Cassville builds on new system, culture under new head coach

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

The Cassville boys basketball team showed growth throughout this season while adjusting to a new system and culture under first-year coach Mike Ray.

“I’m not sure of what grade the team would have this year, as it is still incomplete and won’t know the real success until these young men become husbands, fathers and leaders,” Ray said. “However on the court this year, they did a good job adjusting to a new coach, a new system, a new culture and doing so as a young team.”

Ray said the team’s improvement was evident in both mindset and defensive play as the season progressed.

“For us, the biggest improvement came in a few areas, one of which was playing and competing hard each and every day,” Ray said. “Having a mindset to get better as an individual and as a team. On the court, our defense improved as the year went on.”

Ray said the team continues to develop offensive skills.

“For our team, we are behind in offensive skills such as overall ball handling, passing and shooting,” Ray said. “These are areas I feel we made improvement, but we still have a long way to go to be a competitive Class 4 team. We are looking for guys who are willing to do the work to get better in those areas.”

Ray said several games stood out as memorable moments during the season.

“For us, each game is its own excitement, but the conference games at Aurora and at Monett in which we won were both memorable,” Ray said. “Also our JV team winning the Miller shootout against Bolivar was exciting.”

Ray said the team’s lone senior played a key role in helping establish the program’s direction.

“We only had one senior this year with Tyson Bohmke, and he did an outstanding job for us,” Ray said. “It was tough for him, as he was the only senior and also having a new coach and system for this season, but his buy-in was a key for us to help establish a new culture.

“He was our primary ball handler and scorer this year and drew the attention of the other teams’ defenses, and still, he battled all year and had a good season and laid the groundwork for the future.”

Ray said the team relied heavily on underclassmen throughout the season.

“As a team with only one senior, our underclassmen were a key for us all year,” Ray said. “We had several step into new roles and learned quickly. Masin Bryan was a starter for us and got better all year and battled injuries but brought about a toughness we needed. Easton Hughes developed into an outstanding defensive player, and Cheney Kelley was an outside scoring threat that helped take the pressure off of Tyson. 

“Carlos Barrientos suffered a severe injury early in our season and came back and was starting to hit his stride as the season ended. We also played several underclassmen in freshmen Aiden Whittington who developed into one of the better players in the conference, and he will be an anchor for us moving forward. Spencer Drollinger also started all year for us as a freshmen and improved as much as anyone this season. By the end of the season he was one of our top players on both offense and defense.”

Several other underclassmen also played key roles for Cassville, including Dylan Bohmke, Jaden Ritchie, Brayden Phillips, Grant Varner, Wyatt Hollingsworth, Wylan Farris and Mquade Farris. 

“Many of those also led our JV team to an outstanding record of 19-3,” Ray said.

As a team over the course of the season, the Wildcats focused on establishing a strong culture and work ethic.

“Our goal each year is to be the best version of our team that we can be,” Ray said. “I thought at times we were, but we were not consistent in that effort, so I think that leaves us all wanting to keep improving. I do think we began to establish a culture of hard work and being connected as a team.”

Looking ahead, Ray said the program will continue building on its foundation.

“Our goals for next year is to be the best team we can be,” Ray said. “I do think as a group we have the foundation to build a group that will be successful on the court and off the court.”

Ray said the Wildcats finished the season with a 10-17 varsity record and a 19-3 mark at the junior varsity level.

“I want to thank my assistants, Collin Pearman and Jim Kleine, for all their work at the high school,” Ray said. “Also, Jack Reynolds and Trey Dalton at the junior high. I also want to thank the other coaches here for their support and the parents of our players. Most importantly, I thank the student athletes for working hard and trying to get better each day.”

Cassville’s season came to a close with a 46-45 loss to Monett in the Class 4, District 12 tournament