Schoenfeld played in 17 games (1.7 points) last season and he will certainly have the opportunity to move on up to starting status. The same can be said for 6-foot-3 junior Mason Christ (1.5 p.p.g.) who should also see more playing time. Christ and Schoenfeld are over 200 lbs. each so they will bring some size to the show. A sophomore for Coach Cruthis deserves a mention; 6-foot-1 Taylor Schmitt, who averaged 1.8 points a game as a freshman. “We will play a different style this year comppared to the past because we will be bigger and stronger,” said Coach Cruthis, who is 144-130 in his ten seasons at Lebanon. “Tommy Pilakas must be a good leader on and off the court for us and out players will have to accept certain roles offensively and defensively for us to succeed. Depending on our role acceptance, we could win 12-14 games or we could win 20. The kids will need to believe in the new system. Just like the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, every player must believe they are equally important to the team no matter what their role is.” Speaking of those Cardinals, it was Jason Isringhausen that was a teammate of Cruthis and Pana head coach Gary Bowker at Piasa Southwestern in 1989. That team was 26-0 and ranked number one in Class A when they lost to White Hall-North Greene in the regional championship game. OUTLOOK – This team won't be as fast as some of his clubs but they will have enough size to intimidate the smaller teams in the Kaskaskia. They always get a tough test in their own early season tournament and there are some other roadblocks ahead at the Columbia/Freeburg Tournament and the midwinter event at Litchfield. Pilakas keys everything that happens for the Greyhounds this season. If the other kids step up, especially the frontcourt players, then Lebanon will win this league again and 20-wins will be achieved.

2. MARISSA-COULTERVILLE The Meteors, according to most of the coaches in the area, have one of the best returning players in this division with Joey Smith "Back in Black" and Orange. Smith was one of the top scorers in the area last season, notching 17.8 points a game while shooting nearly 49 percent from the floor. His 71.6 percent free throw average was one of the best in the Deep South of kids who attempted more than 100 shots (116-of-162). Smith didn't mind sharing the wealth, as he was the M-C top assist man with 2.9 a.p.g. According to Coach Dirk Miller, the Meteors will be undersized again but this coach is optimistic that the ones coming up to replace the graduated seniors will get the job done. Four seniors have left; Joey Martin, Clint Runyon, Kevin Galle and Joel Klimas are gone from the 10-19 team that beat New Athens in the first round of the regional before losing to eventual champ Trico, 60-34. Martin was second to Smith on the leader-board with 9.9 points a game while Runyon added 8.7 p.p.g. last winter. Galle and Klimas combined for 10 points a game so there will be work to be done to replace almost 30 p.p.g. There were a few highlights last season. Getting to play four games at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament, winning two and losing a close game to Chester in the fifth place game was a good experience all around. Anytime you are playing on the final day of a four-day event, you have accomplished a mission. Seeded eighth and dead last at the Chester Tournament, the Meteors nearly beat top-seed Perryville (MO.) in the opening round. The Meteors won their next two games to cop the consy title. Coach Miller will miss the kids but the work ethic, according to the coach, is what he hopes his up coming kids understand and can mimic. Smith is going to need some help and he will get it from a couple of returning players who have experience. Logan Tabor, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, averaged a modest 5.1 points a game as a junior. Tabor grabbed 2.1 rebounds and handed out 2.3 assists per game. Expect Tabor to add some offense this season. He nailed 28 3-pointers as a junior. Austin Place, a 6-foot-2 junior, is a forward that Coach Miller expect to do some good things around the basket. Place was pretty important last season, adding 3.9 points and 3.7 rebounds to the team effort. Chaz Phelps, a 5-foot-6 junior, 5-foot-10 senior Jeremiah James and 6-foot senior Vince Greer will all be in the competition for those extended varsity minutes. Coach Miller has a pair of kids coming back to the team after not playing last season. Lucas Baird, a 6-foot-2 junior, and 5-foot-10 senior Conner Knop should both provide some depth. Our ultimate team goal would be to finish near the top (or at the top) of the conference and end up with a winning overall record,” said Coach Miller, one of those McLeansboro natives that have basketball and coaching in their blood stream. “With a proven point guar in Joey Smith and other players that know their roles specifically, I'm optimistic about our chances. Smith is about 350 points from 1,000 so that would be a nice milestone for him to earn.” OUTLOOK – This team is dangerous because Smith can score and they appear to have enough kids that can handle the rock to keep them out of trouble. They will open up with a tough tournament against two of the ABV Top Five 1A teams in Okawville and Woodlawn. So this coach will get a preview of what needs to be worked on. As for this league, they probably won't be able to take down Lebanon but everyone else is on about the same plane. It would be nice to see those numbers turned around in the standings for the Meteor fans.

