by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com
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St. Joseph Christian is the coaches’ pick to win the GRC West Boys Basketball Championship for the 2024-25 season. Last season, they finished 3rd behind Worth County and Princeton. The Lions received six first-place votes. Princeton received one first-place vote and was picked to finish second. Defending champion Worth County received two first-place votes and was picked to finish third.
St. Joseph Christian
St. Joseph Christian Lions finished 17-8 overall and 6-2 in
the GRC West. Both their conference
losses were in games that went down to the wire. They lost to Princeton by 3 and GRC West
Champion Worth County by 4. They are the
coaches’ pick to win the GRC West. A
conference title would be the school’s first in Boys Basketball.
Starter Vail Fruechting (6.5 ppg) graduated, but the top
four scorers returned. Johnston Stewart
(17.1 ppg, 1st Team All-Conference, All-District, 1st
Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast, 1st Team All-City), Nick Orschlen (15.5
ppg, 1st Team All-Conference, All-District, 1st Team
All-Cliff Notes Podcast, 2nd Team All-City), Cy Carlson (11.8 ppg, 2nd
Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast), Hayden Riley
(8.6 ppg) will lead the Lions in their senior season. The Lions will also
return Logan Hubble (2.1 ppg) and Parker Burnham (1.3 ppg). A talented but inexperienced Sophomore class
moved up to varsity to add depth.
Coach Neal Hook said, “ We are looking to be competitive in
most games and improve as the season progresses as we blend the experience of
the returning players with the inexperience of the younger players. We have a
great respect for our opponents, and we will need to play hard and efficiently as
a team to be competitive in this difficult conference.”
Princeton
Princeton lost its leading scorer, Talan Holt (21.2 ppg, 1st
Team All-Conference, All-District, 1st Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast,
KMZU Dream Team), along with Kelby Thomas (4.5 ppg, Honorable Mention
All-Conference, Honorable Mention All-Cliff Notes Podcast) to graduation, but
they still have a talented team returning. The Tigers finished 21-5 overall and 7-1 in the GRC West. Their lone
conference loss came to GRC West Champion Worth County.
Senior Clay Evans (17.7 ppg, 1st Team
All-Conference, All-District, 2nd Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast, KMZU
Dream Team) leads all returning players in scoring. Joining Evans will be seniors Cooper Boxley
(3.8 ppg) and Noel Schreffler (4.7 ppg), along with sophomores Kash Holt (6.0
ppg) and Hunter Lowrey (2.4 ppg). Freshman Mitchell Walker and sophomore Chase
Evans (2.1 ppg) will also be expected to contribute.
Coach Damon Collins said, “Our expectations coming into the
season are pretty high. We know we have some work to do but we are shooting to
match or beat our win total from last year. We will play hard and give it our
all every game. We want to thank our fans for supporting us throughout our
season.”
Worth County
Worth County won the GRC West last year, finishing 18-5
overall and 8-0 in the GRC West. The
Tigers were a strong team in close games going 8-1 in games decided by 6 or
fewer points, including 4-0 in conference games. The Tigers only lost one player to graduation,
but it is their leading scorer, Tyler New (21.7 ppg, 1st Team
All-Conference, All-District, All-State, 1st Team All-Cliff Notes
Podcast, 1st Team All-KMAland).
They will have a talented class returning, including
sophomores Bo Collins (7.4 ppg, 2nd Team All-Conference,
All-District, 2nd Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast) and Caleb New (9.3
ppg, 2nd Team All-Conference, Honorable Mention All-Cliff Notes
Podcast). Also returning for the Tigers will
be sophomores Cole Ruby (4.7 ppg), Hayden Sanders (4.6 ppg), and Ethan Liniger
(0.7 ppg), seniors Cannon Fletcher (2.3 ppg) and Karson Briner (4.4 ppg), and
juniors Frank Taute and Andrew Griffin.
Coach Les New said, “Football has been hard on us. Several injuries will hinder us early, with a
couple of injuries being season-ending.”
North Andrew
After replacing eight seniors and dealing with significant
injuries last season, North Andrew had its first losing season since 2010-11, when it finished 11-17 overall and 4-4 in the GRC West.
North Andrew will be returning with a lot more experience this
season. Trey McDaniel (15.1 ppg, 2nd
Team All-Conference, All-District, 2nd Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast,
1st Team All-KMAland) and Matthew Evans (1.1 ppg) are the only
players who graduated. Leading scorer Braxon
Linville (16.0 ppg, 2nd Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast) will return
for his senior season after missing half of last season. He is healthy this season and will look to
improve on his strong second half. Other
returning players are seniors Avrey Miller (3.1 ppg) and Jarom Russo (1.5 ppg),
juniors Mason Nester (8.1 ppg) and Hunter Lee (2.6 ppg), and sophomore Issac
Coats (4.2 ppg). Miller started last
year and is a great defender. After coming off the bench, Russo is expected to take a big step this season. Nester came on strong at the end of the
season, especially in districts. Lee and
Coats are great defenders and are expected to be the top rebounders.
Junior Blaise Patterson is expected to return after missing
last season. The Cardinals also have a
talented freshman class that went undefeated in Junior High.
