By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Logan-Rogersville Wildcats are pretty good for a team that doesn’t prioritize basketball year-round.
But their top attributes – size, speed, physicality and toughness – translate well to the hardwood.
“Our team, we’re football guys. We’re baseball guys. We’re soccer guys,” said Wildcats coach John Schaefer. “We have one guy out of our top 15 who plays summer basketball. We’re all multi-sport athletes. We’re trying to use that as much as we can.
“We suffer in basketball, skill-wise, in some spots and we’ll get exposed at times. Our defense usually helps us out and we can manipulate a few things to give ourselves a chance to win games.”
The Wildcats used their size and strength to dominate Lebanon in Tuesday night’s Gold Division quarterfinals. Logan-Rogersville, the No. 2 seed, scored the game’s first 20 points and cruised to a 61-28 victory over the No. 7 seed Yellowjackets.
“Our offense was good in the first quarter, but our defense was even better,” Logan-Rogersville senior forward Curry Sutherland said of the big start. “It’s something we pride ourselves on, more than the offensive side. We want to get stops on defense so we can get easy buckets on the offensive end.”
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Sutherland, a 6’6” forward, scored a game-high 20 to lead the Wildcats, who improved to 9-0 overall.
The Missouri State baseball commit sat out last basketball season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
“Baseball’s my love, obviously, but I missed basketball. It’s something I enjoy playing,” Sutherland said. “I’m really excited to be having the year we’re having so far.”
With a lineup that features two other Missouri State baseball commits – Ross Lawrence and Brody McNeil – plus all-conference football players Thessen Prenger (QB) and Keegun Daniels (OL) – the Wildcats have learned how to adapt on the basketball court.
“We’ve really worked on keeping people out of the lane without fouling and using that physicality,” Schaefer said. “That’s the key. Yes, we can go bully people and get in foul trouble or whatever. We spend a lot of time working on moving our feet and guarding with our chest.
“Even now, we’ve talked Keegun into talking charges, which is amazing. It looks like a tree slowly falling, but it’s effective.”
Logan-Rogersville (9-0 overall) will face Greenwood at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Gold Division semifinals at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.
The Wildcats, who have the most Blue and Gold Tournament wins all-time with 128, are two wins away from earning their first tourney title since 2018.
“We’re playing with confidence right now, but with that confidence we still have to be disciplined,” Sutherland said. “We have to keep playing hard defense and not force shots on the offensive end.”
Sutherland scored 10 in the first quarter to lead Logan-Rogersville’s 20-0 start. Scott Metz (12) and Lawrence (10) also reached double figures for the Wildcats.
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“We’re not anything like we were two years ago when we won districts,” Schaefer said. “Offensively, even though we’ve played nine games, we’re still not clicking. We’re still trying to figure things out. It’s what separates us from those more skilled teams right now. Eventually, we’ll get there we hope.”
Logan-Rogersville 61, Lebanon 28
Logan-Rogersville 22 10 13 16 — 61
Lebanon 3 8 9 8 — 28
Logan-Rogersville (9-0 overall) – Curry Sutherland 20, Scott Metz 12, Ross Lawrence 10, Brody McNiel 6, Hayden Sircy 4, Bryce Marshall 4, Thessen Prenger 3, Stewart McDonald 2
Lebanon (5-4 overall) – Dylan Russell 7, Caleb Ray 6, Cooper Berry 4, Austin Hendrix 4, Wyatt Carr 3, Kelby Vandergrift 2, Mason Huber 2
