By Chris Parker
Stockton boys basketball returns an experienced group of players from last season’s 14-win team.
“Our biggest strength going into the season is that we have everyone returning and we should be very familiar with our day to day expectations that I have for them,” Stockton head coach Andrew Boone said. “Last year we were really young playing six sophomores and two juniors on varsity. As a coaching staff, we are excited to build off the winning season this group was able to put together last season.”
That returning group includes three players who earned all-conference honors.
Jax Baxter was named first-team all-conference as a sophomore. He averaged a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. As a freshman, he was honorable mention all-conference.
“As a freshman, his role offensively was to be a threat from the three-point line and finding offensive rebounds to create easy scoring opportunities,” Boone said. “As a sophomore, he grew to be much more. Although, we still expected him to be a threat from the outside. It was his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim that contributed to a huge surge in his offensive production. On the defensive side of the ball, he grew to become a really great rim protector for us. Averaging nearly 3 blocks a game and double-digit rebounds helped make him a much more well-rounded basketball player for us.”
His scoring is key for Stockton, but his defense might be an even bigger factor for the Tigers.
“Jax’s greatest asset on the court on the defensive side of the ball is his ability to protect the rim,” Boone said. “He is long and athletic, it’s nice to have a guy that can detour the offense from getting easy shots off at the rim when they know Jax is there. Offensively, he’s a great shooter. Last season he really improved on his ability to be a three-level scorer for us instead of just being a threat from one spot on the floor. He is starting to get stronger, which will only help him continue to be a force when in the paint and at the rim.”
Colter Woods was a second-team all-conference selection as a sophomore. He averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game.
“Colter is a really smart kid in the classroom and that’s no different when he gets on the court. Colter handles the ball for us on offensive and we trust him to make the correct reads and decisions on the court. He is the best two-way player on our team; along with running our offense he usually guards one of the opposing team’s best guards,” Boone said. “Colter grew tremendously last year as just a sophomore. As a freshman, he came off the bench for us and then last year took over as a full-time starter. As the season progressed, we could really see him becoming more comfortable with the physicality that comes with being the main ball handler at the varsity level. Coming into his junior year, I believe with another year of being in the weight room, he is coming into this season stronger and more mentally prepared for how teams are going to play him.”
Preston Rains was the third all-conference selection last season earning honorable mention all-conference honors as a junior. He scored 15 points per game with 6 rebounds.
“Preston is one of our many multi-sport athletes and a returning captain,” Boone said. “He’s athletic and knows what it takes to be competitive. He had a tremendous second half of the season last year, and we are expecting him to take the confidence he built during that time and run with it for the entirety of his season year. On the court, we will look for him to be aggressive on offense and be another scorer for us. Most importantly, we will look to him to be one of our emotional leaders and bring energy, effort and enthusiasm every night he steps on the court.”
Landon Sexton (senior), James Flora (junior), Carter Thornton (junior), Logan Reser (junior), Kale Rader (junior) and Levi Mitchell (junior) also return for Stockton.
Boone on Sexton: “Last season, Landon became our defensive guy. Most games we matched him up with the other team’s best guard and he did a fantastic job making it hard on them. We will look for him to take on this role again this year. Although he takes the role as a defensive guy, he has more of an offensive ability most don’t give him credit for. He has the ability to hit the outside shot for us.”
Boone on Flora: “James has been our starting point guard on the junior varsity level for the past two years. He is very smart and sees the floor extremely well. He has improved each year and had a great summer for us, while starting most games. We look for him to help handle the ball and be another guard to help relieve pressure if/when teams try to get up on us. James appeared in 18 varsity games last year and we look for him to play an even larger role for us this year.”
Boone on Thornton: “Due to a medical issue, Carter was not able to participate in much summer basketball. However, he appeared in 18 games last year at the varsity level and has the ability to be another guy who can spread the defense with his three-point shooting. Carter is one of our most coachable guys and works extremely hard. He rebounds considerably well as a guard, and we will count on him for rebounds and knocking down the open three-point shot when they come.”
Boone on Reser: “After taking his freshman season off, Logan came back last year as a sophomore and had a heck of a season on our JV team. Due to sickness and injuries late in the season Logan got a few spot starts on varsity and did an incredible job for us. He is our energy guy. When he comes into a game with that extra bit of fire it spreads to the rest of the team. We look for him to bring that each and every day for us this season.”
Boone on Rader: “Kale is a true post player with a really soft touch around the basket. We plan on him being able to use his body to bury his defender under the basket to create high percentage shots for himself. Kale also has a really good shot from outside if his defender decides to play off of him. Kale will be looking to compete for varsity time this season.”
Boone on Mitchell: “Levi is a long and athletic player who is willing to go up and compete against anyone. He will be looking to compete for varsity time this season.”
Justus King will be a sophomore newcomer to varsity.
“As a freshman last year, Justus showed that he is capable of being one of the best shooters in our program already,” Boone said. “He had an incredibly good summer playing up on varsity and will be ready to get meaningful varsity minutes sooner rather than later. As his decision making and defense continues to improve, it’s only a matter of time before he will get his opportunities.”
There are two area’s that Boone is looking for improvement: offensive efficiency and communication.
“For me, there are two areas I would like to see us improve in this season,” Boone said. “For us to reach the next level, our offensive efficiency needs to be better. Last season, it seemed we always had one quarter where we would be flat and not score. Thankfully, our defense would keep us in those games. We all know basketball is a game of runs, so we want to make sure we go on more of those runs than our opponents. So, we are looking for better consistency from this group this year. (Second): communication. You can always hear a winning team. We have really stressed over the summer that the majority of our communication in a game needs to come from the players and not the coaching staff on the sidelines. We have aspirations to play in some big games this year, and with that comes much louder environments. If the boys buy into talking on the court, we will be better prepared to handle those moments when we reach them.”
Stockton opens the season on Nov. 26 at Butler.
“For us this season, I feel like we should step on the court every night believing we are going to win,” Boone said. “We want to put ourselves in positions to play in as many big games as possible, whether that’s for championships in any tournaments that we are in, fighting to win a conference championship and of course winning a district championship.”
