Despite relying heavily on a freshman and a sophomore, the Caston boys basketball team still posted a winning season a year ago.
The Comets will look to build on their 13-11 season a year ago as they return all their scoring except 1.8 ppg lost to graduation.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I thought we definitely got better as the season went on last year and we finished the season really well,” said Caston coach Carl Davis, who enters his ninth year at the helm. “We had a little bit of a win streak there at the end of the year going into the sectional. And I thought that had a lot to do with those younger guys developing and getting more comfortable with the varsity level. So it’s been fun to watch their continued growth and I still think we’re relatively young, but we have a lot of experience back, so that just makes things fun. Even in a practice setting, you can tell that we have some guys that have been through it already and some guys with multiple years of varsity experience. So it’s exciting to see them continue to grow throughout this year.”
The Comets return 6-foot-5 junior Lane Hook, who has scored 479 points through the first two years of his career. He averaged 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds as a sophomore.
“He’s somebody who just continues to add to his game and get more comfortable,” Davis said. “Last year saw him take a huge jump shooting the basketball and handling it better. And that’s something he’s continued to develop in the offseason. He’s somebody I think can score inside-out for us. He continues to get better defensively and does a really good job of communicating on the defense side of the floor. He has the ability to protect the rim with his length and athleticism.”
The Comets also return 6-2 sophomore Logan Mollenkopf, who led the area in scoring last year at 14.5 ppg.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“He’s just really aggressive and we saw that last year and he got more comfortable as the year went on,” Davis said. “Now he has a year of experience under his belt and we expect to continue to see him grow in that area and continue being aggressive on both ends of the floor and just be a game changer with his length.”
The Comets will have a veteran starting lineup. Also in the mix for starting roles are 6-foot senior Gavin Mollenkopf (6.5 ppg), 6-foot junior Carson Harness (5.2 ppg) and 5-8 juniors Reed Sommers (6.8 ppg) and Drew McGrew (2.1 ppg).
“Those six guys that are back for us were a big part of the rotation last year,” Davis said. “Those six have experienced at minimum a season of varsity and being in a rotation throughout the course of the year, so those six bring a lot of experience back for us.”
The Comets have a transfer from Pioneer, 5-10 junior Brodie Howard, who averaged 2.4 ppg and made 17 3-pointers last year for the Panthers.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Brodie Howard has picked up things really quickly for us and he seems to have a good feel for the game and obviously brings that shooting dynamic to the floor,” Davis said. “There’s times where he can get really hot from the outside and that just adds a dynamic for our team.”
Owen Chapman, a 6-foot sophomore, is ready to step into a varsity role, Davis said.
“Owen Chapman’s had a really good offseason, as good as anybody in terms of his growth,” he said. “He’s somebody that was forced into more of a ball handling role on the JV last year and grew in that area. And he’s really had a good offseason for us and does a really good job of pushing the tempo.”
Other players in the varsity mix include 6-2 junior Gage Thomas and 5-11 sophomore Tucker Woolever.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I think both of those guys had great weeks of practice last week,” Davis said. “They bring a level of physicality to the floor for us.”
Davis is looking for his team to contend for HNAC and sectional championships. He said defending champion Triton and Winamac look to be two of the top contenders in the HNAC. DeMotte Christian, West Central and Tri-County are some of the top contenders at the sectional.
Davis added he’s got a group that will look to push the pace and score some points.
“This is a group that in the offseason you could tell they really want to play fast, probably more so than any group we’ve had recently in terms of how fast they want to play,” he said. “It’s been fun to watch them this offseason. Even when there’s been times where we say, hey, we’re playing three games in three hours and because it’s the summer you try to slow them down. And they don’t want to do it, they just play fast. That’s how they prefer to play. But we’ve also had a lot of conversations about how ultimately you’re gonna face tests on your schedule and it’s gonna call for a different type of game and we’re gonna have to execute in the halfcourt in those situations. And that’s an area that we really have to grow in this year.”
Caston travels to Lakeland Christian on Tuesday to open the season. With the Cass County Tournament being pushed back to Dec. 23, the Comets’ HNAC game at Argos has been moved up to Tuesday, Dec. 2.
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