Trending
ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The St. Clairsville boys' basketball team was younger than it's ever been a season ago. Head coach Ryan Clifford is hoping that experience for his young players will pay off moving into the upcoming season.
"We played four sophomores for the first time in the history of the school last year," Clifford said. "We didn't talk about it in the paper or try to join a different league. We worked and got better and by the end of the season we found ourselves in the district tournament."
Two seniors who did provide leadership last year were Luke Porter and Jacob Parsons, who handed over the reins to this year's lone senior Cole Thoburn.
"Luke averaged around 10 points a game last year and Jacob averaged around 5," Clifford said. "Cole will be our only senior this year but we are still underclassmen driven. All these kids have at least 24 games under the belt now, so we're excited about where we are."
Along with his leadership and experience, Thoburn continued to get better in the offseason and during football season.
"Cole, if things go right, will become our all-time leading 3-point shooter fairly early in the season," Clifford said. "For him to be as good as he can be, he is turning into more than just a 3-point shooter. His quickness allows him to get to the basket and should make him a pretty good defender. He showed that he has pretty good footwork on the football field."
With Thoburn draining treys from all over the floor, he will also have the offensive firepower provided by Tyson Pastor.
"Tyson is coming back as a junior and he averaged around 20 points a game for us last year," Clifford said. "He played on a big team during the spring, too. Last year was a breakout year for him and I don't know what you call the year after a breakout year but that's what we're expecting out of him."
Another Friday Night Hero will take the court for the Red Devils in junior quarterback Brady Schafer, who looks to turn his football success into a solid hoops campaign.
"Brady started 24 games for us last year," Clifford said. "He is the quarterback on the football team and he really got some big game experience in the fall. His improvement from the end of March to June was big and then his football experience gave him more varsity competition and helped him become better in all phases. We love multi-sport guys and we're expecting big things out of him, too."
Juniors Gage Wolfe and Drew Gasber should also see expanded roles this year, as well.
"Gage and Drew both came off of the bench for us a year ago and their roles will increase significantly," Clifford said. "They are both good defenders. Drew will rebound and he can make shots and Gage is a fantastic on-ball defender. We had him lockdown the other teams' best player and he really has good quickness."
Clifford is also excited about the growth of two sophomores in Ollie Muhly and Griffin Straub.
"Ollie shined in some spots in football and has a ton of basketball experience," Clifford said. "He has grown up playing the game and we're excited about where he is.
"Griffin is a 6-foot-5 sophomore who got hurt as a freshman but he's another kid who plays all year long. For as tall as he is he is more of an outside guy and he has gotten stronger over the summer so he has a chance to be a really good player."
Kambel Sall is another junior vying for playing time this year, while sophomores Kaden Clifford, Derrick Panepucci and Sam McLean could see time on the court, as well.
"We think we have a chance to be pretty good," Coach Clifford said. "Nothing is given to you but if we can lock down and play defense the way we play on offense, we will really be working with something good. We can score but we have to get better on defense in order to win the big games."
The freshman class consists of Caden Carpenter, David Pugh, Ronevan Calvert, Tyler Schubert, Lucas Causey, Xander Davis, Roby Hanna, Matheson King, Griffen Pastor, Landon Stack and Trevor Tuttle.
The coaching staff includes Eric Gay, Kevin Sacco, Jeremy Schafer, Jason Tuttle and Rowen Rine.