Caston, Pioneer, Winamac begin summer basketball season scrimmaging each other

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Here are some notes and observations from a four-way boys basketball scrimmage earlier this week at Caston between the host Comets, Pioneer, Winamac and Carroll (Flora):

Caston

Playing at home, it might figure that Caston’s team would most resemble the team they plan to put out on the floor during the winter. That included all five starters from last year – guards Reed Sommers and Drew McGrew and forwards Logan Mollenkopf, Gavin Mollenkopf and Lane Hook. Top reserves Carson Harness, Gage Thomas, Owen Chapman and Geoffrey Foster were also there.

Logan Mollenkopf again showed scoring ability both from 3-point range and in the post, and Hook has both a nifty hook shot and 3-point ability as well as playmaking ability.

It was also clear that Caston played at the fastest tempo of any of the teams, and they looked to push the pace whenever they could. A 74-47 win over Carroll was evidence of the preferred pace.

“We went over to Huntington and played on Saturday, so this was our second time out, so everyone here tonight has been playing, at least since last week,” Caston coach Carl Davis said. “We have a lot of kids that are in spring sports that are really busy with it, so we were always hit-and-miss in the spring, and we just focused on getting shots up and trying to get as many reps as we can. But going live, the last two weeks we’ve been able to go live for the first time since March. So it’s been great to see our kids get out there and get after it again.”

Davis asked how important the summer is for players like Thomas and Chapman, who do not have as much varsity experience.

“I think when you look at coming into the season, obviously we have a lot returning,” Davis said. “We also have some guys that are fighting for rotation spots and fighting for minutes, and because you’re going to go deeper into your bench in the summer, it gives us the opportunity to see them play and see how well they mesh with other guys around them.”

Defensively, Davis said Caston typically plays it “vanilla” during the summer, but Caston did show some 2-3 zone and even face-guarded a top Carroll player based on a request from Carroll’s coach.

“We usually stay with our base in the summer and just really try to focus on getting better at that and getting better at our rotations,” Davis said.

Pioneer

With the Pioneer boys golf team preparing for regionals, one might not have expected No. 1 golfer Micah Rans to have time for basketball. But Rans not only played but showed off a varied offensive game – drives to the basket, floaters in the paint, pullups in the midrange and 3-pointers.

“He was impressive,” Pioneer coach Darren McKaig said. “I’ve known he can make a lot of shots. He’s always been a little bit tentative and deferred to the older guys. That kind of sums up what the summer’s for. He knows he might be the go-to guy this year, and he’ll have to get some experience doing that here in June so he’s ready to go in November.”

McKaig was asked about the objective of June basketball.

“I think number one would just be guys moving up the food chain and getting them used to the level they’re going to have to play at next year,” McKaig said. “Some incoming freshmen may be getting some JV time or maybe some varsity time. Some sophomores that we’re going to have to rely on more on varsity or juniors. It’s really just about getting experience at the speed of the game that maybe they haven’t been used to playing at yet.”

Pioneer graduated three key seniors in point guard Aidan Quillen, sharpshooting wing Noah Miller and forward-center Lucas Perry. 

“These are pretty legitimate scrimmages,” McKaig said. “I mean, it’s not full-out coaching and strategy yet, but it’s a good way to get a good look at where they should play.”

One possibility for the frontcourt is Mason Shaver.

“I enjoyed watching Mason Shaver,” McKaig said. “He’s a big, strong kid, and he was a lot more aggressive. Again, probably just deferring to the older guys. And we’re going to try to get the ball to him inside about every time down the court and play through him. Either he can try to score, or he can kick it back out. But everybody knows it’s good to get the ball inside, so he’ll be a big part of our offense.”

McKaig said that many players also play a spring sport but also said that conditioning is different in basketball than a sport like baseball or golf. He said the team was “winded” but added that the bigger point of emphasis is getting used to the speed of the game.

There were no officials present, and coaches made officiating calls from the bench.

McKaig said he does not call many set plays during the summer.

“That’s just a coaching preference, and I do not,” McKaig said. “I don’t call any set plays. It would be really good if players were able to develop their skills, and just the saying of you’d much rather have good players than good plays. Try and give them a chance to develop that on their own and then we’ll always have to help them out when we need to.”

Shiloh Rine, a junior-to-be forward and the team’s top returning scorer, was not present.

Winamac

Coach Mike Springer will start his third season at Winamac in the fall. Winamac improved from 12 wins in Springer’s first season to 15 wins last year. They went 7-1 in the Hoosier North, falling only to eventual conference champion Triton.

Point guard Brendan Hines and reserves Brayden Mathias and Alex Hague graduated, but Justin Potthoff, Will Malchow and Ethan Burgess should form an experienced trio of seniors-to-be. Jaybin Hines, Brendan’s younger brother, will be a junior, and he’s a fourth returning starter.

Burgess was at football practice Monday.

“We always want our kids to play hard,” Springer said. “We want them to play with some of the fundamentals that we play with during the basketball season. And we don’t spend a lot of time on an offseason. What we’re trying to see is if some younger guys can step up to play at the next level. I really think that’s a big thing of getting more familiar with ourselves.

“We’ve got a lot of kids back from last season. So I’d like to see us play hard all the time.”

Springer was asked about roles for players.

“We’re getting a lot of ball playing in from boys that will be freshmen, our freshmen to sophomores, our sophomores to juniors and juniors to seniors,” Springer said. “And I think anytime you do that, these games are good for bringing guys along, and we’re going to have to have some new roles for guys just by virtue of losing a guy that’s been a three-year starter (Brendan Hines). But through the course of the summer and the fall, hopefully, we’ll develop those things and have a pretty good idea where we’re headed before we start the season.”

Ayden Jimenez might have been considered the closest thing to a center in the 2023-24 season. Springer said the Warriors did not really have a center last year.

Hank Haschel and Evan Burgess are two big men who could give the team a boost in size, according to Springer. Neither was present Monday

“They were really good, strong post players for us on our JV team,” Springer said. “Hank is probably about 6-4. Evan’s probably 6-3. … Those kids will develop into a bigger post presence for us as well as we have a young man that played on the JV team John Kletz who’s about 6-6, and he’s going to battle for some playing time as well.”

Another newcomer at guard is sophomore-to-be Kannon Hoover, a capable shooter who was the second-leading scorer on a JV team that went 18-3. Another sophomore-to-be is Hutch Martin, a hard-working forward who also plays third base on the baseball team.

“Parker Zeider is a guy that didn’t get to play a lot for us last year, but we’re expecting good things out of him this year,” Springer added.