After five years as an assistant coach with Carl Junction, Justin Pock is thrilled to be taking over the Bulldog boys basketball program in 2020.
Prior to Pock’s five years as an assistant coach with Carl Junction, he was at Cuba High School for nine seasons, with sixth of them as the head coach.
“I am excited to be able to continue working with the kids we have,” Pock said. “I think we have a good group coming back. Being here the last few years, I have gotten to know a lot of these guys. I know we face an uphill battle in the COC, but that’s what you want. Hopefully, we will be ready to battle every night.
I have always been about basketball. I played for Branson in the COC way back when. My dad was a coach at the high school level. I have always enjoyed coaching basketball and teaching kids what I know about the game.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a 6-20 record last season, but the experience returning for Carl Junction has Pock’s expectations high for his team taking the next step.
“I think we had a lot of guys coming back who played on that team and got to experience what varsity basketball was all about,” Pock said. “They especially know what it is going to be like in the COC night in and night out. We took some lumps last year learning the game, and I think we are further ahead this year than we were. You just can’t have a down night in one of the best basketball conferences in the entire state.”
Senior Alex Baker is expected to see heavy minutes as a starter for Carl Junction this season as a wing player. Senior Sincere Williams will run the point guard position, while seniors Blake Poorman, Trent Lehman and junior Kyler Perry are expected to fill out the remaining starting sports when the team is at full strength.
Key players who figure to see a lot of minutes in the rotation include junior Isaiah Hefner, junior Josh Cory and sophomore Ayden Bard.
“I think we play really well together,” Pock said of his team’s strength. “We are not dominated by one guy for one shot. We share the ball really well, and I think we can run with this group. I think these guys are hungry.”
Defensive prowess is going to lead Carl Junction on that side of the ball as well as offensively. Coach Pock is focusing his kids on playing stout defensively and being strong in rebounding, which will turn into transition looks going down to the offensive end of the floor.
“We are going to look to push the basketball and play with some pace,” Pock said. “But I think it really starts on the defensive end. It’s cliche, but it’s the truth. We can score as much as we want, but we won’t win if we don’t stop anybody. We have to get stops, and push it. We want to limit their looks while giving ourselves more opportunities.”
Carl Junction opens the season tonight in the Forsyth Tournament with a 6 p.m. matchup against Strafford.
“We know they are a good team,” Pock said. “They are well-coached. It’s their first game, too. We need to come out and be prepared to face an athletic team that is similar to us. Hopefully, it will be a good matchup for us to start out with.”
