By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Year two of the Adam Thornhill era saw the Aurora boys basketball team finish with its best record in four seasons.
The Houn Dawgs posted a 12-14 record that included three losses by five or fewer points, a marked improvement after back-to-back three win seasons. Thornhill said it was another year of pouring the foundation.
“Another year of learning for our guys and developing and that took the forefront of what we wanted to do in year two of building the program,” Thornhill said. “The result we had was guys that were a year older; we played a lot of sophomores in year one, that three-win season, and last year we were relying on a lot of juniors which makes a big difference just being a year older. This season we’re going to rely on a bunch of seniors and juniors so we expect even better things this year.”
Aurora returns virtually everyone this winter, highlighted by four-year starter Jaesik Friggle. He was a second team Big 8 East player last season who averaged 21 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a 6-foot-0 guard. He surpassed 1,000 points for his career last winter and will reach 500 career rebounds this winter.
“It starts with him,” Thornhill said.
“He’s maybe one of the best rebounders in southwest Missouri by inch,” he said. “He’s little but man he’s active on the boards and he can score. He’s just done a lot for us the last couple years and this year he’s going to see a lot of success. He’ll pass up 1,500 points this year and go over 500 rebounds and hopefully get a bunch of wins.”
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Senior Sage Welch is another returning starter who averaged 7.2 points and 2.7 rebounds. He’s listed at 6-foot-4. Junior Trandan Darnall will be a three-year starter after averaging 6.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season. He’s listed at 6-foot-0. Junior Kelton Brown, a 6-2 guard, is another returning starter who could be the team’s best defender. He averaged 3.2 points and 1.8 rebounds as a sophomore. Cameron Savage, a 6-1 senior, averaged 5.2 points and 4.8 rebounds last year.
“As a coach a lot of times you’ve got to take guys and make them fit together and work the puzzle pieces even when they may not fit together perfectly,” Thornhill said. “What I see with these guys is they’re able to complement each other well. They all have different strengths and weaknesses and a lot has to do with experience and playing together for a couple years now. They all have identified what they can do to help and what areas they’re weak at and they know the same of their teammates.”
Additionally, the Houn Dawgs return 6-7 junior Hayze Hoffman, an athletic forward who could be poised for a breakout season after averaging 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds last year. There’s also 6-5 junior forward Daunte Floyd (2.2 points) who brings a lot of energy and can play above the rim, and 5-7 sophomore Kohan Abramovitz, a savvy guard who scored 2.3 points per game as a freshman.
That group alone features three players listed at 6-4 or taller and seven at least 6-0. And there’s also newcomer Dayton McHenry, a 6-5 sophomore who could play at the post.
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“It’s probably the biggest team that Aurora has put on the floor in a long time,” Thornhill said. “We’ve got some height, some athleticism. I honestly think the strength of this team is just more the understanding of what we do on offense, what kind of shots we’re trying to create offensively and what type of shots we’re going to allow on defense. We want to create those opportunities on offense but also try to force opponents into those bad shots on defense. Just knowing what those are is probably the strength of this team.”
With Thornhill holding greater expectations for success this year, one storyline will be just how the Houn Dawgs handle that success.
“The success these guys are going to be capable of, they have not experienced that and really both our senior and juniors didn’t have a ton of success even at the junior high level, both finished around .500,” Thornhill said. “That’s almost new territory for these guys. They’re definitely capable of it but when we get there are we going to keep pushing through like we have the last few years? How are we going to respond when we’ve won four or five in a row because we really haven’t been there.”
Aurora will host a jamboree on Nov. 16 with a pair of solid Class 2 teams in Norwood and Crane, as well as Class 3 Spokane. The regular season opens Nov. 30 at Camdenton.
