C2S1: Summersville to feel pressure of Cooter zone

Summersville and Cooter High Schools are nearly three hours apart, so from a basketball perspective, the two Wildcat programs more than likely don’t have much familiarity with each other, so here is a quick tutorial for the ‘Cats from Texas County:

* The Bootheel Wildcats wear red, white, and blue

* They are really good and athletic, and

* The zone defense that Cooter coach David Mathis has his team playing is a nightmare for opponents

The two teams will meet tonight in the MSHSAA Class 2 Sectional 1 game at 6 p.m. at Bloomfield High School, and at some point in the game, the Summersville coaches, players, and fans will get a dose of one of the longest and most athletic Class 2 basketball teams in Missouri.

“Our whole group is athletic,” Mathis said of his latest team.

With a victory tonight, the patriotic-looking Wildcats (25-3) will become the winningest team in program history, and as good as they are offensively (and Cooter is really good at scoring the ball), the defense is just as impressive.

“Our length,” Mathis said of what he likes about his zone defense. “At one time, we can have 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, and 6-3, and also two really athletic kids, who take charges and play really well in the back of our zone.”

Cooter has won eight of its past nine games and won its two Class 2 District 1 games by an average margin of 23 points.

South Pemiscot averaged nearly 60 points per game this season and Cooter held the Bulldogs to a measly 32 points in the District tournament.

“We’re just really active,” Mathis said. “We knew that we could score (this year), but we really, really focused, after moving up to Class 2, we knew to win that District, we were going to have to guard because everybody in that District is good.”

“Everybody” for the rest of this basketball season will be good, so Cooter has to make its zone as effective as possible tonight and every other game night.

“That is a big thing with us,” Mathis continued, “we can guard, we can play slow, or we can play fast.

“We’re guarding and I am happy about that.”

Cooter will roll out a wealth of seniors in Lukas Barnes (6-4), Rhods Lynn (6-3), Carson Swan (6-3), and off the bench are Caleb Gunnels (6-7) and Jude Lomas (6-3).

Lynn and Barnes have “30 to 40 dunks” between them this season, many coming off defensive pressure.

“We will press out of (our zone),” Mathis explained. “Sometimes we will trap out of it. If not, then we kind of float it and make you pass over it.”

Just FYI, Cooter has one of the most successful baseball programs in MSHSAA – at any level – so “passing over” its zone often will result in athletes simply jumping lanes and making steals as if they are playing center field.

“If we really want to turn it up,” Mathis said, “our big thing is our half-court trap. When we start half-court trapping, that is when we are really tough, because you are having to throw over (our length).

“You’re going to have to throw over that, repeatedly, as we’re chasing you, and we’re pretty quick and we’re athletic. It’s tough.”

Cooter won a Class 1 District title in 2020, while Summersville (15-14) has not won a District title in recent history.