CMB boys to change style of play after graduation hits

BAXTER — With only one of its top six scorers from last year back this season, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s boys’ basketball team will need to change its style of play in 2015-16.

The Raiders will not be nearly as big in the post, and the guards, outside of returning starter Brady Stover, have little to no experience at the varsity level.

So CMB will have to rely heavily on its defense to create more possessions on offense, according to coach Scott Brummel.

This year’s CMB squad will look much different than it did a year ago, but Brummel said it may be faster and able to run the floor more than in previous years.

“We have to see how many kids we can put on the floor. We will try to press and run up and down the floor, but if we don’t go too deep that may not work,” Brummel said. “We just won’t be as big as we were last year.

“We’ll need to create more possessions this year. We won’t be able to play as much in the halfcourt as we did last year.”

The three captains will be essentially the only three players who logged significant minutes last year.

However, one of those players, senior Brad Ritter, is injured and may not be available until after the holiday break.

Stover was the team’s third leading scorer behind graduated seniors Bryce Kemp and Seth Balke, and he’ll be asked to provide a bigger role on both ends of the court this season.

Stover averaged 8.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game and was fourth on the team with 30 assists.

Hunter Gunderson is the other captain. He averaged 2.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game a season ago.

“We are getting some good work in. We are playing hard,” Brummel said. “It’s a new team. We are young. We are back to a lot of basics, which is good for any team at this point really.”

Aside from the three captains, Brummel expects junior Hunter McWhirter and freshman Will Clapper to make immediate impacts.

McWhirter is a big guard who can handle the ball and his ability to limit turnovers will help the Raiders on the perimeter.

Clapper is a big-bodied post who gives the Raiders another option inside the lane. He started on the line during football season so the basketball coaching staff is not worried about how he stacks up physically.

The rest of the lineup will be a committee effort.

After three days of practice, Brummel was only settled on seven varsity players.

The other three who could play significant minutes include freshman Ian Thomson and juniors Brady Kemp and Creighton Caple.

“There’s good teams with good players, so the conference will be tough,” Brummel said. “We need to rely on defense to get us volume possessions. If we can do that, then offensively we’ll come along and be tough enough to do some things. But it all starts on the defensive end. We are going to have lock people up and get more possessions.”

The conference should be competitive top to bottom.

South Hamilton features the league’s best player in junior Collin Hill, who is getting Division I interest from a number of mid-major schools.

Hill returns to the Hawks’ lineup after missing all of last year with an injury.

PCM and Gilbert shared the conference title last year with identical 16-2 records.

The Mustangs have won at least a share of the league crown in six of the last seven seasons and bring back first-team all-conference forward Logan Gilman.

There are plenty of other teams who will compete for a conference title, too.

“Anytime PCM has Gilman, that’s a good place to start,” Brummel said. “South Hamilton might have the best player in the league. He’s worth the hype.”