Indians look for another competitive season

JACKSON, Mo. -- Coach Mike Kiehne looks to put a typical Jackson boys' team on the floor this season -- meaning he expects the Indians to be gritty and competitive.

Just don't ask Kiehne to make a prediction regarding how successful they might wind up.

"I think we'll be a typical Jackson team," Kiehne said. "I think we'll compete with anybody. We'll work hard night in and night out. We've got great kids and they'll give me effort, that's not a problem. If we have the talent to win, we'll win, that's about all I can say. Wins and losses. I don't know."

The Indians graduated five seniors, including four starters, from last year's team that went 14-12 in Kiehne's second season in charge of the program he once starred for. Among the departed was all-region pick Seth McDowell, the squad's leading scorer.

"We lost some good players, but we were able to play 10 guys last year every game, so the five returning players got a lot of experience," Kiehne said.

Jackson's lone returning starter is 6-foot-3 junior Tyler McNeely, who averaged about 12 points per game last year and made the all-region second team.

Also back with varsity experience are four more seniors: 6-foot Tyler Boyd and 5-10 players Jeffrey Beck, Matt Neal and Nick Fiehler.

Kiehne will also look for contributions from 6-4 senior James Fortner, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, and four players up from last year's junior varsity squad: 6-4 junior Mark Lumsden, 5-11 junior Brad Eaton, 6-foot sophomore Jack Puisis and 6-2 sophomore Jason Schafer.

Puisis and Schafer were among the leading scorers on last season's JV despite being freshmen.

"I would think all 10 guys will see action every night. I feel comfortable putting all of them out there," Kiehne said. "On certain nights certain ones will give me more and have the hot hand, and we'll go with that. But they should all be able to help us."

Kiehne said shooting and ballhandling will be strengths for the Indians while rebounding could be a sore spot.

"I think I've got a lot of guys who can handle the ball, probably better than we did last year, and we can probably shoot the ball a little better than we have in the past all the way around," Kiehne said. "Our free-throw shooting hurt us in a lot of games last year and hopefully we'll be better at that.

"Rebounding is going to be a chore for us. After a few guys, we're pretty small and for a Class 5 team to be that small, against a tough schedule, that's obviously going to be a problem for us."

Kiehne looks for the always-tough SEMO Conference to be as rugged as ever and the Indians also take on top teams from other parts of the state, including Parkway Central of St. Louis and Hickman from Columbia.

"We've got another tough schedule," Kiehne said. "Just in the SEMO Conference alone, there's no easy games. Every night you have a tough time."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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