By Chris Parker
Cassville boys basketball will have an experienced squad in Caleb Reynolds’ first season as head coach of the program.
“I am very excited to a part of the Cassville basketball program again,” Reynolds said. “My family moved around quite a bit when I was growing up, but I began my basketball career as Wildcat years ago and I am thrilled to be back here now with a family of my own. We have a great group of young men here and I am really looking forward to coaching them.”
The Wildcats return all but one player from last year’s eight-win team.
At the head of the group is senior Aidan Cook.
“Aidan Cook, who led Cassville in scoring last year, will be a one of our seniors we rely on for leadership,” Reynolds said. “He is not a vocal guy but his work ethic this summer and throughout the preseason has been second to none, and he makes everyone around him better.”
Cook averaged 12.3 points per game last year.
Senior Jon Dunbar returns to the post with his 6-foot-7 frame. He was the team’s second-leading scorer averaging 9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Other returning players Reynolds expects to make an impact include Hernan Hernandez (senior), Caleb Leach (senior), Ethan Lamborn (senior), Cosmo Rhoads (junior) and Cadyn Smith (junior) along with several others.
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“This may be one of the most experienced teams I’ve ever coached solely based on the number of juniors and seniors we will have with past varsity playing time,” Reynolds said.
Simon Gates and Eli Stokes are two sophomores who will look to work their way into the rotation.
“Gates is a stocky, strong guard who performed well this summer in spite of some injuries,” Reynolds said. “Stokes is a solid post player with tremendous potential going forward.”
Reynolds will look to instill a defensive culture in the Cassville program.
“I take great pride as a coach in my team pressuring our opponents into making mistakes and controlling the game with our defensive effort,” Reynolds said. “If we do that this season, we will have a lot of success in the win column.”
Cassville doubled its win total last season from the previous season. Reynolds hopes to keep that momentum up this season.
“We need to continue to build on the foundation that has been laid,” Reynolds said. “The tools are here for this group of young men to be a really good team; we just have to put those tools to use if we want to be playing late in March.”
Cassville opens the season Nov. 28-Dec. 3 at the Strafford Tournament.