3. NEW ATHENS It will be tough for head coach Marc Derwort to look out on the court and not see Vince Kiefer playing. The 6-foot-5 senior left the program after a four-year career that was pretty special. Kiefer averaged 17.4 points a game last season while dragging down 11.5 rebounds a contest. The Yellow Jackets didn't have a great season but it wasn't because Kiefer didn't deliever the mail. New Athens slipped a bit overall to just 10-16 in 2010-11 with just a 5-5 mark in the Kaskaskia Division. The Yellow Jackets fell to Marissa-Coulterville 58-50 on their own floor to close out the year in the opener of the regional. One other senior missing from last season is Chris Weber, one of Coach Derwort's top outside threats. Weber was a 5-foot-11 senior guard who hit 30 percent of his 3-point attempt and averaged 4.9 points. Coach Dewort has four kids back that he mentioned that he will start the first season of AK, After Kiefer. This mentor believes the numbers will be up from previous seasons. “We will have more depth this year than we have ever had in my tenure at New Athens and I expect a bench that can go 9-10 deep,” Coach Derwort explained. “I am very confident that our five seniors can do a solid job of leading in practice and games and am anxiously waiting to see how our team matures throughout the season.” Adam Ingles is the leading scorer from last year that returns to NA. Ingles is a 6-foot-2 senior who averaged 9.2 points an outing as a junior guard/forward. He was second on the team in rebounds with 147 total while dishing out 2.7 assists. He will be expected for more scoring this season. Another of the returning starters is 5-foot-11 senior Brendan Stolte (3.7 p.p.g.). Two other seniors returning are Zach Bickel, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, and 5-foot-10 senior guard Chance Wacker. Six-foot-six senior Neil Laumbattus returns. He played in just five games last season on the varsity but that will change this season. Coach Derwort mentioned a couple of underclassmen returning that added some math to the sheet. Tyler Meyer, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, had a good freshman season for New Athens. Meyer added 7.4 points to the stats along with 5.8 rebounds. Jeremy Hepp is also back for the club, a 5-foot-11 junior, who added 3.9 points per game. Coach Derwort believes he will have some additional kids to work with that will make an impact. Two other juniots; 5-foot-10 guard Luc Marlow and 6-foot guard Blake Ragland, could end up helping out. “This season will prove to be very interesting. We bring back some experience from last year’s team, but each player will have redefined roles as we try to fill holes left behind from two seniors,” said Coach Derwort, a Gibault Catholic grad from 1992 and player from a supersectional team in 1991. “I expect some early inconsistencies and we will find out what our weaknesses are early while we try and fight our way through a very difficult schedule to open our season. OUTLOOK – Things will be difficult at the beginning of the season without their top scorer for the last three seasons, but look for the Yellow Jackets to come up with some new ways to make teams “feel the sting.” Coach Derwort will be able to do a lot with this depth, something that is a decided luxury at 1A schools. Although they probably will struggle with some of the tough teams on the schedule (Okawville Tournament, Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament, etc.) look for New Athens to be very competitive. There are going to be some teams on the schedule they can beat. It is just a matter of going out and getting the job done.

4. DUPO Yes the Tigers, one of the teams that have had a rough go in the last decade, have some talent back and a coach that believes in them, heading into what could be a break through year. With most of the teams in this conference suffering major graduation loses, this might be the year that one of the bottom feeders gets a shot at the big prize. Coach Doug Orcutt took over this program last season and the group he has coming back look athletic enough to challenge the better teams in the area and could escalate the win total to double-digits for the first time in recent memory. There was just one kid missing from the last season that has graduate. Caleb Tatum was the top gun for the Tigers last season (15.7 p.p.g.) and he is gone. Coach Orcutt has ten kids who he says are equal in talent and can all play minutes. So there is no reason to leave any of them out of this preview. There is just one senior and he is a transfer in from Gibault Catholic. Six-foot-two senior Kelly Disel comes into the program and Coach Orcutt believes he can help out. The top returning scorer from last season is Matt McDonald, a 6-foot-2 junior, who was just under 10 points per game If you go just by averages, the next kid in line is Demons Brown who is a 5-foot-8 junior guard that averaged 4.7 points a game. Jimmy Dickerson is a 6-foot junior (3.8 p.p.g.) and Jason Meagher is a 5-foot-10 junior (two points per game) and both of those guards could be in the starting lineup. Look for Ahmad Pollard, a 5-foot-9 junior guard who scored 1.5 p.p.g. last season as a sophomore to play a lot of minutes as will 5-foot-10 junior Austin Baker. Those are the juniors, a crew that as sophomores cut their teeth in varsity proceedings. The sophomore class has some good athletes as well with 5-foot-8 guard Deandre Brown back along with 6-foot guard Brett Aldridge and 5-foot-10 guard Danny Riefel. Riefel was strickly a junior varsity player last season while Aldridge has a busy fall as he was the starting quarterback on the Tigers' football team. “Basically these kids have gotten a lot of experience from last year and should be a lot better,” said Coach Orcutt. “No real stars, they just do their jobs. We could have a different leading scorers each night this season. For us to win I will need all 10 of these players to make a difference.” OUTLOOK – It has been a while since this program was really good. But sometimes like the old saying, “what goes around comes around.” Dupo hasn't had much to cheer about when it comes to boy's basketball but it looks like this junior group could have a nice two-year journey. They lack size but that doesn't come into much of an effect if there is quickness there. The Tigers look like they will be quick enough to handle most of the teams on their schedule. Dupo was just 2-25 last season. It will be a big surprise if they lose that many games this year. They could definitely jump up to double-digits in wins and should find a few victories in this league this time around.

