Now in his fifth season at the helm of the Webb City boys basketball program, Jason Horn has become accustomed to patiently waiting for a number of football players to join his winter practices.
This year is no different.
While the Webb City football team prepares for Saturday’s Class 5 semifinal contest, the school’s boys basketball team is now in its third week of preseason practices.
“I don’t know that there’s a perfect way to handle it,” Horn said. “It’s a year-to-year situation. But we have more guys in practice this year than we’ve had in my previous four years here. We have seven of our top 10 in practice right now. It’s a situation where we don’t want to install too much. For the boys who are in practice, we’re working on getting our base packages in and on conditioning. The guys we have now will have to carry the load early on until our football guys are able to come in and get themselves in basketball shape.”
While the Cardinals await the arrival of several football players, the team has a solid core of returning varsity performers who have been working hard in preparation of the 2020-21 season on the hardwood.
Versatile senior guard Nickhai Howard is expected to lead the way for the Cardinals. As a junior, the 5-foot-11 Howard averaged 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals a game. Howard, who provides ball-handling, scoring and play-making, averaged seven points per game as a sophomore and is now a varsity veteran.
“I think he’s got a chance to be a really special player,” Horn said. “Last year, he emerged on everybody’s radar. He’s a guy that fills up the stat sheet. He does whatever we need, whether we need him to score, get a rebound or get a stop on the defensive end.”
Senior guard Mekhi Garrard (6-1) is another player who also played a significant role last year. The speedy Garrard averaged eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals per game as a junior.
Next, 5-10 junior guard Cohl Vaden will take on a bigger role this winter. Vaden averaged nine points and three assists per game. He also hit 36 3-pointers last season.
“Both of them have starting experience and I look for both to play big minutes,” Horn said. “They are guys who can help us a great deal, offensively and defensively. Cohl could see time at both guard positions. We expect Mekhi to guard our opponent’s best player. Both are good athletes and good open-court players.”
The trio of Howard, Garrard and Vaden have the ability to give opponents fits with their play-making and shot-making ability.
“All three of those guys really fit into what we want to do,” Horn said. “They allow us to play at the pace we want to play at.”
Seniors Trenton Hayes (6-1), Luke Brumit (6-4) and Shane Noel (6-0) are also expected to contribute nicely.
Horn expects Hayes to play a big role in the backcourt.
“Trenton’s a guy who is primed to have a big season,” Horn said. “He’s as skilled as anyone we have on the roster. He shoots the ball really well. He can run the point if needed. He has a good midrange game. He’s a pretty complete player.”
Brumit and Noel gained varsity experience last winter.
“Luke has a good touch around the basket and his length will help us defensively,” Horn said. “Shane is a great shooter. He’s a really good defender who plays with a lot of toughness.”
Juniors Kaden Turner (6-3), Max Higginbotham (6-2), Isaiah Brisco (5-10) and Dupree Jackson (6-0) and sophomore Alex Martin (6-4) are other players who could see significant minutes.
“Kaden is long and athletic and shoots the ball really well,” Horn said. “Max is a big, strong and athletic kid who can shoot and handle the ball. Isaiah handles the ball well and is another quick and athletic kid. Dupree can play guard or forward and he’s a tenacious defender. Alex can play with his back to the basket or step out and shoot the 3. He sees the floor really well.”
Vaden, Garrard, Noel and Jackson are all football players who will join the basketball team once the Cardinals’ season on the gridiron concludes, while the rest of above mentioned athletes have been in the gym with Horn and his staff.
Horn noted depth could be a strength of the group.
“We’re going to run a lot of guys in and out in waves,” Horn said. “We have some talent top to bottom. We’ll see how we come together as a group.”
The Cardinals are coming off a stellar 2019-20 season. It was one that saw the Cardinals capture a district championship and come within one win of advancing to the Class 4 semifinals.
Webb City must replace its top two scorers from last year’s squad that finished 17-10.
Terrell Kabala, last year’s Central Ozark Conference Player of the Year, and Tanner Rogers, combined to score 27 points per game a year ago. Kabala signed to play at Arkansas-Fort Smith, while Rogers is playing at College of the Ozarks.
Webb City opens the season at home against Lamar on Dec. 8. If the Webb City football team wins its semifinal game on Saturday, the Cardinals will play for a state championship on Dec. 5.
“Last year, we only had two days with everybody before our first game,” Horn said with a laugh.
