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42 Northwest Arkansas Basketball Sunday, November 3, 2019 BOYS CEDARVILLE PIRATES COACH Andrew Tencleve 2018-19 RECORD 10-20 PLAYOFF RESULT Lost in district quar- terfinals WHO'S BACK? Senior Kolbye Beals (C, 6-1), juniors Austin Swaim (G, 5-0), Conner Templeton (5-10), Caleb Franklin (G, 6-0), Tom Metcalf (6-0). THE SCOOP Last season's 10-win effort was the most for the Pirates since a 21- 10 season in 2013. … Newcomers include sophomores Darryl Kattich (6-0), Hayden Partain (6-0), and Joshua Roam. CHARLESTON TIGERS COACH B.J. Ross 2018-19 RECORD 19-8 PLAYOFF RESULT Won district tourna- ment, finished third in regional tournament, lost in first round of Class 3A state tour- nament WHO'S BACK? All-state senior Brayden Ross (G, 6-3), who averaged a double-dou- ble (18.7 points and 11.4 rebounds) last season, is the lone starter back. Seniors returning include Jordan Fenner (F/C, 6-4), Shane Turner (F, 6-2), Geoffrey Scott (G, 5-11), Chance Sneathern (G, 5-10). THE SCOOP Brayden Ross scored 31 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in a state tournament game last season. … The last time the Tigers had to replace 4 starters (2015-2016) they reached the Class 3A State Finals. … Also returning is junior Trenton Goodson (G, 6-3), Dalton Curtis (G, 6-0) and Ransom Merechka (G, 5-10). ELKINS ELKS COACH Jared Porter 2018-19 RECORD 26-6 PLAYOFF RESULT Finished second in dis- trict tournament, finished fourth in regional tournament, lost in first round of Class 3A state tournament WHO'S BACK? Seniors include All-State guard Paxton Barnett (6-4), Caden Vaught (G, 5-10), Kobe Andrews (F, 6-3), Dylan Hol- land (F, 6-3), Carson Perrenoud (G, 5-11) and junior Kain Johnson (G, 5-10). THE SCOOP The Elks have a great shot at repeating as district champions. … Barnett averaged 18 points a game last season in earning all-state honors. GREENLAND PIRATES COACH Jared Gobel 2018-19 RECORD 5-19 PLAYOFF RESULT Lost in first round of district tournament WHO'S BACK? Seniors Carter Gobel (G, 6-2), Luke Osburn (F, 6-2), Sage Austin (G, 6-0), Jack Quinn (C, 6-7), Kadden Partain (G, 5-11) and junior Gabe Wilson (G, 6-2). Newcomers include sophomores Jacob Gilbert, Kaden Watts, Ryan Bush and J.J. Hollingsworth. THE SCOOP The Pirates have four players returning that either started or played sig- nificant minutes. Gobel and Osburn led the team in scoring and rebounding last season. … "We are looking forward to the year we should be a physical basketball team with good size, with the ability to play good de- fense and score points," coach Jared Gobel said. LINCOLN WOLVES COACH Tim Rich 2018-19 RECORD 13-15 PLAYOFF RESULT Lost in quarterfinals of district tournament WHO'S BACK? Seniors Chase Hutchens (6-0), Chance Blankenship (C, 6-5), Jasper Terry (5-8), Keagan Thorpe (F, 5-11), Cole Griscom (6-0). THE SCOOP The Wolves have shown steady yearly improvement since a 6-win season in 2015. The win totals have in- creased from 6, 7, 9, 11,13. MANSFIELD TIGERS COACH Keith Dake 2018-19 RECORD 5-19 PLAYOFF RESULT Lost in first round of district tournament WHO'S BACK? Seniors Ethan Stovall (6- 1), Layton Howard (5-11), Tyler Holmes (5- 10), Jaicy Griffin (5-10), and Isaac Cothran (C, 6-0). Juniors include Codi Chick (G, 5-10), Jojo Bailey (F, 5-11), and Bri Sand- erson (C, 6-3) THE SCOOP Mansfield has four starters back and four other veterans returning af- ter graduating just two seniors last season, the Tigers will have four starters from the last season returning, along with four other varsity players. The sophomore class fin- ished second in the junior high district last season, Stovall led the Tigers in scoring, rebounding and assists. WALDRON BULLDOGS