CARTHAGE, Mo. — Following an impressive 18-8 campaign a year ago, Carthage is returning several key pieces to the lineup to give the Tigers high expectations entering the 2022-23 season.
The Tigers graduated four seniors a year ago—forwards Caden Kabance, Sylas Browning and Logan Carmickle and guard Joel Pugh—but return four upperclassmen with plenty of varsity experience.
“This group is hungry to build upon an 18-win season that marked the most in over a decade,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said to SoMo Sports. “We return some key pieces but understand that Joel Pugh and the other three seniors were solid rocks that held up this team at times. We bring back some exciting players that can be high-volume scorers at times.”
Carthage returns a trio of seniors—5-foot-9 PG Max Templeman, 6-foot G Britt Coy and 6-foot-3 F Clay Kinder—as well as junior 6-foot-2 G Justin Ray. Templeman averaged 15.8 points, 4.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game last year as a second-team all Central Ozark Conference selection. Ray averaged eight points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals as a sophomore, while Kinder put up 8.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last season. Coy scored 3.7 points per game last season.
“We have to replace more pieces than we did a year ago, but we return two three-year starters in Max Templeman and Justin Ray who will stabilize us,” Morris said. “Clay Kinder and Britt Coy have a good deal of experience as well and play with a toughness that we need.”
Joining the varsity rotation this year will be sophomores Trent Yates (G) and Kruz Castor (F) as well as senior G Ben Nicholas, senior F Hudson Moore and junior G Jack Ryder.
The turnaround the Tigers witnessed last season didn’t come by chance. It came with utilizing their strengths as a team, and Carthage, which averaged 59 points per game last season, will continue with what brought them success last year on the offensive side of the ball—an uptempo pace of play. Defensively, the Tigers’ bigs will be pushing the floor as well.
“We will get up and down the court at a fast clip and have some aggressive defenders led by Britt Coy and Clay Kinder,” Morris said. “If we are shooting the ball well, we will be hard to beat as we have four starters that all can score in double figures.”
Of course, the concerns from last season also return for the Tigers. Carthage dealt with being undersized a year a year ago and will be dealing with it again this season. However, Coach Morris feels his team can combat their main concern with a strong effort on the defensive end in the half court as well as an emphasis on rebounding game in and game out. Last season, the Tigers limited teams to 51 points per game on that end of the floor.
“We will be very undersized and will need to be willing to fight in the post and for rebounds,” Morris said. “I think it will take some time for all five guys to understand the importance of everyone willing to rebound.
“If we can bother teams in the half court defensively and disrupt their flow, we will have a fighting chance every night,” Morris said. “We also need a handful of underclassmen to take the challenge and help out our varsity crew.”
Carthage opens the season in front of the home crowd with a matchup versus Monett on Nov. 29 before the Tigers host the 76th annual Carthage Invitational on Dec. 8.
