Page 33 - 2018 TR Basketball Preview

THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE BASKETBALL PREVIEW | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018
33SS
IZARD COUNTY CONSOLIDATED COUGARS
Izard County wants to win it all this season
BY MARK BUFFALO
STAFF WRITER
The Izard County Consolidated Cougars
were oh so close to winning the Class 1A state championship a year ago. And that is sticking with them this year.
Izard County, which finished 37-4 a year ago, led Guy-Perkins 26-18 after one quarter and 31-19 early in the second quarter. After a late run in the second quarter by Guy-Perkins, the Cougars led 37-36 at halftime and 54-52 after three quarters before the Thunderbirds rallied to win the state title 71-66 in what would be the final game for Guy-Perkins Hall of Fame coach John Hutchcraft.
The Cougars are coached by former Izard County star Kyle McCandlis, and he is assisted by Tim Massey.
“We had a great summer,” McCandlis said. “The boys did a lot of weight training and agility work.”
The Cougars played games all summer in preparation for this season.
“We played some high-level competition at camps and competed very well,” McCandlis said. “I feel like the way last season ended left us with a fuel tank of fire. The boys worked extremely hard
IZARD COUNTY CONSOLIDATED COUGARS
“He’s got a great personality and plays so mature on the floor,” McCandlis said. “He’s another one who is so much fun to coach.”
Other returning players include seniors Mike Ueker and Dalton Dillard; junior Dylan Tharp; and sophomores Coby Everett, Chase Orf and Noah Everett.
McCandlis said his team’s strengths include speed, size and strength.
“On defense, we want to be more aggressive and also draw more charges,” McCandlis said. “Offen- sively, we want to get to the free-throw line more and shoot a higher percentage than last season.”
McCandlis said several players are getting in- terest from college coaches. Cooper holds offers from Harding University in Searcy; Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi; and Lyon College in Batesville. He’s also getting interest from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee; the University of Missouri-Kansas City; Rice Universi- ty in Houston; and Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
McCandlis said the ultimate goal is the state championship this season.
“We plan on exceeding last season’s success,” he said. “Our focus is sharper than it has been, and the determination can be seen in each of their faces.”
OCT.18-19....................@ICCTOURNAMENT OCT. 23 .................................. @HILLCREST OCT. 26 ......................................@OMAHA* NOV. 2 ...................................... LEAD HILL* NOV. 6 ........................... MAMMOTH SPRING NOV. 9 ............................... @BRUNO-PYATT* NOV. 13 ..................................... @CENTRAL NOV. 15 .................................. @BRADFORD NOV. 16 ........................................ ST. JOE* NOV. 19 ....................... @WESTERN GROVE* NOV. 20 ..............................CROSS COUNTY NOV. 27 ........................................ @VIOLA* DEC. 4 .......................................... COTTER DEC. 7 ......................................... OMAHA* DEC. 11 ............................... CALICO ROCK*
day in and day out. They got a taste of the Finals, and now it’s time to feast.”
Izard County returns a host of players from last year’s squad, including 2017-2018 Three Rivers Edition Boys Basketball Player of the Year Justus Cooper.
Cooper, a junior, averaged 24 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2 assists per game during last season’s run to the state-title game.
“I’m very fortunate to have a player like that,”
DEC. 14 ................................. @LEAD HILL* DEC. 18 ........................... @SLOAN-HENDRIX JAN. 4 .................. @MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA JAN. 8 ....................................... NORFORK* JAN. 11 ............................... BRUNO-PYATT* JAN. 15 ............................ @CALICO ROCK* JAN. 17 ..................................... NORFORK* JAN. 18 ......................................@ST. JOE* JAN. 22 .......................................... VIOLA* JAN. 25 .......................... WESTERN GROVE* JAN. 29 ..................................... (B) FLIPPIN FEB. 1 ................................ RURAL SPECIAL FEB. 5 .....................................TUCKERMAN FEB. 8 .......................................... CLINTON
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
McCandlis said, referring to Cooper, who is 6-5 and can play inside or outside. “It’s like I told someone: There may never be another one like him. He’s special. Throughout the year, he was stepping out and hating the 3 or posting up. During the state tournament, he could just over- power everybody 15 feet and in.”
Also returning is sophomore Caleb Faulkner, who averaged 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists per game last year.
MELBOURNE LADY BEARKATZ
Melbourne is young but experienced after 27-8 finish
BY SAM PIERCE
STAFF WRITER
Despite being a fairly young team, the
Melbourne Bearkatz girls basketball team has a ton of experience after not losing a single starter from last year’s
program, which finished 27-8.
“We have everybody coming back,” head
coach Eric Teague said. “Last year, we had a couple of ninth-graders and 10th-graders, so we are young again, but they do have a little bit of experience.
“We did not lose a single senior this year.”
Senior Halle Cooper was the team’s second leading scorer last year with 8.1 points per game. The coach said Cooper is one of the better 3-point shooters he has and said she has spent a lot of time in the gym working on her shot.
“She is going to be a senior, so there is a little bit of urgency to get better and
MELBOURNE BEARKATZ
“She has good technique.”
Senior Reagan Rapert led the team in scoring with 18.9 points per game, with 3.3 assists and 3.5 steals. The coach said Rapert also led the team in free-throw percentage.
“She is a very explosive athlete and has great court vision,” Teague said. “She is a really ex- plosive guard and very physical. She is a very good scorer.”
Rapert has received offers from Harding University in Searcy and the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Melbourne, which plays in the 2A-3 Confer- ence, made it to the state semifinals last year.
“We are very small,” Teague said. “I think our tallest person is about 5-7, but we do have quick guards. And our depth is real good, too. We are going to have 10 girls on the court, so we can push the ball offensively and defensively.
“If we play as a team, we should be very competitive.”
NOV. 27 ...................... @MAMMOTH SPRING NOV. 29 ....................................HIGHLAND* NOV. 30 ..........@BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL* DEC. 1 .........@LYON COLLEGE TOURNAMENT DEC. 3 .....................(G) @SLOAN-HENDRIX* DEC. 4 ..................... (B) @SLOAN-HENDRIX* DEC. 7 .................................... RIVERSIDE* DEC. 14 ....................................... RECTOR* DEC. 17 ......................................(B) @BAY* DEC. 21 ...................... (G) SLOAN-HENDRIX* DEC. 27 ......... (B) @HIGHLAND TOURNAMENT JAN. 4 .................................. MARMADUKE* JAN. 7 ................................... (G) @SALEM* JAN. 8 ................................... (B) @SALEM*
to have a good season,” Teague said. Kate Shinn was second on the team in re- bounding, and the coach said she is one of his
best inside players.
JAN. 11 ............................. @MARMADUKE* JAN. 14 ....... (G) BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL* JAN. 15 ....... (B) BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL* JAN. 18 ...................... (B) SLOAN-HENDRIX* JAN. 21 ............................(G) @RIVERSIDE* JAN. 22 ............................(B) @RIVERSIDE* JAN. 25 ........................................ (B) BAY* JAN. 28 ............................... (G) @RECTOR* JAN. 29 ............................... (B) @RECTOR* JAN. 31 ....................................(G) SALEM* FEB. 1 ......................................(B) SALEM* FEB. 5 .............................@MOUNTAIN VIEW
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
“She is a hard worker and is very busy on the inside,” Teague said. “She is able to post up very well, and she has a great spin move inside and is very strong.