High school basketball preview: Goddard Lions (+video)
Schedule
December – 4, Augusta; 8, at Buhler; 11, Maize South; 15, at Valley Center; 18, Newton.
January – 8, at Andover; 12, at Arkansas City; 14, 15 or 16, TBA at Koch Arena; 19, Campus (G); 21-23, at Chanute tournament (B); 22, Eisenhower (G); 26, Campus (B); 28-30 at Haven tournament (G); 29, Eisenhower (B).
February – 2, Andover Central; 5, at Maize South; 9, Valley Center; 12, Andover; 19, at Andover Central; 23, Arkansas City; 26, at Eisenhower.
Boys
Coach: Kyle Taylor, fifth season
Last season: 5-16
Top players
Luke Vang, 6-3, sr., F
Bryant Mocaby, 6-4, so., F
Ian McSwain, 6-0, so., G
Tate Vang, 6-0, sr., G
Playing time and even starting positions are up for grabs at Goddard, where Taylor returns eight players who started at least one game. The Vang cousins are the lone returning seniors on a team that lost one senior from last year’s team that had Mocaby, a freshman, lead the team in scoring.
“We don’t have a lot of spots set. There’s a lot of playing time out there to be earned,” Taylor said. “With everybody being so young and not having a set lineup, practices have been pretty competitive. It’s exciting to watch.”
Mocaby, a first-team All-AV-CTL II player, isn’t the only sophomore who will likely see significant playing time. McSwain ended the season as a starter. Though there are so many young legs eager to earn time on the floor, Taylor said the competitiveness hasn’t disrupted the team’s chemistry.
“These are all guys who have had the chance to play together last year,” he said. “So there’s competitiveness to earn a spot, but in practice they’re starting to realize if they want to raise the level of expectations for us this year they’re going to have to push each other in practice and by doing that it raises the level of the entire team.”
Girls
Coach: Kevin Hackerott, third season
Last season: 12-9
Top players
Sam Schwab, 6-0, sr., F
Jessica Gardner, 5-6, sr., G
Kennedy Hackerott, 5-10, sr., G
Brianna Fuchs, 5-4, sr., G
CJ Wilhelm, 5-10, jr., F
A program that managed five wins in Hackerott’s first season jumped to 12 wins a year ago. Making another significant leap is in the realm of possibility for a team that will feature four starting seniors with plenty of varsity experience.
“A big part of that 5-12 jump was getting here with a sophomore group that had to be thrown into the fire,” he said. “They weren’t ready then. But now they’re grown up and have a maturity, and they’re totally into what we’re trying to do.”
Schwab will lead a group of four senior starters returning. Their experience of playing together on the varsity level for years should result in a continued improvement of the program. However, another similar jump in success isn’t a guarantee.
“You go from 5 to 12 one year, but 12 to whatever that next number might be is always harder,” Hackerott said. “But I do think this group has a chance to do something special.”
Despite the experience, the Lions won’t be a flashy, high-production team. The senior guards specialize on the defensive end, and Schwab will be a strong presence under the basket.
“We’re not a super, high-flying, high-scoring team,” Hackerott said. “We’ll be a team that wins with just enough points. That’s the way we play.”
Billy Byler
This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 10:51 AM with the headline "High school basketball preview: Goddard Lions (+video)."