Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

Nashville opens Friday with new coach in command

Wesclin maintains young squad this year

The Nashville Hornets have a new coach on the bench for the first time in 18 years, but don't expect much of a drop-off.

"It's not too often you can replace a future Hall of Fame coach with a current Hall of Famer," said Central coach Stan Eagleson. "Nashville will be just fine, believe me."

Many share Eagleson's outlook on the Hornets, who welcome Brad Weathers back to the head coaching ranks. A member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Weathers replaces Darin Lee, who left after 18 seasons to take the Collinsville job.

Weathers amassed a 391-286 record in 23 seasons at Carlyle, leading the Indians to the Class A state championship in 1989. He left Carlyle after the 2003-04 season to become principal at Nashville.

Weathers -- currently working part time as director of the Regional Office of Education No. 13 Alternative School in Centralia -- was a volunteer assistant coach under Lee.

"Knowing the personnel and some of the abilities has definitely been a plus," said Weathers, who was hired on Sept. 1. "It's certainly not been an issue, but it's been a fast couple of months here getting everything ready to go."

Weathers' late hire, combined with a prolonged run in the Class 3A football playoffs, has forced Nashville to learn on the fly. Five players were members of the football team that lost to Tolono Unity in the quarterfinals on Nov. 14.

The Hornets open at 8 p.m. Friday against Wesclin at the Lebanon Thanksgiving Tournament at McKendree University.

"I think we can be a pretty good ballclub, but we're still rusty right now," Weathers said. "They were pretty successful last summer, and Darin was with them all summer. We're small, but we have depth, skill and a lot of kids that can shoot the ball. Our expectations are high, also."

Nashville's strength will be its guard play, where 6-foot-2 junior Sam Brown (9.3 ppg, 25 3-pointers) and 5-10 junior Tyler Meyer return. Also back is senior point guard Greg Guest, who missed last season with an ACL injury after starting as a sophomore.

Juniors Gannon Mamell and Zach Fieber, both football standouts, are also in the mix. Seniors Brock Pries (6-3), Kyle Heggemeier (6-2), Derek Sachtleben (6-1) and 6-6 junior Donovan Holle will man the middle.

"The vast majority of those kids can all shoot it well," Weathers said. "Most of the people we put on the floor can handle it and shoot it. We're looking at it as definitely a strength. Our obvious weakness is our lack of overall size. Hopefully, we can compensate for that with our depth and skill."

Wesclin (12-17)

Even without a senior on the team, a lot of area coaches are casting a wary eye toward the Wesclin Warriors.

"They were young last year and they're still young," Wesclin coach Brent Brede said of his squad. "Obviously we're going to be better, I just don't know how much."

Phil Kunz, a 6-7 junior and the top returning scorer, suffered a severe ankle sprain in September while playing volleyball and sat out six weeks while recovering.

The second-team All-Area pick averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds last season with 54 blocked shots, shooting just under 50 percent from the floor.

"At first they thought it was dislocated, but he's going to be fine," Brede said. "As a younger player, he had some really big games for us and there were some games where he wasn't as good. With his skill level, he can be a good all the time."

Sophomore point guard Alex Wilken (6.6 ppg, 59 assists) is among four returning starters along with 6-4 junior Kyle Emig (8.1 ppg, 31 3-pointers), 6-3 junior Chad Klein (6.9 ppg, 32 3-pointers) and Kunz. Josh West, a 6-2 junior, will also challenge for playing time.

"These guys got a year of varsity experience under their belt last year," Brede said. "We relied on freshmen and sophomores to do the majority of the scoring and to carry the load, which is a lot to ask even for good younger players.

"What we lacked in experience, we lacked in strength and size, too."

Brede believes the Cahokia Conference-Mississippi Division race is already over.

"I just don't see how anybody can beat Central," said Brede, who is using two of the conference's best teams of all-time and former state champions as a guide. "I measure high school basketball teams by the '89 Carlyle team and the '90 Wesclin team.

"I would not be surprised at the end of the year if you're talking about the '09-10 Cougars being in that category. They're just head and shoulders above us."

