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Season preview: Tiger basketball sets sights on district championship and beyond
With the season-opener a week out expectations are high for the Nevada Tiger basketball team.
The 23-win, district runner-up Tigers of 2016-17, return prized senior forward Clay Gayman. The 6-foot-6, 210 pound All-State selection averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.5 blocked shots per game for his junior campaign. Gayman enters the season needing just 336 points to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. In addition, Gayman recently signed a letter of intent with the NCAA Divison I Abilene Christian Wildcats. Other major accolades for Gayman include West Central Conference player of the year, 4-State Basketball Coaches Association player of the year, and the Joplin Globe’s male prep basketball player of the year.
Nevada also returns seniors Braeden Hinton and Hunter Mason, but are due for major line-up renovations after losing starting guards Matt Sommer and Myles McNeley and starting forward Patrick Ferry to graduation.
Sommer, a three-year starter at point guard, finished his career No. 8 on the Nevada High boys’ all-time scoring list with, 1,257 career points. As a senior Sommer averaged 13 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. McNeley provided valuable contributions from long-range and was one of the team’s top perimeter defenders, while Ferry finished fourth on the team in points and rebounds per game.
“Our three seniors will lead us on-and-off the court this season,” said NHS head coach Shaun Gray, who has compiled a 45-34 record through three seasons with the Tigers. “They are high character, hard-working kids that will expect a lot from their teammates, and who will lead by example.”
After appearing in all 27 games last season, junior Carter Swearingen is expected to enter the season as the Tigers starting point guard, while Mason will slot into Ferry’s spot in the low post.
“Carter is a heady guard who can shoot and handle the ball well,” said Gray. Gray described Mason, a 6-foot-3, 220 pound NCAA D1 football signee, as a shutdown defender and “sparkplug that can attack.”
Expected to have a major impact are 6-foot-4 wing Matt Thompson, a junior who appeared in 14 games last season, and 6-foot-5 sophomore Dalton Gayman, who appeared in 20 varsity games.
“Matt is an athletic shooter and will take on a big role,” said Gray, adding, “Dalton is a physical inside player who can also shoot.”
Other players expected to crack Gray’s rotation are junior guard Will Johnson and 6-foot-4 junior post Kayden Ast. Both Johnson and Ast are in line for a significant boost in minutes after playing primarily on the junior varsity team last season.
“Will is a quick defender with deep shooting range,” said Gray, “and Kayden is a super-athletic post-player with shot-blocking ability.”
Gray also said that forward Trey Beachler will be in the mix for varsity minutes. Beachler is a 6-7 junior forward who transferred from Republic High School. In addition, junior Jayden Ast could factor into the rotation.
"Jayden is a hard-working guard that is a plus shooter, and is working to be a very good perimeter defender," said Gray."
Gray said he anticipates his club will be above average on the glass, due to its deep rotation of front-court players.
“We should win the rebounding battle every night,” he said. “Our depth in the front court will allow us to protect the paint and score easier inside, depending on defensive match-ups.”
Added Gray: “We have size that can run the floor, so we will look to beat other big men down the floor for high-percentage scoring opportunities.”
It will be a major adjustment, however, not having the dynamic play-making ability of Sommer. Sommer signed with Missouri Baptist University last spring after garnering all-conference, all-area, and all-district accolades last season.
“We will have to make sure that we have ball-handlers who can get us into good offensive sets, and our shooters must work to consistently knock down shots from the perimeter,” said Gray. “If we can limit turnovers and shoot well from the guard positions we should be very successful.”
Continued Gray: “Matthew will be very difficult to replace. We will have to adjust (our game-plan) without his explosive attacking ability. We will be more inside-oriented than we have been the past three years.”
After winning 18 consecutive games last season Nevada’s streak was snapped, and its season ended, in the Class 4 District 12 title game, a 72-45 loss to Grandview.
“Last season was a tremendous amount of fun,” said Gray. “We had a fun group of great senior leaders, that I was lucky to start my (head coaching) career with when they were freshmen four years ago. Those guys, combined with our talented underclassmen, made for a fun basketball team to coach, watch, and play.”
In addition to the 18-game win streak, Gray said other season highlights included winning the Carthage Invitational in dramatic fashion, defeating Warrensburg on Homecoming Night, and beating perennial WCC power Center High School in Kansas City.
“The biggest joy for me was watching our group grow together over Christmas break after some early-season adversity,” said Gray, adding that all the pieces came together in the second half as the Tigers maximized their abilities on both ends of the floor.
Gray said one of the biggest keys to last season’s success, was getting his squad to embrace a “defense leads to offense mentality,” which directly correlated with the 18 consecutive wins.
“Seasons like that are special,” said Gray. “We will miss those seniors, but are also excited to carry over the success into this season, while building off the things we accomplished last season.”
Gayman, the reigning conference play of the year, said he hopes for a district title and more.
“I’m looking to do the best I can and help us win more than we did last year,” Gayman told the Daily Mail. “That’s a high feat, but if your goals don’t scare you they’re not high enough.”
Gayman, who lost his running-mate Sommer, shared his thoughts on the potentially new-look Tiger offense.
“We’re going to have a lot of younger guys who haven’t really gotten much varsity playing time. They’re going to have to step-up, and if they don’t we’re going to be in a tough spot,” said Gayman. “I have confidence in them, I have faith in them, and I think they’ll fit in nicely. We’re looking to bring home a district championship this year — that’s the goal.”
The Tigers open the 2017-18 campaign next Tuesday, with a WCC road match-up in Kansas City with the St. Pius X Warriors. Nevada will also look to defend its Carthage Invitational crown, with the tournament slated for Nov. 27 – Dec. 2.
“Our biggest goal is to get better each and every day,” said Gray. “We always want to strive to be the best version of ourselves that we can possibly be. We believe that if we get ourselves to where we need to be we can be very competitive and hard to beat night-in and night-out.
“We expect to push ourselves to compete for the West Central Conference and district titles.”