A look at the Mulvane Wildcats basketball teams
SCHEDULE
December – 5-10, at Circle tournament; 13, at Rose Hill; 16, Collegiate; 20, Halstead.
January – 3, Wellington; 6, at Andale; 10, at Clearwater; 13, El Dorado; 18-21, at Chaparral tournament (B); 23-28, Mulvane tournament (G); 31, at Winfield.
February – 7, Augusta; 10, Rose Hill; 14, at Collegiate; 17, at Wellington; 21, Andale; 23, Clearwater.
BOYS
Coach: Mike Abasolo, second season, 2-19
Last season: 2-19
Top players
Jayden Price, 6-0, jr.
Dalton Blaine, 5-10, sr., G
Drew Ellis, 5-8, so., G
Zach Helbing, 6-2, sr., F
Brett Nelson, 5-10, jr., G
After seven years as an assistant coach, Abasolo experienced a rocky start in his first year as Mulvane’s coach. But if the Wildcats’ football success serves as a barometer, they are poised to show some improvement this season.
“It was rough,” he said of last season. “We had no seniors, all underclassmen.”
One bright spot was Ellis, who averaged a team-high 13.6 points as a freshman.
“When we started, we didn’t know about him, but he became a part of our group real fast,” Abasolo said.
One change this season is that the sophomore Ellis has emerged as one of the team leaders, Abasolo said. Leadership will be spread out this year because of the players being a year older.
Having players who just finished a deep run into the Class 4A-I football playoffs doesn’t hurt, either.
Price (quarterback), Blaine and Ellis (receivers), Helbing (defensive back) all played key roles in the 8-3 squad that reached the quarterfinals.
“If there’s a 2-19 team that I’m going to be comfortable with, it’s these guys,” Abasolo said.
GIRLS
Coach: Kadee Wheeler, second season, 1-20
Last season: 1-20
Top players
Emma Chambers, 5-8, sr., G
Ashley Wilson, 5-10, jr., F
Peyton Christian, 5-7, sr., F
Mady Tharp, 5-4, so., G
Even though Mulvane won just one game last season, Wheeler said she is seeing a great possibility for improvement this year with three seniors and three juniors among the 25 girls out.
“It’s encouraging to see the numbers,” she said. “It’s going to take some time, but we’re making little steps and by February, the bigger picture will start to come around.”
The Wildcats do have a strong player to build around in Chambers, who averaged 15.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2 steals.
“She opens up a lot of things for us and is our sparkplug,” Wheeler said. “She always gives 110 percent, and I’m looking for her to take a more active role.”
Of course, Wheeler said, Mulvane’s opponents are aware of Chambers, and now the challenge will be to find players to shoulder more of the load and make it more difficult to key on Chambers.
Wilson could be one of those players, Wheeler said.
“She has the most raw talent of any girl I’ve coached,” Wheeler said. “I see her potential.”
Mulvane was competitive in a number of games last season, Wheeler said, but wasn’t experienced enough to close the deal.
“They have to learn how to win and learn how to overcome deficits,” she said. “When we would get close, we wouldn’t know how to keep it going. We could do well, but only for a quarter or a half. We need to put four quarters together.”
LIONEL TIPTON
This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 11:53 AM with the headline "A look at the Mulvane Wildcats basketball teams."