By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
West Plains has quietly been one of the most consistent teams in the Ozark Conference despite being one of the smallest programs.
The Zizzers have been over .500 in eight of the last 11 seasons, but they haven’t won a district championship. And, with three players with starting experience and seven total lettermen returning, this group is talented enough to compete for a district title.
Last year West Plains won nine of its last 15 down the stretch, with five of those losses coming by 10 points or less. They’ll look to build on that finish entering this season.
“We have a lot of our boys play football and they have made long runs in the playoffs for several years,” said West Plains head coach Shane Benson. “It normally takes us a while to transition into basketball form. Last year was no different. Our football boys only had four practices before we started the season, so we finally had a little practice time over Christmas. We also moved Briggs Hughston up off the JV in January which definitely gave us a boost. I felt like our team was improving throughout the season.”
While fighting a late football finish will again be a hurdle, there’s no denying that the physical tools are there.
Junior Briggs Hughston returns after averaging 9.4 points and 3.8 rebounds as a junior. At 6-foot-5, he has one of the more imposing frames, weighing over 200lbs.
“We are depending on Briggs to be a force both defensively and offensively,” said Benson. “We lost the bulk of our scoring and rebounding from last year. Briggs was very close to averaging double figures and we need him to step up and consistently be our leading scorer.”
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What will make this team special is its abundance of size, especially in the senior class.
Seniors Watson Hafer and Garrett Mahan are both 6-foot-5 and both have big, athletic frames. Hafer averaged 3.7 points and 3.5 rebounds. Mahan gained valuable experience playing in 12 games.
Classmates Aiden Simpson and Jesse Hudson played in 27 games each, averaging about three points. Fellow senior Blake Harris also saw varsity action last year.
“We want to be the most aggressive and physical team every night we play,” said Benson.
Benson is also excited about a pair of sophomores that should see major roles this winter.
Alex Judd and Ethan Tuma are a pair of guards that are highly skilled and had great summers. Both will see varsity reps this season.
“Alex is a really strong and smart player,” said Benson. “He has worked hard this summer and we expect big things out of him. Ethan has a good set of skills and gives us someone who can break their man down off the dribble.”
West Plains has proven over the years that its capable of hanging with the top teams in the OC and locally in Class 5 (projected). WP beat Webb City, Sikeston, Camdenton and Glendale, while also giving a battle to Helias, Rolla and Bolivar.
This team has championship aspirations. To get there they’ll have to navigate one of the best conferences in Missouri and the challenges associated with having an elite football program.
All of the coaching turnover in the OC will present yet another hurdle.
“We play in one of the toughest conferences around,” said Benson. “It makes it a little tougher to plan when there is a new coach so we just try to plan for the personnel. I’m sure all the new coaches in this conference will do a great job. That has been one of the things that make this conference so tough is the quality of coaches we face each night.
“Because so many of our boys play football we will never catch up on the skill level of some of the teams we play. We try to compete by being grittier, tougher, and playing harder than the people we play. Health is also a key. We are hoping all of our players make it out of football 100%. Probably the most important thing is we are going to have to have some boys step up offensively. We feel like Briggs will average double digits but we need 2 or 3 more to step up.”
West Plains will jamboree with Fair Grove at Norwood before opening the 2022-23 season on Dec. 1 at the Republic Tournament.