Coach Wade Bryson said, “We always expect to compete at the
highest level possible. We will still be young in spots, but we got a lot of
valuable experience last year that we hope can pay off this season. Braxon Linville is one of the best players in
Northwest Missouri. The freshman class
will add a lot of depth to our program, and I look forward to seeing the impact
they can have this season.”
King City
King City has returned a lot of talent for the new coach, Chris
McMillen. Brady Armfield (1.3 ppg) was
the only player to graduate from last year’s team that finished 6-20 overall
and 1-7 in the GRC West. Returning for
the Wildkats will be senior Darwin Bowden (2.0 ppg), juniors Graham Medsker (4.3
ppg), Josiah Schellhorn (6.9 ppg), Cooper Mooney (1.9 ppg), Tucker Mollus (1.0
ppg), and Brody Wall (3.5 ppg), and sophomores Jonny Garlock (8.8 ppg, Honorable
Mention All-Conference, All-District, Honorable Mention All-Cliff Notes Podcast),
Coltin Potter (7.9 ppg), Isaac King (0.3 ppg), and Cayden Wainscott (0.5 ppg). Freshmen Jax Judy and Landson Carlson also
join the team this season.
Coach McMillen said, “We are a relatively young team this
year. I expect to see the guys grow and
develop within the system/program and play each game competitively.”
Albany
The Albany Warriors finished last season 6-19 overall and
2-6 in the GRC West. They will return
three starters this season. Timothy
Poppa (10.7 ppg, 2nd Team All-Conference, Honorable Mention
All-Cliff Notes Podcast, Honorable Mention All-KMAland) and Kole Emerson (5.4
ppg) graduated, but Chase Cline (6.0 ppg), Daulton Worrell (6.4 ppg), and Shae
Miller (1.9 ppg) return as starters. Also
returning from last season will be Jarrett Smith (2.7 ppg), Kyle Emerson (5.5
ppg), Jace Palmer (0.9 ppg) and Keghan Schaefer (0.9 ppg). Barrett Worrell and Samual Poppa will be
expected to contribute as well.
Coach Jeffrey Epperly said, “This season, we believe that our
overall basketball experience will lead to a more competitive product on the
floor every single game.”
Stanberry
Stanberry is looking to improve on last year’s season, where
they finished 5-21 overall and 0-8 in the GRC West. Kolton Dias (5.5 ppg) and Colby McQuinn graduated. McQuinn was injured last year but was able
to suit up and score 2 points against Maysville. Stanberry returns leading
scorer Colby McQueen (15.3 ppg, 2nd Team All-Conference,
All-District, 2nd Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast, 2nd Team
All-KMAland) along with Jordyn Wright (2.0 ppg), Decker Heyde (1.8 ppg), and
Calving Smithson (3.1 ppg). Cameron
Affuso, Jaren Stoll (4.4 ppg), and Aiden Graham (1.1 ppg) are also expected to be key contributors for the Bulldogs.
Coach Nick Groomer said he is “Hoping to finish in the
middle of the conference and around .500.”
Pattonsburg
Pattonsburg went 15-10 overall and 5-3 in the GRC West last
season, but their top three scorers graduated. Gage Iddings (24.3 ppg, 1st Team All-Conference, All-District,
District Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Cliff Notes Podcast), Daltyn
Sperry (12.8 ppg, 2nd Team All-Conference, All-District, Honorable Mention
All-Cliff Notes Podcast), and Landon Woodward (11.1 ppg, Honorable Mention
All-Conference, All-District, Honorable Mention All-Cliff Notes Podcast) have
departed leaving the Panthers with a roster that has limited time at the varsity
level. The starting lineup will see the return of Drayson McCrary (1.2 ppg) and Duke Hoover (2.2 ppg). In addition, Gavin Humphrey (4.1 ppg) and
Collin Mason (1.3 ppg) saw varsity action last year and will return.
Coach Bill Pottorf said, “We will be relatively young in terms
of court time, with two seniors, three juniors, one sophomore, and five freshmen. We should play relatively good defense, and
sometimes scoring may be difficult. My expectation
is that we play hard and get better each and every day in practice and games.
North Harrison
North Harrison improved their win total by five games last
season, going 12-13 overall and 3-5 in the GRC West. If they are going to continue their upward
progression, they will need to find production after Keygun Johnson (14.4 ppg,
1st Team All-Conference, All-District) and Jerry Gilpatrick (14.3
ppg, Honorable Mention All-Conference, All-District) graduated. Wyatt Maize (9.1 ppg, Honorable Mention
All-Conference, All-District), Andrew Craig (4.1 ppg), and Dustin Hamilton (2.1
ppg) will return for the Shamrocks. Jensen Davis, Gage Fortner, Evan Schreiber, and Ryker Forster are newcomers
who will be expected to play expanded roles this season.
Coach Justin Joiner said he expects North Harrison “to
continue taking steps in the right direction. We have kept getting better the
last two years, and I am looking forward to this young group to go out and
compete each night. We have 13 kids out
this year, and they have been working very hard in practice. In the past three
years, these have been the most competitive practices we have had.
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