Leopold looks to build on momentum

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- With a late surge in the final month of the season, Leopold improved to 10-15 last season and went on to win the Mississippi Valley Conference title.

After losing only one starter from last year's squad, the Wildcats look to build on their late season run and put together a winning season.

The Wildcats will have 11 players on their varsity team this year with five seniors and six juniors. Returning starters include Josh Vandeven, Kevin Holzum, Clayton Jansen and Paul Hutchings.

With several of these players going into their fourth year of varsity, a lot is expected of them.

"I've had several of these kids around for a while, and now it's time for them to step up and play," coach Carlton Thoma said.

Vandeven, a guard, and Holzum, a post player, are the team's returning leading scorers, both averaging around 12 points a game last season.

Hutchings will play the point and Jansen, who averaged six points last season, will add size in the post at 6-foot-2.

"I'm hoping some of the maturity and experience will pay off," Thoma said of his returning seniors.

Besides Hutchings, Thoma said the team will use several different looks at the point over the course of the season.

"We'll probably use about three different people at guard," he said.

Joining Vandeven and Hutchings in the rotation will likely be Lucas Horrell, a good shooter who saw plenty of varsity time last season.

Rounding out the team's 11 will be Brandon Bueter, A.J. Seiler, Matt VanGennip, Justin Brotherton, Justin Jansen and Travis Reed.

Posting only two wins by Christmas, Leopold went on a run in February that saw them come within a three-point basket of beating eventual district champion South Iron in the district tournament.

"We felt like we had really come a long way," Thoma said. "The last month looked like a totally different team."

After relying predominantly on one scorer through most of the season last year, the Wildcats look to showcase a balanced attack this year. Thoma said he expects to get solid scoring contribution from as many as six different players.

"We'll try to get as many people going as we can get," he said.

With a balanced scoring attack the Wildcats could have a shot at defending their conference title. Leopold will have strong competition from area teams like Delta, Chaffee, Oak Ridge and Meadow Heights, who Thoma calls an early favorite.

"We'll have to play pretty good to win the conference again," Thoma said.

District realignment will create new challenges for the team, throwing Leopold in a district with defending Class 1 state champion Bell City. Thoma said the new district is probably the toughest in the state.

"There's a lot of people saying that if you win this district, you've got a shot of going all the way in Class 1," he said.

Thoma said this team has been one of the of the most fun teams he's coached and looks forward to the season.

"We'll have a good season cause we're going to have fun doing what we're doing," he said.

jjoffray@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 171