As the fall sports, like volleyball and football begin to wind down, and the weather cools off, we move to the basketball court and a season that is highly anticipated by many area sports fans.
With great basketball teams in our area like the Graford Jackrabbits, and new coaches leading teams such as the Lady Cats of Santo, we will be giving updates of what is to come to the hardwood over the next couple of weeks. Today, the Graford Jackrabbits and Mineral Wells Rams head coaches give us a peek into their programs and what to expect out of their teams in the coming weeks and season.
Graford Jackrabbits
Head Coach Jeff Bell was one of the first to respond to the call for a season preview, excited to talk about his team, the work they’ve put in, and some new challenges they face as they head in to their first season playing at the 2A level.
Bell began the conversation saying, “We have moved to 2A so that in itself is a totally different venue for us although we have played up against larger schools for many years so we will go after it hard.” But he is excited about his team this year adding, “I really like this team. They exhibit some characteristics that I like in a team. Their unity and total team concept is a culture we try to instill in our teams.”
He gave us a rundown on some of his players, including some familiar names from recent seasons, as well as some new names we should take note of. Returning for the Jackrabbits will be seniors Mac Lemely, Cye Lemely, Kamdyn Richardson, Landon Cobb, and Trenton Davis. Mac is expected to be the leader amongst a team of leaders this season, in his third year as a starter for the Rabbits. He’s a strong guard and bell noted, “He is all out all the time. He accepts all challenges with a vengeance.” Cye, according to Bell, has a passion to win, and is a total team player, plays tough and physical, and has the ability to play multiple positions for Graford.
Richardson, Cobb, and Davis are competitive, tough, and much improved in their time with the Jackrabbits. Bell named Richardson as, “the glue” of the team, playing a little bit of everything for his team. Cobb brings the energy and competitiveness, helping drive the team. And finally Davis, is a tough player and a good defender that loves to play unselfishly, as Bell describes.
A team of underclassmen also will play a large role in the season Graford has, junior, Noah Perry, sophomores Trenton Ragle, Riley Couger, and Cason Champan, as well as freshmen, Carter HIll and Jaxon Ragle round out this season’s team. Bell bragged on his underclassmen adding, Perry is the most improved player from previous seasons, Ragle will be a spark at the point guard position, and the rest are hard workers that he has seen great improvement in, and we can expect to see them make big impacts during their time on the court.
The Rabbits begin their season on Nov. 15 in Lingleville where the varsity girls and boys, as well as the JV boys will match up with Lingleville. The first home game for the Jackrabbits will be the following Tuesday, Nov. 19 against Slidell, always a competitive matchup, beginning at 4:30.
Mineral Wells Rams
Second year head coach Taylor Luster is excited to get back on the floor with his guys, several of whom are still playing football, but he’s excited about what he’s seen out of his guys that have been in the gym during the summer and fall.
Luster began by giving props to a few players who aren’t playing football and have been in the gym, “Right now I am leaning on the leadership of senior guard Charlie Ramsay, junior guard Wyatt Pappas, and sophomore guard Nathan Colwell.” He adds his readiness to get some of his more experienced guys like Kayden Montalvo, Preztynn Harrison, and Jaidun Fisher on the court when their football season ends.
Luster gave an honest but positive insight to what the Rams are working with, he says, “I am looking forward to the challenge with this young group, they have been playing and working hard all summer and fall. The biggest challenge is getting them to play hard at a varsity level [compared to] the previous levels they played on last year.”
When it comes to their schedule, Luster adds, “It will not be an easy preseason schedule for us. I am hoping that this tough non-district schedule will have us ready to play ]in the] top four in our district to give us another playoff berth.” The Rams begin their season with a couple of scrimmages, including Saturday, Nov. 2 against Boyd at 10 a.m, then they will host a four-way scrimmage in Mineral Wells on Monday, Nov. 4 beginning at 5 p.m.
The first official game action will take place Saturday, Nov. 9 against Wichita Falls Memorial in Mineral Wells beginning at noon with a JV tip off, followed by varsity. By the end of November they will begin tournament play and will compete in five tournaments collectively between the sub-varsity and varsity teams before preparing for district play which begins in January.
For full schedules of both of these teams, please visit our website, where each area teams basketball schedules will be posted under our sports tab, or visit us on Facebook.
