By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It had been five years since Neosho’s boys basketball team last finished under .500, and after a 7-20 mark last winter, the Wildcats are eager to turn the page this fall.
While the team doesn’t return anyone who earned postseason honors last year, head coach Zane Culp does have several players he’s excited to see in action.
“We have two seniors, two post players, and one of them got a lot of minutes last year but the other didn’t get any. The rest of the guys are all juniors and sophomores, and we’re really excited about these groups, especially when you put them together,” Culp said. “We have a lot of guys who have worked really hard, a lot of basketball-only guys. We’re going to be inexperienced but young and hungry and out to prove we can continue what we started six or seven years ago so it’s going to be fun.”
Senior Kanten Smith started almost every game for the Wildcats as a junior and averaged 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds. The team’s other senior this year is Quincy Simpson.
“Kanten will be a lot for us, he’s a three-sport guy who also plays football and baseball and he’s a great competitor and great athlete,” Culp said. “He’ll be a senior leader for us for sure. Quincy played a lot of JV minutes and scored a lot of points. He’s very athletic, just got a little bit later start as far as playing basketball but we think he can provide some very valuable minutes inside and also bring us some senior leadership. He’s a great kid.”
Junior Kaiden Asberry started last year and made 59 3-pointers and averaged 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He’ll shift over to point guard this season and will get some time off the ball, too.
“He’s going to be a big part of what we do and he’ll have the ball in his hands a lot,” Culp said. “He had a good year last year, he’s a very bright spot and a great kid.”
Junior Oliver Martin is another returning letterman who saw his placing time increase in conference play as a guard. He averaged 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds.
The rest of the roster will be filled out by those large junior and sophomore classes. Juniors include guard Jaiden Fisher (moved back to Neosho last year and wasn’t eligible until late January), guard Carter Fenske (a good shooter who played “very good” JV minutes last year) and Brock Pyle (a “coach’s dream” with high basketball IQ and strong work ethic).
Sophomores include point guard Houston Branscum, post player Zach Forsythe, post player Wyatt Sexton, guard Haven Plummer and guard Mason Spiva.
“I think we’re going to have 12 or 13 combined juniors and sophomores and they will all help us at the varsity level either this year or next,” Culp said. “They’re competitive and they really cheer for each other and pull for each other. It’s fun with two classes like that. Still an open competition for who’s going to get minutes and we may have a big rotation this year. We’re just really excited to go out and see what we can accomplish this year and keep building on that.”
Neosho will host Webb City and McDonald County for a November 21 jamboree. The Wildcats will play seven games against Big 8 opponents and also travel to the Pea Ridge (Ark.) Tournament in December and then host their Neosho Holiday Classic before the end of the year. They’ll play a dozen conference games in the new-look Central Ozark league.
Culp said Neosho’s Holiday Classic will feature two eight-team brackets and is always a highlight of the season.
“As a coach it’s really exciting and we have such a young team right now, only two guys got time in it last year so it’s fun when these boys who have grown up their whole life watching it, it’s fun to see them get to compete in it,” he said. “In some ways it’s the most special time of the year because they’ve dreamed about it their whole lives. That’s a fun experience for all of us.”