Red Bud (20-10)

The Musketeers have an intriguing mix of scoring and athleticism led by junior guard Adam Kunkel (15.4 ppg, 55 assists) and seniors Kory Liefer (9.9 ppg) and Stefan Gregson (8.7 ppg, 50 3-pointers).

They hope to build on the momentum of a 13-4 run to end last season, as well as a ball-hawking zone press defense that forced over 300 steals.

Liefer and senior Gregson are deadly 3-point shooter while Kunkel has shown an ability to score from anywhere on the floor.

"We've got plenty of shooters, no question about that,' Red Bud coach Dave Gillingham said. "I don't think scoring is going to be a concern for us and we've got quickness and will handle the ball well."

What is a concern is the lack of a true big man and much overall size at all. Gillingham is hoping the scoring and quickness of Kunkel and company can help offset that.

"Adam's real explosive," Gillingham said. "He's got a tremendously quick first step and he's a really good penetrator with great balance. When he gets an alley to the basket, he's usually going to get there."

Gregson is an emotional leader and workhorse who drives the defense and rebounding. Junior Jake Hoffman, a star quarterback in football, also has the potential to become a scoring and rebounding threat while senior Rhett Ringering and juniors Jordan Buch and Kollin Liefer also hope to contribute.

Hoffman scored 20 points against Central and worked his way into starter's minutes by the end of the year.

Junior Tyler Magruder is another potential 3-point threat.

Columbia (27-5)

The Eagles lost a talented trio to graduation in Brad Buettner, Tory Arzola and Brian Winters.

That group helped them reach the Vandalia Sectional last season after bring home championship hardware from the Freeburg-Columbia Holiday Tournament, the Sparta Mid-Winter Classic and the Roxana Regional.

"We've had two really good groups of seniors in a row," said Columbia coach Mark Sandstrom, whose current squad may go through some growing pains before rounding into form.

Two of the team's top players are dealing with injuries. Taylor O'Connor, a 6-5 junior who became a force on the inside last year while averaging 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds, is still dealing with the after-effects of a back injury suffered last season.

The Eagles weren't the same after O'Connor suffered a back injury in mid-January that kept him out until the sectional.

"His availability is up in the air," Sandstrom said. "When he's not on the floor for us, that's a problem. We'd like him to play in the McKendree Tournament, but our overall goal is to have him play in the first conference game at Wesclin.

"He's a really good back-to-the-basket player who added 10 pounds in the weightroom this summer. I'm just disappointed for the kid because basketball is everything to him."

Tanner Hall (6.8 ppg), a 6-2 senior guard and returning starter, is still rehabbing a shoulder injury that was hurt as the Eagles' quarterback in football.

"They got it as strong as they could because he's got some torn cartilage in there," Sandstrom said. "He could really help us."

Columbia has another emerging big man in 6-5 senior Billy Haag, while junior point guard Bryce Bastien and 6-2 junior Wilson Babb also will claim starting spots.

Babb is hoping to add more offense to an already sound defensive package while Bastien has some big shoes to fill in Arzola's point guard role.

"He's an x-factor, but I've got a lot of x-factors," Sandstrom said. "Normally I've got one or two and this year' I've got four or five."

Madison (11-17)

Any team with a talented player like Madison High senior Xavier Williams (15.2 points, 7.3 rebounds per game) has a chance to do damage in the postseason, especially in Class 1A where the Trojans dwell.

Madison has a new head coach in Jaime Cotto, a former assistant at Madison and Red Bud, and plays one of the toughest schedules of any Southern Illinois small-school team.

A second-team All-Area pick last year, Williams is one of four returning starters along with senior guard Kendall Echols (12 ppg, 45 3-pointers) and Delandis Farrar (8.4 ppg). Also returning in his third year as a starter is 6-5 senior Eric Mason (10.5 points, 5.6 rebounds per game).

Metro-East Lutheran (20-11)

Coach Chad Ambuehl continues to pile good seasons with the Knights, who lost 44-40 to Columbia in the Roxana Regional final last season.

The Knights return two talented players in senior guard Bob Schnietz (13 ppg) and Spencer Morris, a 6-6 senior forward who averaged 10.2 points and 6.6 rebounds.