By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Strafford is in the fourth year of the Tyler Ryerson era and things have gone well to say the least. The Indians have averaged more than 20 wins per season and continue to be one of the best programs in the Ozarks.
With four starters returning from last year’s 22-6 team, expectations are extremely high going into the season.
“Last year was so much fun, we had a group of fairly inexperienced players at the varsity level and flew under the radar for some of the season,” said Ryerson. “You can look at our six losses last year (Hartville (2), Summit Christian, Skyline, Ozark, and Crane) all of whom had great seasons – and we made them earn it. The best thing about this group is that we’ll have some off games, but they try to find a way to win every game. This is the culture that they’ve brought to our program.”
Leading the way is junior All-Stater AK Rael.
Entering his third year as a letterman, the 6-foot-4 guard averaged 17 PPG as a sophomore and is one of the most explosive scorers in the area.
“Hard to even put into words how good AK was for us last year,” said Ryerson. “AK was on pace to be a 40% 3-point shooter until he was hobbled by a back injury that sidelined him for two games (Crane, Stoutland) and it took him a while to get back into a groove from 3. He’s unstoppable in transition, he can score efficiently at all three levels, and he can end his drives above the rim. AK has also grown about two inches since last year. He’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot more this year, splitting point guard duties, and we’ve worked on his movement off the ball this summer to be a catch and score guy. He is just a very difficult matchup because of the variety of ways that he can score.”
Joining Rael in the starting lineup is a trio of seniors in Seth Soden, Teagan Lawler and Logan Fraker.
Soden is a 6-foot-5 wing that averaged 13.4 points and five rebounds last year. Fraker and Lawler are a pair of 6-foot-1 players that averaged 7.2 points and six points respectively. Fraker is the team’s returning assists leader and Lawler paced the group in charges taken.
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“Seth has always been the best shooter on the floor,” said Ryerson. “He’s worked really hard in the weight room this summer to finish drives at the rim, strong and balanced. He’s really crafty on his drives and he has shown really good footwork out of the post. He’s a tough matchup because he shoots it well enough to run big guys off screens and he scores in the post on smaller guys. The other thing that he’s going to show this year, is his ability to pass it. He sees the floor extremely well and we’re going to use him as a point/forward at times. Give it to him in the post/mid-post and run actions off of him. He has an extremely high IQ and has shown very high level leadership abilities.
“Logan is a very good shooter, who can really guard,” said Ryerson. “He’s a very unselfish player, who is going to handle some point guard responsibilities for us this year. Teagan is a big guy for us. He runs the floor very well and can guard inside extremely well for his size. He is a very good rebounder and brings some toughness to our squad.”
Senior JD Hunt also returns after seeing significant varsity minutes last year. Hunt adds another shooter that also has positional versatility.
Ryerson is also excited about several players that will see increased roles this winter.
Juniors Elliott Goings, Isaac Berg and Braden Willard all saw some time as sophomores. Goings is a 6-foot-6 big that finishes well in the paint and anchors the defense. Berg is a standout football player that adds toughness and athleticism. Berg gives Strafford yet another perimeter shooter and point guard.
Senior Avery Voysey will also be an impact player for Strafford this year after starting at Ozark in 2020-21.
“Avery has fit in with our group seamlessly,” said Ryerson. “He is a multi-positional defender that brings toughness to our team. Avery is a very good finisher at the rim, he plays really hard and is very unselfish. He can guard 1-5. He’s very good in transition and he can shoot it too.”
Avery’s younger brother, Cody, as well Conner Rogers – both freshman guards – will also see varsity playing time this year.
For Strafford, this season is about unfinished business. The Indians – after winning five straight district titles from 2011-2015 (including three Final Four runs) – have been in a drought. They’ve currently lost five straight district title games. This group is more than talented enough to help Strafford end that skid.
“To get over the hump we’ve got to get back on the horse,” said Ryerson. “We’ve added some teams that make our schedule even more difficult. We looked at our team last year, tried to identify where we can improve and work our tails off. Our practices are going to be more challenging, because we want to keep raising our expectations until we reach our goals
“We think there are two main areas that we can really improve on. Rebounding and tempo. We didn’t do either of those things at a very high level last year. Those are two areas of focus for us early in the season. I don’t think there is anything that we need to overhaul. We just want to keep working every day towards the postseason. Everyone is going to have ups and downs along the way, but I trust this group and I think they trust each other to put in the work necessary to accomplish our goals.”
Strafford will open the 2021-22 season on Nov. 29 in their own Strafford Invitational Tournament.
