CARROLLTON - Carrollton boys basketball coach Jeff Krumwiede and his Hawks are in for a grinder of a season unlike any other.
The longtime Hawks coach is in his 23rd season at the helm, and he’s adamant that their conference, the WIVC is the most competitive he’s ever seen.
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“It’s the most well-rounded it’s been in my 23 years. Any given night it’s going to be a battle,” Krumwiede said.
The Hawks, who have won two straight regional championships will be in the conversation for the WIVC title, but that is all in theory. What matters is will they be ultimately standing at the mountain top?
Carrollton graduated seven seniors, including Luke Gillingham, who scored over 1,000 points in his career and Cole Brannan, who did just about everything as a guard and was the best athlete on the team.
Two recognizable returners are Jeremy Watson (5’10”) and Jerrett Smith (5’11”). Watson is the leading returning scorer, while Krumwiede labeled Smith as the team's best player until he picked up a late-season injury that limited him the rest of the way. Both players bring experience, skill, and big-time athleticism.
“They’ve put their time in, paid their dues and they're getting their chance, but it’s only for one year,” Krumwiede said.
Including, Smith, and Watson, Carrollton has a total of eight seniors, but most of them have never started in a varsity game until this season.
“These kids are a one and done situation, so I hope they use that as motivation and hopefully that gives us an advantage. Physically, against other teams we should be at an advantage because we have senior bodies and experience, but the big thing for us is to replace the points and rebounds we lost.”
Senior guards, Jayce Arnett (5’9”) and Brendan Settles (6’0”) will either start or see a lot of playing time. Sophomore Nathan Walker (5'10") and freshmen Hunter Flowers (6'1") and Ethan Brannan (5'9") may all contribute early on.
There is one senior that has no experience at all but could be a key difference maker. Brant Varble is a six-foot-five-inch forward who hadn’t played basketball in high school.
“He alters shots and will be a defensive presence when he’s on the floor,” Krumwiede said.
Other Carrollton forwards are Jacob Stendeback (6’4”) and Matthew Campbell (6’2”). Both were linemen on the Hawks football team this season and got several minutes of game time last year on the court.
Krumwiede is confident with the way the defense is, but offensively he believes there is a lot of work to be done and they’ll need to be successful if they take smart shots and be balanced on the scoresheet to win.
“We are not an offensively skilled team. There’s going to be times when we struggle from the field,” Krumwiede said. “We don’t have an offensive superstar, but we have guys that are capable on any given night of scoring ten points and getting eight rebounds. You could see five games in a row and have us have five different leading scorers. That’s how we’re going to succeed.”
Carrollton will be relying on their length, patience, and athleticism on defense to set them up for success.
“Our key is our defense,” Krumwiede said. “We want low-scoring games and we are not necessarily going to be the fast-paced, pressing, up-and-down team from Carrollton in the past. “The big thing is how we do defensively and how many offensive situations we can create out of our off-court defense. We have more size, but that also limits us in our ability to press. Offensively, we’re going to have to feed off of our half-court defense as opposed to our full-court.”
Some may think it’s a culture shock, but remember, Krumwiede has been coaching for 25 complete seasons and his Carrollton teams have gone through transitions over the years.
“We’re going to be more patient, disciplined, and specialized on offense and change things up on defense.
Besides the WIVC games, Carrollton will compete in the Waverly Holiday Tournament, Winchester Invitational Tournament, and the Beardstown Tournament.
Carrollton opens up play tonight at home against the 3-1 Southwestern Birds and then travel to Roxana on Friday to take on the Shells.
“It’s a tough start for us with Southwestern, and they have a nice team, well coached, and we’ll see what happens,” Krumwiede said. “They have four games under their belt, and it’ll be our first. It’s a tough situation, but at least it’s at home.”
