Young Cardinal has team clicking at both ends entering holiday play

Though the Woodland High School boy’s basketball squad is entering today’s Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament having come off a loss, the fact remains that the Cardinals (7-1) are in the midst of their best start in seven seasons.

“We are really trying to push the basketball on offense,” Woodland coach Shawn Kinder said recently. “We try to keep (the ball) spread because we knew that we had some shooters this year, but our focus, to start the year, has been our defense.”

The Cardinals are the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will battle No. 12-seed Meadow Heights (3-5) today at the Show Me Center at 4:30 p.m.

Woodland is the highest-seeded small school in the tournament.

The Cardinals recently dropped a 79-72 contest at home against Oran, and the Eagles put up the second-highest point total that Woodland had given up this season.

“We feel like if we can get stops,” Kinder continued, “and we can rebound with the bigger schools (on our schedule), and a lot bigger teams, then we’ll have a shot (at wins).”

Obviously, the further the Cardinals advance with success this week, the more likely it will be that Kinder’s kids will have to deal with “bigger schools” and “bigger teams,” possibly having a match-up with No. 4-seed Notre Dame on Wednesday.

Despite the loss to Oran, Woodland has stymied teams offensively this season by allowing less than 55 points per game, which is the second-lowest output allowed in eight seasons.

Offensively, Kinder praised his six seniors (Seth Abernathy, Gary Cook, Brayden Hastings, Reed Layton, Colby Miller, and Ellias Nenninger).

“We have great senior leadership,” Kinder said.

The Cardinals’ fast start is a testament to that, but it doesn’t diminish the impact – at both ends of the court – that Kinder’s son, sophomore guard Korbin Kinder, has had this season, his first as a varsity starter.

“I feel like Korbin sees the floor very well,” Coach Kinder said. “I think that he does a nice job with his mid-range jumper.”

Korbin orchestrates an offense that is averaging over 80 points per game, which is the most productive Woodland has been in over 15 seasons.

“He is able to pull up off the dribble and stop and pop very well,” Coach Kinder said of Korbin. “He does shoot the (3-pointer) pretty good. So, offensively, he has a pretty good game.”

Korbin recently scored 19 points in a win over Dexter, which was the Cardinals’ first beating of the Bearcats since Korbin was in kindergarten.

Kinder also had 25 points in a win over Greenville in the championship game of the Woodland Invitational Tournament. The victory was the first title for the hosts since 2020.

“I would like to see his ball-handling and his footspeed improve,” Coach Kinder said, as he switched back to being a coach, as opposed to a proud father. “We’re going to really focus on that this summer with a lot of kids in our program.”

Woodland topped Meadow Heights 83-62 in its opening game of this event a year ago, before losing to Charleston, but bouncing back to beat Oran and later, Oak Ridge, in the Consolation Final.