By Chris Parker
Pierce City boys basketball will be looking to bounce back from a five-win season behind four returning upperclassmen this year.
That quartet includes seniors Ashton Medlin and Garrett Jesperson along with juniors Clayton O’Hara and Zane Clayton.
“I think that they will take a big step forward in their game, as well as, play together as a team,” Pierce City head coach Derrion Donson said. “They all have a good amount of varsity experience, and work hard. They will be challenged to step into new roles this season.”
O’Hara and Clayton led that group in scoring with 5.3 and 5.2 points per game, respectively. Clayton was a strong facilitator last year averaging 6 assists per game. Medlin averaged 4.1 points per game. Jesperson averaged 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Senior Logan Inman (center), junior Tyler Johnson (forward) and sophomore Judah Linn (guard) are newcomers to watch. Inman will bring an inside presence and help with rebounding and defense. Linn and Johnson have little varsity experience, but will see greatly expanded roles this year.
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Pierce City will also be looking at freshmen to help with depth.
“I think we have a good group of freshmen coming in this season. We don’t have a ton of depth at the varsity level, so we may be looking to some of the young kids to play minutes for us this season,” Donson said.
Pierce City will look to hang its hat on defense while limiting turnovers on offense.
“Our greatest strength this season will be our defense and effort when we are on the floor,” Donson said. “There are always skills that our team can be doing to improve our success, but the biggest focus needs to be cutting down turnovers. I think if we take care of the turnovers then we can have success with what we want to accomplish.”
Pierce City will travel to Monett on Nov. 19 for a jamboree. The Eagles will open the regular season on Nov. 23 at home against Southwest.
“The overall expectations for the team this year is to work hard, give great effort, and enjoy playing the game of basketball,” Donson said. “Hopefully we have an identity of having good sportsmanship (class), hard work, and being disciplined both on and off the court.”
