Monday, November 30, 2009 11:06 PM CST
Carrell the newest piece in Casey puzzle
By TERRI COX, Staff Writer
sports@jg-tc.com
CASEY -- The Casey-Westfield Warriors are to open their 2009 basketball season today as they play host to Sullivan in a non-conference matchup under new coach Brad Carrell.
While Carrell may be new to the head coaching position for the Warriors, he is no stranger to Casey-Westfield High School or the expectations of the program. A 1999 graduate of C-WHS, Carrell played for Randy Bishop during his high school career where he was a member of three consecutive regional championships and earned the distinction of being on the basketball program’s winningest team.
“We have had a good week of practice and are ready to get things rolling,” Carrell said about the quickly approaching season. “They are a very dedicated group and just a great bunch of kids.”
In his inaugural season, Carrell is to have the services of five letter winners from last year’s squad that finished the season with a 10-14 mark over all and 5-3 in Little Illini Conference action and he is projecting as his starters.
“We jump right into the fire as far as conference games go so we will have to be prepared to play from game one,” said Carrell. “We’ve gotten through that first week of transition from fall sports and it was a little ragged, but we’ve made it through and are looking pretty good.”
Returning for the Warriors are seniors Chris Unzicker, Riley Scales, Lucas McVey and Kruz Kusterman along with junior Clinton Scott.
In the paint Casey will lean heavily on Kusterman (6.1 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game) and Scott (9.4 ppg, 5.5 rebounds and 23 blocks on the year) to carve the way for the Warriors this season.
“We are looking for great things out of Kruz,” said Carrell. “If he plays up to his potential, he will have a great senior year. Clinton is a big, strong, physical young man who works hard. When you put that together with his outstanding work ethic, the sky is the limit when it comes to his success on the basketball floor.”
As with most high school programs, the tempo and success of the squad lies on the shoulders of the guards and the Warriors are no different.
Led by three seniors, Unzicker, McVey and Scales, the ability to push the ball up the floor as well as forcing transition baskets is to be the key in determining how the game is to go.
“Lucas (McVey) has put it a ton of time and is a very coachable young man,” said Carrell. “He is a very smart player and has taken very seriously his role as a senior leader. He was worked his tail off the first week of practice. Riley (Scales) has really stepped up his defensive skills and will likely draw our opponent’s best guard and we will need him to step up offensively for us as well. We will look to Chris (Unzicker) to be our leader on the floor and play tough defense. He will have to help create scoring opportunities for not only himself, but for his teammates.”
Carrell has gotten a few new faces to the high school program with seniors Mitch Markwell and Josh McCormick and believes they are to provide key minutes for the Warriors throughout the season.
“Mitch (Markwell) is a very emotional leader and always finds a way to get people motivated,” said Carrell. “It’s nice to have him back in uniform and I hope he enjoys his season. Josh (McCormick) is a first year player who is working very hard. I hope he has a good experience and takes away a lot of positive things from being part of the program.”
Factor is several juniors and sophomores along with a few freshman and Carrell rounds out his varsity squad.
“Jeff (Babbs) continues to work hard every day and gets better every day,” said Carrell, who is assisted by Kevin Anderson, Jason Blankenbaker and volunteer coach Steve Hawkins. “I look for him to get into more and more varsity games as the season goes on.”
Sophomores Colin Carver, Ethan Blankenship, Hunter Scales and Drew Bolin, according to Carrell, are to be challenging the upperclassmen for varsity minutes as well as the season progresses.
Some other under classmen who have caught the coach’s eye includes Jeremy Nichols, Landry Huisinga, Taylor White, KJ Wade and Ryan McHenry and they are vying for the final spots on the varsity roster.
In taking over a program that has struggled in recent years, Carrell understands the challenge and is eager to bring the standard back to the standards he remembers as a player.
“I believe being a part of the program as a player will be a great benefit for me as a coach,” said Carrell. “I already have that pride built into me and our program was very successful. I have a passion for the game. I enjoy working with players; teaching them the game and watching them succeed.”
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
