After seeing several pillars to the program over the last several years graduate following last season, Carthage is tasked with reloading on the run for another competitive season of Southwest Missouri basketball.
The Tigers finished last season with a 14-12 record, including a 4-5 mark in the Central Ozark Conference, and graduated four seniors who left their mark on the program—leading scorer and all-conference PG Max Templeman, F Clay Kinder, leading rebounder G/F Britt Coy and G Ben Nicholas.
“We had a really successful and important summer and fall with this new group,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said. “We lost a few staples of our program from the previous four seasons in Max Templeman, Clay Kinder, Britt Coy and Ben Nicholas. That crew was huge in the ascension of our program with back to back winning seasons for the first time in over a decade.
“This year’s team has seen the change in expectations for our players as citizens and students, and we are able to lean on that while becoming better basketball players. We will be young with only one returning senior starter.”
The lone returning senior to the starting lineup—guard Justin Ray, a second-team all-COC performer, who averaged 13 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
“This will be his fourth year starting varsity basketball,” Morris said. “Justin has flown under the radar to some extent but should explode onto the scene this year. He will be a college basketball player and a lot of that has to do with his IQ, how effortless he makes the game look and his ability as a lockdown defender.”
Joining Ray in returning to starter’s minutes will be junior PG Trent Yates (4.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.0 SPG) as well as junior G/F Kruz Castor (2.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG).
“The basketball IQ and understanding of our system by this group will be a big strength,” Morris said about this year’s squad. “We have two great senior leaders with a strong junior class that all care for and respect each other. People watching our games will enjoy the effort we put forth and the style with which we play.”
New to the varsity squad this year will be sophomore G/F Landon Ray, junior F Taylor Stevens-Diggs, junior G Dylan Pugh, junior G Colt Pugh and senior Jack Ryder.
“Our lack of size will once again hurt our team at times but also can be a strength if we are willing to lock into every detail of the game,” Morris said of what his team will need to work on this season as the games progress. “If we can keep the ball out of the paint and limit teams to one shot on every possession, we like our chances.”
Of course, a strong start to the season is always important to Carthage. For that to happen, the Tigers will be relying on the varsity experience they do have to carry them while the new faces get caught up to the speed at the next level. For Morris, he likes the leadership in his locker room to be able to accomplish that very thing.
“We have an established COC player in Justin Ray that has played at a high clip for three years,” Morris said. “We need the key pieces behind him to gain experience and get better each night. Our core group put the time and work into this offseason. We’re excited to watch that hard work pay off.”
Carthage opens the season at Monett on Dec. 1 before hosting the 77th Annual Carthage Basketball Invitational from Dec. 7-9.
