2021-22 Winter Preview: Everton Boys Basketball

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By Chris Parker

Everton boys basketball will be a young team looking to improve on last year’s three-win campaign.

Sophomore guard Brady Gladden will be one of the main leaders and contributors this season.

“He (Gladden) has improved his game over the past year and really stepped up his outside shooting abilities,” Everton coach Caleb Daniels said. “I’ve watched Brady start to understand the game and how to read defenses. He’s no doubt going to be a guy who has to step up this year and push himself and his teammates and I know he has the ability to do so.”

Junior Brayden Schultz and sophomore Noah Shearer, both post players, also return as team leaders.

Mitchell Gall returns for his junior season. Last year was his first playing basketball. Senior Zane Keck also returns after not playing last year.

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Chris Duvall and Adam Branham are two seniors that will be playing basketball for the first time.

Daniels will also rely on a strong group of freshmen for varsity contributions.

“We have several newcomers this year, mainly coming from our incoming freshman. I look for quite a few of the freshmen to have to step-up this year and will get a significant amount of playing time. Some of those freshmen are: Lane Wood, Rex Mueting, Zayn Powers and Mason Morris,” Daniels said. “We will need a big impact out of all these newcomers this year in order to take that step-up in the right direction.”

What Everton may lack in experience will be made up for with hard work and hustle.

“Effort (will be a strength). That may sound cliché but this group of guys have a lot of heart and motivation to work hard and sometimes things like effort can win you ball games,” Daniels said.

Perimeter defense and finishing on the offensive end will be focuses for improvement.

“We will need to improve our perimeter defense. We have struggled against the three-point game in the past and really need to improve on that. We have to move quicker and get to our spots,” Daniels said. “Also, on offense we have to be able to finish. We get a lot of good looks and shots. We have just struggled finishing them.”

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The Tigers open the regular season in the Verona Tip-Off Classic Nov. 20-24.

“I have a lot of expectations for this team but with this group being so young I just want to work hard, gain experience and improve on getting better for the future of this team,” Daniels said. “We will be a young team but I truly believe that this team will be fun to watch. They are going to make mistakes and we will learn from them. I really think this team could be a top contender in the next couple years moving forward.”

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