Cort Hardy is the new man in charge of the Seneca High School boys basketball program.
A former assistant at Webb City, Hardy takes over a Seneca program that returns each and every member of last year’s roster.
With that, there’s excitement in the air in Seneca.
“The guys are very excited for this upcoming season,” Hardy told SoMo Sports. “We had a good first summer together and won some games, so I think that kind of enhanced that excitement. They enjoy the style that I want us to play so the buy in has been great to start practice. Both the coaching staff and players have high expectations for this year.”
Returning seniors are forwards Cooper Long and Conner Ackerson and guard Hayden Gaines. All three started last season. Long earned honorable mention all-conference honors last season after averaging 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds a game.
The team’s returning juniors are guards Gavyn Hoover, Ethan Altic and Jace Wilson and forwards Blake Hurn and Morgan Vaughn. All five players are expected to play key roles this winter. Sophomore guard Zane Grotjohn also returns with prior varsity experience.
Top newcomers are juniors Ayden Corcoran (F) and Cedar Starchman (G) and sophomore guard Jace Schulte.
Strengths of the Indians will be speed, guard play and overall team depth.
“This will be a very deep and quick team,” Hardy said. “We do not have a ton of size, but we are very athletic, and we plan to use that to our advantage. We’ll get after people defensively and try to push the pace in transition when the opportunities arise.”
The Indians will look to improve upon last year’s 9-18 record, and the keys to doing that aren’t complicated to Hardy.
“The keys for us to be successful are to rebound the ball well, create turnovers defensively and play unselfish basketball on the offensive side of the ball,” Hardy said. “We have multiple guys that can score the ball well, so it will come down to getting the best shot we can get and try to get layups in transition off a made or missed basket.”
Of course, many of Seneca’s basketball players are still playing football. The Indians are in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament.
“With this being my first year here it will take some time for the players to adjust to a new system,” Hardy noted. “We have multiple key players that are also stars on the football team, so with them making a deep run in the playoffs it will be a challenge to start the year installing everything and knocking off some rust.”
Hardy noted he has the expectations set high.
“We expect to be competing for conference and district titles,” Hardy said. “We return everyone from a team that really started to put it together late in the year for Coach (Will) King last year. They got a taste of winning a district and conference championship in football and I think they are eager for more.”
Seneca is scheduled to begin the season at the Dennis Cornish Classic in Lockwood on Nov. 28. The Indians will host their annual invite from Dec. 8-10.
