Webb City basketball, as it traditionally does, will be getting a little later start than most other area teams. The Cardinals make consistent deep postseason runs on the gridiron, which means many of coach Jason Horn’s players are on the football field for the first few weeks of practice.
“We are very proud of the athletic tradition we have in all of our programs at Webb City and our football program presents a very positive situation for athletes where they are given the opportunity to compete at a high level on a big stage,” Horn said. “For our staff we know there is a good possibility that we won’t have our guys early in season so we try to be positive with our guys and help them understand that the process will be a little different for us early in the season. One of the ways we try to help with that is trying to be very productive with our summer contact days preparing our kids and trying to install as much as we can so the transition is smoother for them when the season starts.”
The Cardinals opened the season 3-7 last year before going 11-6 to finish the season over .500 at 14-13. Webb City graduated six seniors including its top three leading scorers in Alex Pickett, Kyle Nichols and Grant Ellis. Pickett and Nichols also earned all-conference honors.
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“We lost a great group of kids to graduation,” Horn said. “We are going to miss working with those guys on a daily basis. It will be hard to replace their versatility on both ends of the floor.”
Two-way football star Alex Gaskill is the leading returning player in every major statistical category after averaging 8.3 points. 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assist and 2.2 steals per game last year.
“We expect Alex to produce again statistically but his biggest impact will be in how well he develops into more of a leadership role,” Horn said.
Tanner Rogers will see an expanded role after playing in all 27 varsity games as a sophomore. He averaged 3.5 points and two assists per game.
“Tanner really stepped up for the program last season when we lost some guys to injury. He proved to be someone we could count on to manage the game from the point guard position and to be a threat from the three-point line,” Horn said. “Tanner had a solid offseason and shot the ball at very high rate. We are counting on him to step up his production and take on a bigger role offensively.”
One of the biggest additions to the varsity lineup will be junior Terrell Kabala. Kabala missed last season with an ACL injury, but is back fully healthy ready for the basketball season after football finishes up.
“We are excited to have Terrell Kabala back after missing last season with an injury. Terrell is very talented and extremely athletic basketball player,” Horn said. “He’s an impact player on both ends of the floor and someone who has been in big games and shown he can play at a high level.”
Kabala has already drawn college interest from several Division II programs according to Horn.
Juniors Austin Bash and Colton McKee will be threats on the perimeter this year. Gary Clinton, Mekhi Garrard, Nickhai Howard and Luke Bumit give Webb City a strong sophomore group to lean on.
Overall, expect to see an athletic group on the floor for the Cardinals this winter.
“I really like this group’s athleticism and we have a number of guys who can really shoot the basketball,” Horn said. “We have multiple guys who can score the ball both at the rim and from the perimeter. Our athleticism should be a plus for us defensively if we can stay disciplined.”
Webb City is scheduled to open the basketball season on Dec. 4 at home against Lamar. This year’s state football championship games are scheduled for Nov. 30.
