Marionville boys basketball finished 8-18 last season, which snapped a streak of six straight seasons with a winning record.
Defense will be key to getting back above .500.
“We need to be more aggressive on the defensive side of the ball,” Marionville head coach Rob Guerin said. “With increased intensity on defense each day in practice, it should carry over into the games and give us a better chance of winning more games. With our increased number of athletic players, competition and intensity were good this summer. That needs to carry over into the season and then into games.”
First-Team All-Southwest Conference selection Bryer Guerin returns to lead the team. He averaged 17.5 points, 7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 4.2 steals per game as a junior.
“He is a four-year starter and has developed and improved each season. With this being his senior year, he is expected to be more of a verbal leader on and off the floor. His basketball IQ and athleticism have always put him in position to lead by example; he will just need to become more vocal,” Coach Guerin said. “His basketball IQ and athleticism allow him to to play any position on either side of the ball. He has a nose for the ball on defense and is hard to stop on the offensive side of the ball. He is also very good at getting other people open opportunities when defenses collapse to stop him.”
Ryder White (senior), Joey Gossett (senior), Mason Willis (junior), Garrisen Smith (junior) and Kannon Mace (junior) all return with varsity experience. White, a center/forward, averaged 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Gossett, a center, will have a bigger role and look to improve his averages of 1.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. Willis, a shooting guard, averaged 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds per game last season. Smith contributed 3.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and is a forward. Mace plays shooting guard and averaged 3.8 points per game last season.
Sophomore Logan Dummit along with freshmen Cruz Murphy and Braiden Sekscinski will look to carve out varsity minutes.
This year’s team has the luxury of bigger numbers, which was not the case last season.
“We struggled with having enough players last season and we weren’t able to play a full JV season and had trouble having enough substitutes at times,” Guerin said. “Our numbers have bounced back this year, so that will be our strength.”
The increased numbers will mean increased defensive intensity.
“With low numbers and few substitutes, we weren’t able to be as aggressive on defense last season,” Guerin said. “I’m expecting our defense to pick up intensity and aggressiveness this season. We allowed too many easy and open shots that we have to eliminate this year.”
Marionville opens the season on Dec. 5 at home against Gloria Deo Academy.
“We have some upperclassmen who need to help the underclassmen develop into solid players, as well as keep improving themselves,” Guerin said. “We need to come to practice every day ready to compete at a high level. As long as we can see improvement throughout the season and are playing our best basketball in late February/March, I consider it a successful season.”
