2 days Ago By SAM FICARRO Schuyler Sun
Clarkson/Leigh junior Kyle McMullin shoots a 3-pointer against Fullerton on Dec. 28, 2023, in Shelby. McMullin led the team in scoring last season averaging 8.
5 points per game. Clarkson/Leigh boys basketball endured a rebuilding year last year. The Patriots posted a record of 3-18 after beginning the season 0-15.
After battling injuries and young players stepping into varsity roles for the first time, Clarkson/Leigh hopes to build on that foundation and hit the ground running this winter. "We're really looking forward to it. We're excited about this group.
We're going to be young," Patriots head coach Jeff Bachman said. "We don't have many seniors coming back this year, but I thought we had a good summer. It's a fun group.
They're competitive. They're going to work hard so I'm excited to see where we end up at." The Patriots played six freshmen and sophomores in at least 10 games last season.
Despite the lack of wins, Bachman said the team grew exponentially last season. "It one of those things where it just felt like early in the year if it could go wrong it did. Minor injuries like a rolled ankle or a sprained ankle or just little things here and there.
We lost two games at the buzzer," Bachman said. "It was just frustrating early on, but to these guys' credit they stuck with it. They kept showing up.
They kept working hard. We were playing our best basketball down at the end of the season. It was neat to see so many guys keep buying in and keep showing up and keep working hard.
" Among the starting contributors returning is juniors Kyle McMullin and Tucker Matthies and senior Korbin Lemburg. McMullin led the Patriots with 8.5 points and 5.
8 rebounds per game last season. Lemburg and Matthies and scored 6.9 and 6.
3 points, respectively. "They'll be huge. They're the leaders of the group.
They're the guys who show up for every open gym, show up for every weight room session and they're going to make us go," Bachman said. "We need all three of them to have good seasons for us, not only scoring the ball but also leadership roles and defensively. They're going to have to play big for us to be successful.
" Clarkson/Leigh seek players needing to step up with a handful of seniors graduating who played at least 15 games last season. Bachman mentioned juniors Wyatt Crosley and Grant Hanel among two candidates to fill larger roles this season. "Wyatt (Crosley) had a nice finish to the season last year.
Grant Hanel is one we're counting on as well. He was in our rotation and unfortunately he got hurt farming so he missed over half the season last year," Bachman said. "Jacob Kroeger is another one.
He's a big kid. He's 6-8, very green, very inexperienced. Blake Loseke will be another one that we're really kind of looking to as far as he's going to be an energy guy, hustler off the bench for us.
" Patriots junior Tucker Matthies shoots a jumper versus Fullerton on Dec. 28, 2023, at Shelby-Rising City. The Patriots open the season on Dec.
6 at Humphrey-Lindsay. The Patriots will look to sharpen their defense after allowing 57.4 points per game last season.
On the glass, they averaged 27.1 rebounds per game. "We need to be an elite defensive team.
Over the last three seasons and we've held teams to 49 points or fewer, we've lost three games. When teams score 50 points or more, we've lost 32 games," Bachman said. "We're saying 49 is the magic number.
We're going to focus on the defensive end. We're going to become very, very good not only with ball pressure, but also great communication and great positioning defensively." On offense, Clarkson/Leigh shot 35% from the field and 29% from 3-point range as it averaged 42.
9 points per game. It scored at least 50 points in just five games last season. "Just got be consistent.
We got to take care of the ball and we got to limit our turnovers. We had way too many last year. We just got to get possessions, especially now with the shot clock," Bachman said.
"It's going to change things a little bit as far as being efficient, taking care of the ball, getting good possessions and not having to rush ourselves too much." Clarkson/Leigh opens the season on Dec. 6 at Humphrey-Lindsay.
It seeks a significant increase in wins after its first single-digit win season since 2018-19. "We're going to take a big step up this year. I have no doubt about that.
What that means for wins-losses I don't know, but we're going to be competitive in our conference. We're going to be competitive in whatever our region breaks for us as far as subdistricts," Bachman said. "The goal obviously every night is to get a win, but the clear goal especially with such a young team is growth.
We should be getting better every single day and look how we are in February compared to now. It should be laughable how much we've improved." Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sports Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
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