By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Tyler Ryerson’s third season at Strafford will have a similar feeling to that of last year due to graduation losses.
The Indians return just one starter and five total lettermen from last year’s 18-10 edition, a team that was one shot away from a district championship.
Now it’ll fall on the shoulders of senior point guard Vance Mullins and a group that’ll have to rapidly adjust to new roles in the midst of a tough schedule.
Mullins averaged 6.6 points, 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals as a junior. The standout athlete is entering his third season as a starter for Strafford, all under Ryerson.
“Vance had a great summer; the game has really slowed down for him,” said Ryerson. “With me being a point guard, I tend to be harder on my point guards and more demanding of them. Vance has gone above and beyond everything we’ve asked of him. He’s primed for a big year.”
While there will be some new names and faces in the mix, this will be yet another talented Strafford team, potentially explosive with young firepower.
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Junior Seth Soden and sophomore AK Rael will step into bigger roles after averaging 4.4 and 3.5 points respectively. At 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-2, they’re both bigger wings that can get a bucket at all three levels.
Playing next to a setup guy like Mullins will only make them more effective.
“Seth is probably the best shooter that we have in the program,” said Ryerson. “He really shot it well last year. His work in the weight room this summer is going to allow him to expand his game in the post and on drives as well as shooting it.
“AK played for us as a freshman. We believe the sky’s the limit for AK. He can really score, he’s very unselfish and really bought into our defensive system last year. He’s going to be very good for the next three years.”
Juniors Logan Fraker and Teagan Lawler also return after playing varsity minutes last year. Fraker, is a 6-foot guard that can play on or off the ball. Lawler is a 6-foot-2 post that provides a physical presence in the paint.
“Logan is a very smart player that can really shoot the ball,” said Ryerson. “We’re going to expand his role this year as our third ball handler behind Vance and AK.
“Teagan’s older brother Trayson graduated in 2018 and Teagan is very similar in many aspects. He’s an extremely hard worker, who doesn’t mind doing the dirty work, he has a tireless motor and can really finish around the rim.”
Senior Toure Parks, juniors Evan Helton, Blake Cowan and JD Hunt, as well as sophomore Dekota Ames and Braden Willard will figure into the rotation as well.
Ryerson loves Parks’ defensive ability. Helton and Cowan are two bigger bodies that will help in rebounding. All three sophomores are solid athletes that can score at varying degrees.
The identity of this team will again be on the defensive end, where Ryerson’s teams have been great, with no team allowing more than 53 PPG, despite playing at a high tempo. The Indians have allowed just 51 and 46 PPG over the last two years.
Strafford will again have the athletes to make it difficult for opponents to score.
“Last year’s group was very defensive minded,” said Ryerson. “They understood advanced rotations, even college-level rotations that are hard to pick up. They played extremely hard and were very unselfish. The other side of that is my coaching staff does a great job of holding the kids accountable defensively. I hope that last year’s group defensive effort has rubbed off on this group.
“I believe there is a path for us to be very good defensively with our length. The defensive numbers may be skewed because we would like to play a little bit faster this year, but I think we can be tough defensively.”
For Strafford and Ryerson, the drive continues to be ending their individual and collective district droughts. The Indians have lost back-to-back district championships under Ryerson. Strafford also dropped the 2018 district championship game to Catholic.
Three straight.
Despite so much youth and inexperience, the Indians will continue to push towards that recently elusive district title.
“There are two paths that you can take,” said Ryerson. “You can avoid talking about it and hope they are motivated to get back to that spot on their own, or you can own it. We’re choosing to talk about it – own it – and set it as a goal.
“To steal a quote from Tony Bennett of Virginia, ‘If you learn to use it right, the adversity, it will buy you a ticket to a place you couldn’t have gone any other way.’ We choose to use it as motivation and keep it at the front of our thoughts.”
Strafford will open the 2020-21 season at the Forsyth Tournament on Nov. 30-Dec. 5. The Indians have won the event each of the last two years.
