Woodland boys basketball team to rely on size, experience in 2015-16

This year's Woodland boys basketball team is working hard to figure out its identity.

The Cardinals, who finished 21-8 last season and were the Stoddard County Athletics Association regular-season conference champions, return a few regular contributors from that team, but are tasked with filling the void left by standout Garret Reynolds, who graduated.

"We're definitely going to have a new look to our team, so we're trying to create unity, figure out the pieces, trying to figure out how to play together," Woodland coach Logan Nutt said. "That's our biggest challenge right now. The guys bring it every day. They're anxious to get started."

Woodland won its own tournament to start last season and lost to perennial power Charleston in the Class 3 District 2 championship.

Reynolds, who is a member of the Southeast Missouri State baseball team this year, was the undisputed tone-setter of the Cardinals as a leader and production-wise on the court.

He averaged 20 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game during his senior campaign.

"Definitely without Garret Reynolds other kids will have to step up to the plate," Nutt said. "You'll see a few new guys that will be making a bigger contribution to our team. I think we'll be a little bit more well-balanced offensively, and we'll be very long and athletic on defense."

Six-foot-7 Zach Beel and 6-6 Michael McCormick return the bulk of the production from last season. Freshman Paul Duncan, who is 6-6, has impressed Nutt so far and is expected to provide some depth at the post.

Cole Schlief, a 5-10 senior guard, who started and averaged 3.0 assists last year, and Tyler Womack, a 5-8 junior guard, will be relied on at the guard with the departures of Reynolds and Evan Grindstaff.

"You will see Cole Schlief and Tyler Womack are both point guards/shooting guards that are very quick," Nutt said. "They'll have to do the majority of the ball handling and they've got a fun style of play that I think will be exciting to watch."

Nutt is confident with where his team is at after its first few weeks of practice of his second season at the helm.

"I've learned that the season is a grind," Nutt said with a laugh. "And the seniors that we had last year, they laid a solid foundation for us to pick up on and I think they were great influences to bring it every single day, to focus on the task at hand and to make sure that we're still giving our best effort every day whether it's the first day of practice or midway through the season or for tournaments. I believe the leadership from last year and the foundation that they have laid, the guys this year will have new leaders step up and they are set on a good path, I believe, and hopefully we can continue to think this way and continue to fight every day."

Players to watch

The tall tandem of Beel and McCormick will play a huge role in the Cardinals' season.

Beel, a 6-7 senior, and McCormick, a 6-6 junior, are back to bolster Woodland on both ends of the court.

Beel, who was an All-Missourian pick last year, averaged 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks per game as a junior. He missed the final two games of the season with a broken wrist. According to Nutt, Beel has garnered interest from Arkansas State, Columbia College and Missouri State-West Plains among others.

McCormick started last year as a sophomore and averaged five rebounds and two blocks a game.

"They'll be a couple of our top options offensively whether it's inside or outside," Nutt said. "They both can score both inside and out. We will continue to keep the floor spaced and it will be important to make sure that we do get the ball inside, especially early, and get some easy buckets. I think with both of those guys being big and both being able to score inside and out we will hopefully be able to take advantage of getting easy buckets. If 3-pointers come along and they can play outside a little bit, that'll be just extra to their game."

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Class 3 District 2

Conference

Stoddard County Activities Association

Head coach

Logan Nutt

(2nd year)

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ROSTER

Player Year Ht.

Zach Beel 12 6-7

Jake Long 12 6-2

Cole Schlief 12 5-10

J.D. Jenkins 12 5-10

Bruester Young 11 6-4

Michael McCormick 11 6-6

Tyler Womack 11 5-8

Logan Thomsen 11 6-0

Landon Thomsen 11 6-0

Tyler Massa 10 6-2

Jamie Wiseman 10 5-9

Drake Holweg 10 5-8

Paul Duncan 9 6-6

Connor Goodwin 9 6-1

Zach Cureton 9 6-1

STARTERS GONE

Garret Reynolds

STARTERS BACK

Zach Beel

Michael McCormick

Cole Schlief

Tyler Womack

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SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

11/30 Woodland Invitational Tourn.

12/8 Leopold 7:30 p.m.

12/11 @Chaffee 7:30 p.m.

12/15 @Bernie 7:30 p.m.

12/18 Kelly 7:30 p.m.

12/26 SEMissourian Xmas Tourn.

1/5 Richland (Essex) 7:30 p.m.

1/8 Dexter 7:30 p.m.

1/12 @Jackson 7:30 p.m.

1/14 Oran 7:30 p.m.

1/15 @Meadow Heights 7:30 p.m.

1/19 @Bell City 7:30 p.m.

1/22 @Bloomfield 7:30 p.m.

1/25 SCAA Conference Tourn.

2/2 @Delta 7:30 p.m.

2/4 @Clearwater 7:30 p.m.

2/9 Advance 7:30 p.m.

2/12 Zalma 7:30 p.m.

2/16 Puxico 7:30 p.m.

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LAST SEASON

LEADERS

Points: Garret Reynolds (19 ppg)

Rebounds: Zach Beel (8 rpg)

Assists: Garret Reynolds (4 apg)

RECORD

21-8