4. STEELEVILLE Graduation hits all 1A teams hard on occasion but Steeleville's loses from the 2010-11 team were like “Thor's Hammer.” Gone from the Warriors team that shared the league title last season are nearly all the points and rebounds from a club that reached a regional title game before falling to Trico at New Athens, 66-48. All five starters and nine total seniors have disappeared from sight, taking nearly everything with them in the way of stats and minutes played. Two of them were 1,000-point scorers; Colin Smith and Andrew Pokrzywinski. Both are gone from the 21-10 team that handed Lebanon its only loss in the league in 2010-11. The other kids missing are worth mentioning because they were a part of the resurgence from last season. Nick Potter, James Hall, Joey Wittenbrink, Kris Beshears, Jeremy Wilson, Coire Reel and Torrey Gerberding makes the number nine total of departed vets. Head coach Gerald Mumbower will get back to work with only two players back with much varsity experience. Five-foot-ten senior Jacob Combs is back along with 6-foot-4 junior Darin Winkelman. This coach will look to a whole new group to fill in the other three starting slots and the reserve corpes. Coach Mumbower can turn to some size for his starting five. Six-foot-four senior Jeff Wilson and 6-foot-3 Reid Wilson could fit the bill in the frontcourt for Steeleville. Dylan Wesbecher, a 6-foot-1 junior, is in the mix as is 6-foot-2 sophomore Steven Uchtman, 5-foot-8 sophomore Kyle Smith and 5-foot-10 sophomore A.J. Jeffers. “We are a little bigger than in the past, if we can play defence and rebound we can stay competitive in our conference,” said Coach Mumbower. “We won't score as well as we have the last couple of years. We need to realize the only way we can compete is to be very unselfish.” OUTLOOK – Losing that much offense and those kids with experience is going to hurt the Warriors early in the season. They will play five games at the Trico Pioneer Invitational Tournament and this will be a measuring stick for this coach and this program. The good news is that besides Lebanon, there probably isn't anyone in this league that they won't be able to match up with. They should stay above the .500 mark for another season and rebuild for the future.

6. VALMEYER ABV, in doing the Valmeyer preview, came across a number that is very interesting. The Pirates, who fired up outside shots last season at an alarming rate, hit 25 percent of their 3-point shots. In fact nearly all of the shots they took last season were 3-pointers. Valmeyer attempted 704 trifectas. That isn't a typo. Seven-hundred-and-four shots from behind the arc. ABV believe's that “chicks dig the long ball” but, wow!!! As for 2011-12 the Pirates will look to replace four seniors, including its top two scorers (launchers) from that 2010-11 team that ended up 9-15 overall after falling to Chester, 82-71, at the New Athens 1A Regional. Gone are brother's Mike and Ben Wuelling, who scored 17.6 and 13.1 points per contest respectively. Both will be missed. Two other seniors who are no longer at the school are Tom Hildreth and Jake Rusteberg. The ones coming back for head coach Nathan McSchooler consist of five seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and some incoming freshman. The way that this coach likes to run the floor, all will probably play extended minutes this season. The top two scorers returning each averaged exactly eight points a game as juniors. Six-foot senior Aaron Crossin and 5-foot-11 senior Joe Heavner finished third and fourth in the scoring procession last winter. Jon Heavner, a 5-foot-11 senior and twin to Joe, didn't play as much last season but should see more minutes. Scott Andres, a 5-foot-11 senior, chipped home 6.5 p.p.g. Six-foot-one senior Cole Goldschmidt scored at a 4.8 per game clip. Six-foot-one junior Brady Roberts (4.8 p.p.g.) returns as does 5-foot-11 junior Luke Andres. All of these players mentioned played a lot of minutes while the rest of the roster is untested. OUTLOOK – The Pirates will continue to play this sort of basketball and it worked nine times last season so it wasn't all bad. The problem is that they didn't shoot a good enough of a percentage to beat any of the really good teams on the schedule. With their lack of height in the program, rebounding was also a problem last season. Single-digit wins and an entertaining way to play the game. "Viva Trifecta!!!"