COACH Josh Brown 2018-19 RECORD 23-10 PLAYOFF RESULT Finished third in the district tournament, finished second in the regional tournament, lost in first round of state tournament. WHO'S BACK? All-State point guard Payton Brown (6-3) returns for his senior season. Other seniors returning are Jacob Avila (5-10), Ruben Valdez (5-10) and Ma- son Ford (6-3). Juniors Gada Wagner (5-9), Issac Villarrreal (6-2), Jaden Hutchens (5-1) and Caden Fuller (5-9). THE SCOOP Waldron saw a 12-game win improvement in 2019, culminating in a state tournament appearance. … Brown averaged 32.1 points per game last season for the Bulldogs. He is verbally committed to Central Arkansas. WEST FORK TIGERS COACH Kelby Drennan 2018-19 RECORD 16-13 PLAYOFF RESULT Finished fourth in district tournament, lost in first round of regional tournament WHO'S BACK? Senior Garren Wynn (6-0) and junior Wyett Kutz (6-0), Chris Mavis (6-3) THE SCOOP Drennan said the Tigers will be very young and inexperienced after los- ing seven seniors. Kutz returns after running the PG for the Tigers last year and Wynn started as a sophomore before coming off the bench last year. The Tigers improved from 9 wins in 2018 to 16 in Drennan's first season leading the Tigers. BERGMAN PANTHERS COACH Bo Martin 2018-19 RECORD 28-8 PLAYOFF RESULT Finished third in district tournament, lost in first round of regional tournament WHO'S BACK? Newcomer of the Year and All-State junior Elijah Royce (F, 6-4, Jr.) returns along with seniors Shelton Welsh (G, 5-11), Chance Car- ter (F, 5-11), A.J. Van Lear (G, 5-10), and junior sixth man Asher Fultz (G, 6-2). T H E S C O O P L a s t season was Martin's first winning season at Bergman as the Pan- thers doubled their win total (14 wins in 2018 and 6 wins in 2017). … "We bring back a lot of experience from the last couple of seasons. They're a really tight knit group with great chemistry," Martin said. GREEN FOREST TIGERS COACH Shane Compton 2018-19 RECORD 3-19 PLAYOFF RESULT Lost in first round of district tournament WHO'S BACK? Key returnees are senior Coby Rincon (F, 6-0) and junior Reiley Gor- don (G, 5-11) Also expected to contribute are senior Will Chaney (G, 5-9) and Micah Hutchison (G/F, 6-2), junior Daniel McDon- ald G/F, 6-3), and sophomore Jordon Mc- loud (PF, 6-5). THE SCOOP Green Forest graduated four starters from last season and have only two experienced returnees. VALLEY SPRINGS TIGERS COACH Blake Hanney 2018-19 RECORD 35-4 PLAYOFF RESULT Won district tourna- ment, won regional championship, Lost in quarterfinals of Class 3A state tournament. WHO'S BACK? All-state senior Isaac Ragland (F, 6-4) leads a veteran team. Oth- er returnees include seniors point guard Tegan James, forward JP Loggins, post Brock Knapp, guard Braydon Carnahan, and guard Briley Saunier. Juniors include guard Brock Lippe, forward Trell Trammell (6-4) and center Jordan Cape (6-6). THE SCOOP "We have good size and above average guard play. We have a deep bench this season and can shoot the ball pretty good," Hanney said. … The Tigers are 109-34 in the last four seasons. BOONEVILLE BEARCATS COACH Ronnie Denton 2018-19 RECORD 29-4 PLAYOFF RESULT Won district tourna- ment, finished third in regional, Lost in quarterfinals of Class 3A state tournament WHO'S BACK? Juniors Blake Jones (5-7), Jacob Herrera (6-1), Andrew Mattson (6-3) all averaged about 1.5 ppg last season. The C L A S S 3 A B A S K E T B A L L C A P S U L E S Royce File Photo/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/THOMAS METTHE Charleston's Payton Rucker (15) fights for a rebound with Mountain View's Kaley Shipman (3) during the 2018 Class 3A state championship game. Rucker returns to lead the Lady Tigers this season. v Continued on next page