By Chad Hayworth (for OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Neosho Wildcats return their three leading scorers from a year ago, hoping that the bumps and bruises suffered as a young team the past two seasons will blossom into wins this winter.
“It’s been a weird two years,” said Wildcat Coach Zane Culp. “We rolled with our juniors and seniors, knowing that we had some underclassmen that potentially could help us, but we chose to keep them playing together, while the varsity took its lumps.
“Now we are in a good spot to go out and compete.”
The Wildcats went 8-19 last season, including 1-11 in conference play.
Senior Kaiden Asberry, Neosho’s leading scorer from last year, and will likely have to shoulder less responsibilities running the offense, in hopes of giving him more flexibility to score. Asberry averaged 13.3 points per game, while pulling down 3.9 rebounds and averaging four assists. He was named second-team all-conference and first-team all-area.
Neosho’s senior class is rounded out by a pair of guards, Oliver Martin and Jaiden Fisher. Both 5-foot-11, Martin is counted on for both his ability to score and defend, while Fisher can also find the bottom of the net, keeping defenses from focusing on Asberry, Culp said.
Junior Houston Branscum, 5-foot-9, will take over much of the ball-handling duties for the Wildcast, after a sophomore season that saw him hurt early on. In 14 games a season ago, he averaged 6.1 points.
Branscum will allow the team to play fast and find open shots, Culp said.
At 6-foot-5, Zach Forsythe is the tallest Wildcat on the roster and also the one with the biggest upside, Culp said.
Forsythe, who averaged 9.9 points and five boards last year, has the potential to be one of the best pure big men in the area, and one of the best in recent Neosho history, Culp said.
“He is elite as far as shot blocking goes,” Culp said. “He allows us to do different things defensively because we have that rim protector.”
A couple of Wildcat football players, juniors Mason Spiva and Haven Plummer, are expected to provide athleticism and a spark on both ends of the floor, Culp said. Spiva was hurt during football last year and only appeared in 11 games at the end of the season for the basketball Wildcats.
Culp said he wants his team to play quickly, but with the understanding of needing to find the best shot for the situation.
“Sometimes that may take us 10 seconds, and sometimes we may have to be more methodical,” he said. “Defensively, we want to force teams into shots they don’t want to take.”
The Wildcats open the season December 2 with a trip to Waynesville. Neosho will participate in the Pea Ridge, Ark., tournament in mid-December, before playing in the Twelve Courts of Christmas shootout in Kansas City on December 17, and the Neosho Holiday Classic after Chrismas.
The Wildcats start COC play on February 6 against Joplin.
