Kelly boys basketball attempts to get over hump while employing new starters

Kelly's Cayden Williams returns this season and is expected to be a key contributor for the Hawks.

Southeast Missourian file

Team outlook

The Kelly boys basketball team has duplicate 10-win seasons in coach Ryan Garnett's first two years with the program.

While the Hawks fell short of .500 each season, the win totals have doubled the output of the year before his arrival, when the team went 5-18.

In fact, the Hawks had not won more than five games in any of the previous five seasons before he took over, including an 0-22 campaign in 2009-10 that started the current streak of seven losing seasons.

"We're trying to get over that hump," Garnett said. "That was a huge success for our program, where it had been, to get those 10 wins -- two years back to back, they hadn't done that in several years -- but we're not settling, we're trying to push that. We've added a couple teams that could hurt our record, but it will make us better basketball players."

The Hawks have added a perennially strong Portageville team to their schedule, and were moved to a notably tough district, Class 3 District 1, that will include Portageville along with the likes of Charleston, Malden, Caruthersville and New Madrid County Central.

Garnett and his Hawks will take it on with basically four new starters in the lineup, which at times could possess no one taller than 6 foot.

Scoring and assists leader Ty Householder was among four starters to graduate -- seven of the 11 players on last year's team were seniors -- leaving 5-10 guard Kade Proctor as the lone returning starter, although 6-0 guard Cayden Williams and 5-10 guard Isai Campos all started a few games during their junior seasons.

The Hawks graduated four starters that averaged double figures or just below.

"I'd say we lost 95 percent of our scoring," Garnett said.

MISSOURIAN BASKETBALL PREVIEWS: A team-by-team look at the high school season ahead

The returning group tops out with Proctor, who averaged around 6 points per game.

Quintin Lara rounds out the group of four returning seniors that Garnett says are greatly improved over a year ago.

Juniors Brent Burke, a 6-0 forward, and 5-10 guard Carlos Ambrocio will be added to the varsity mix after being the leaders on last year's JV.

"We're going to be guard heavy," Garnett said. "Our play is going to be fast. We're going to rely on that, but we've got big guys we can put in that fifth spot."

Some size can be called upon to help defend around the basket. Austin Eskew, the tallest player on the team at 6-5, has returned to the court for his senior year after not playing since his freshman season, and the junior class holds some height in 6-4 Noah Tackett and 6-3 Quinton Lacey.

Garnett said Burke is deceiving with his ability to play inside.

"He's not terribly tall, I might give him 6 foot -- if I stretch him out -- but he's a big, strong kid, probably one of the strongest kids around," Garnett said.

Proctor, Williams, Campos, Lara, Burke and Ambrocio may not make for the most physically intimidating team, but Garnett said the group has a high basketball IQ and has the ability to score from a variety of places on the floor.

"Honestly, I think we've got four, five guys capable of knocking the 3 down," Garnett said.

He classified Proctor as probably the team's best defender and a "spot-up" shooter, Williams as the team's best mid-range shooter who can drive to the basket and a much-improved Lara as the team's hardest worker,

"We can put five guys out there that can be a threat scoring or attacking the basket -- not very tall, but capable," Garnett said.

It's a contrast from last year's team.

"Last year had a little bit more size and not as much speed or really basketball skill as we have this year," Garnett said. "We tried to slow it down and actually slowed tempo to control the game a little more. We did try to use our length to pressure the ball, but this year is going be little bit different, a much faster tempo team. I won't say a green light, but we've got a plan to go fast and get our shots up quick."

Tools for success

Garnett said he has a committed group that has been concentrating on overall ability and cohesiveness.

"We're just trying to build these guys as a unit," Garnett said. "This is the first year I've had starters coming in all summer and playing together. They're one of the hardest working teams I've been around -- by far -- and a lot of it is led by them, which is nice to see."

The weight room has been a big avenue for improvement for the Hawks. Garnett says players are still lifting in the morning, and a lot of the work they do is on their own.

"They're tough guys," Garnett said. "They're not real big guys, but they're tough."

CLASS 3 DISTRICT 1

Conference

Scott-Mississippi

Head coach

Ryan Garnett

(3rd year)

ROSTER

STARTERS GONE

Ty Householder

Levi Alsup

Maurice Davis

Jake McClain

STARTERS BACK

Kade Proctor

SCHEDULE

LAST SEASON

RECORD

10-13

LEADERS

Points: Ty Householder (12.8 ppg)

Rebounds: Levi Alsup (6 rpg)

Assists: Householder (2.6 apg)