By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Shortly after the Hartville boys basketball team won the Class 2 state championship last season, head coach Brett Reed referred to competing in the Final Four as “a business trip.”
This season, it’s business as usual.
With many of the key contributors from last season’s squad returning, the Eagles are poised to contend for their 12th district championship since 2013 – a dominant stretch that includes state championships in 2016, 2020, 2021 and the one they captured during a 29-2 season last year.
“This year’s team will be asked to do the same thing that we ask each team to do every year,” Reed said. “We will ask them to defend our program’s culture and tradition daily by their commitment to excellence on and off the floor. In competition, we will strive to defend and rebound at a high level each night. We hope to be playing at our highest level come playoff time.”
The Eagles will also ask the team to replace three players who played key roles on last year’s squad – Jalon Cryer, Grant Culver and Logan Simpson. Cryer and Culver were all-state selections.
But that’s nothing new for the Eagles, who have always found a way to overcome roster turnover.
“Our kids grow up wanting to be a Hartville Eagle,” Reed said. “They have got to watch the program’s success for many years and simply want to etch their names in the history of our program. Our athletes, for the most part, are committed to what it takes to be champions. It is a long, grueling process that does not provide instant satisfaction. Winning a state championship starts long before the night of the championship game.”
How long, exactly?
Seniors on this year’s team have literally grown up watching their town win district championships – Hartville has won one in all but one season since they were in kindergarten.
More recently, they were in seventh and eighth grade when the Eagles won back-to-back state titles – a feat they hope to replicate this winter.
“We understand how difficult it is to defend a state championship,” senior Payton Cogdill said. “We are making an effort to do this daily.”
Cogdill, who Reed called the team’s “glue guy,” is one of two returning seniors on Hartville’s roster. The 6-foot-2 standout is coming off an all-conference and all-district season in which he averaged 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds.
“He had a great junior season, and I look for him to take big steps forward this year,” Reed said.
Classmate Jackson Ward also returns. The 6-foot senior averaged 9.2 points and 5.7 rebounds last season, collecting all-conference honors.
“Jackson is a great communicator on the defensive end of the floor,” Reed said. “He is a reliable player and you can count on him night (in) and night out.”
Mason Cogdill, Payton’s cousin, began the season as a spot starter but became a mainstay in the lineup after Simpson suffered a season-ending knee injury. The 6-foot-1 junior averaged 8.4 points and 2.8 rebounds.
“He has had some great games for us and will need to be a more consistent player on both ends of the floor this season,” Reed said.
Boone Garrison spent last season as Hartville’s sixth man, but the 6-foot-1 junior will play a more prominent role in the lineup this winter.
“He can score in bunches and continues to get better defensively each day,” Reed said. “He will need to be a leader on this year’s team.”
All four of those players played in all 31 of Hartville’s games last fall. They’ll be joined by three juniors who saw spot minutes – Gus Sinning, Jordan O’Quinn and Truett Coryell.
At 6-foot-3, Sinning is the tallest of the group. He’s also the most experienced, appearing in 14 varsity games a year ago.
“He is a capable scorer and defender,” Reed said. “He has put in extra time this off-season to take his game to the next level. He will need to be a reliable defender on this year’s team.”
Reed is also looking for big contributions from O’Quinn.
“He is a capable shooter with a high basketball IQ,” Reed said.
Coryell played well at both ends of the floor for Hartville’s junior varsity squad.
“A great shooter who can defend at a high level,” Reed said. “We need him to make a smooth transition from JV to varsity this season.”
Owen Hughes, a 6-foot-3 junior, will also look to move up to the varsity squad.
The Eagles also added two transfer students – senior Harmon Johns and sophomore Hayden Johns, who were formerly at Gainesville.
The Eagles will open the regular season at the 91st Annual Clever Invitational Tournament, which begins December 2. They’ll also compete in the Blue & Gold, and look to win their 27th Summit Conference championship after going a perfect 7-0 last winter.
“The Summit Conference is one of the toughest small school basketball conferences in the state year in and year out,” Reed said. “We play a very tough non-conference schedule as well. With a tough schedule this year, we will need to be focused and ready to play night in and night out.”