By Chris Parker
Cassville boys basketball is coming off back-to-back 13-win seasons entering the third season with Caleb Reynolds as head coach.
“I think we’re definitely heading in the right direction,” Reynolds said. “Not that long ago this was not a competitive program. While we are still not at the level we want to be as a program, we have become competitive. Our players and coaches are working extremely hard to get where we want to be and know we will continue to make progress toward reaching our goals.”
Eli Stokes returns after earning second-team all-conference and all-conference defensive honors last season.
“Eli does a great job of protecting the rim for us,” Reynolds said. “It doesn’t hurt that he’s 6’9” which makes it incredibly difficult shoot over him, but he just does a good job of being in the right spots so that even if we get beat on the perimeter he’s there in help to slow down any penetration by the offense. Then once the shot goes up, he pursues the rebound. He just plays hard all the time.”
Stokes averaged 14.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game last season.
“Given that he led the conference in both rebounds and blocks per game, I was kind of surprised that he didn’t make first team last year, but everyone who did make definitely deserved to be there,” Reynolds said. “I have no doubt he’ll be worthy of first team again this year, and I won’t be surprised if he’s in the conversation for conference player of the year.”
Simon Gates (senior guard) and Tyson Bohmke (junior guard) also return.
Gates averaged 7.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 34.3% from three.
“Simon was our best three-point shooter last season,” Reynolds said. “His ability to score from distance really stretches out opposing defenses and take some pressure off our post players. He improved throughout the season last year and we expect he’ll do the same this year.”
Bohmke will take over primary point guard duties this season.
“Tyson had to step up during the second half of the season last year as a sophomore and play some very important minutes, and he did a great job,” Reynolds said. “We expect him be our primary point guard this season. A consistent presence at the point guard position is what we’ve been missing in the last couple years and we’re confident Tyson can fill that role.”
Jaren Stearns (sophomore guard), Carlo Barrientos (sophomore guard/forward), Chase Ruark (sophomore forward) and Cheney Kelley (sophomore guard) will be newcomers this season.
“Even though three returning players is not very many, the three we do have coming back will be a great strength for us,” Reynolds said. “Our team will need Stokes, Gates, and Bohmke to immediately step into leadership roles. Outside of these three guys we will have a young/inexperienced roster. We’ll need to hear their voices in the huddle for sure. Also, having a young roster isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We may take some lumps early on, but if our guys stay focused and continue to work hard we can be a really solid team by the end of the year and beyond.”
Reynolds will look for his team to be better defensively this season.
“Last year was one of the toughest years defensively I’ve had as a coach, especially early in the year,” Reynolds said. “We improved over the course of the season but there is still room for improvement. We need to continue to get better on the defensive end if we want to achieve our team goals.”
Cassville opens the season Dec. 2-7 at the Strafford Invitational.
“To have a successful season we need to see consistent play from the start from our returning players, and we need to see consistent growth and improvement from our younger guys,” Reynolds said. “The key word being ‘consistent.’ If we can do that we’ll be playing the way we want to come March.”
