2025-26 Basketball Preview: Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs

Returning three of their top four scorers, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs are back on the court for the 2025-26 season looking to add to what they accomplished last season for more success this winter. 

The Mustangs — who are led by second-year head coach Kyle Pertuset — have a total of 12 players on their varsity roster, consisting of four seniors, four juniors and four sophomores, as their roster has three players with varying levels of varsity starts and a total of 10 players from the final roster from last season. 

LCHS is coming off a season where they finished 6-7 in Division I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and 9-14 overall. Last season, the Mustangs averaged 52.5 points per game in their SHAC games, while allowing 60.7 ppg. Overall last season, LCHS averaged 53.3 ppg and allowed 57.1 ppg. 

Lynchburg-Clay’s seniors are Denver Clinton (guard/forward), Caden Boone (forward), Elam Faust (guard/forward) and Rhalstan Greene (forward). 

Clinton last season averaged 16.2 ppg, 7.9 rebounds per game, 2.9 assists per game, 2.1 steals per game and 1.0 blocks per game. Clinton finished last season with 340 points, 165 rebounds, 61 assists, 44 steals and 21 blocks. He was an All-SHAC selection, a first-team Coaches All-District honoree, a second-team OPSMA All-District selection and was Honorable Mention All-Ohio. 

“Denver Clinton — a four-year varsity player — has tons of experience and ability. Denver is a versatile player. We ask him and will continue to ask him to do a lot of things,” Pertuset said. “Last year Denver’s averages were 16, 8, 3 and 2. Early on in recent practices, Denver has made a conscientious effort to improve vocal leadership and his ability on the defensive end.”

Coach Pertuset also spoke about Faust and all he brings to the team. Last season, Faust averaged 7.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.3 apg and 1.3 spg, with 178 points, 102 rebounds, 30 assists, 29 steals and two blocks.  

“Elam Faust finished the season in the OHSBCA (Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association) Top 50 for 3-point percentage at 46-percent and finished his junior campaign with a 29-point performance in our tournament game at Portsmouth West,” Pertuset said. “Elam is very capable of scoring and shooting the basketball, and we are looking for him to embrace that expanded role this season, but at the same time, Elam impacts the game in a lot of ways that do not show up in the stat sheet as well.”

The junior class for the Mustangs consists of Trevor Niehaus (guard), Aric Slack (guard) and Aiden Bene (forward/guard). 

In ’24-25 Niehaus averaged 10.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.1 apg and 1.1 spg, with 239 points, 94 rebounds, 49 assists, 25 steals and three blocks. He was third-team OPSMA All-District last year.

“Trevor Niehaus returns with a lot of experience from last season and is a great slasher with scoring ability at all three levels,” Pertuset said. “If Trevor continues to grow and value his role, he will have a successful season.

 Sophomores for LCHS are Quin Wells (guard), Harley Lewis (guard), Linkin Barnett (guard) and Tanner Roberts (center/forward).

“Quin Wells stepped into a major role at the varsity level last season as the year went on, and we were never disappointed in his performance,” Pertuset said. “Quin is a kid who just comes to work every day and gives his full effort, focus and intensity in his approach to doing his job. When you need something done, more often than not, you can count on Quin Wells to deliver. 

“Tanner Roberts, fortunately for us, hit a pretty substantial growth spurt over the offseason and stands around as a solid basketball height of 6-5 to 6-6 depending on the shoes. Tanner has a great ability to rebound and impact plays at the rim, which will be huge for us as we look to improve on the defensive end as well as rebounding.”  

Coach Pertuset continued to talk about his roster of players and what they bring to the team.

“Harley Lewis will be back to add to the guard room and brings a real instinctive feel to the game offensively and defensively,” he said. “Linkin Barnett worked as hard as I have ever seen any player work in the offseason, and he is going to be looking to reap the benefits of doing everything right all offseason. Linkin, along with Austin Manning, were players that you could say ‘lived in the gym.’ 

“Aric Slack also bolsters the guard room and has a motor for the game that is often not seen in the modern era. Any time you need a spark or an example of what effort should look like, you can always direct your attention to him. Senior Caden Boone will provide great effort, IQ and vocal and emotional leadership. 

“Senior Rhalstan Greene will provide maximum effort and a willingness to place ‘WE over ME,’ for the betterment of the program,” Pertuset continued. “Rhalstan was another kid who lived in the gym this offseason and accepts all that was asked of him. Junior Aiden Bene gives us a highly efficient shooting threat from the 3-point line and has worked extremely hard to improve other aspects of his game.”   

Assistant coaches this season for LCHS are Greg Patton (varsity assistant), Tyler Barton (JV head coach/assistant), Scott Chisman (freshman head coach/assistant) and Todd Faust (assistant to the HC/scouting). 

The offseason has been described as a “work in progress” by Coach Pertuset, as many of his players are multi-sport athletes. 

“The offseason has been a work in progress. We have several multi-sports athletes at LC which gives us a lot of versatile athleticism,” he said. “Positives have been a willingness to accept coaching and make an effort to fix things. We also want to improve on having consistent play on the defensive end and offensive fluidity.”

The LC head coach continued to speak about team expectations. 

“We expect to compete and be a factor in the SHAC,” Pertuset said. “Our number-one goal is always to compete well and give ourselves an opportunity in the league. Again, we are a work in progress and believe we have a high ceiling.”

LCHS competes in Division I of the SHAC, and like it is every season, the schedule of 13 games in the conference won’t be easy, as LCHS will face the likes of North Adams, Eastern, Ripley and West Union twice. They also take on Div. II opponents Fairfield, Fayetteville, Manchester, Peebles and Whiteoak once. 

“We play in a very balanced league. You cannot take any nights off,” Pertuset said. “The league has great coaches and solid teams all around.”

Lynchburg-Clay’s non-conference schedule includes games against vs. McClain, vs. Minford, vs. Blanchester, vs. Hillsboro, vs. Eastern Pike (Chad Hodson Classic at Fairfield), at Westfall, at Paint Valley, at East Clinton and vs. Felicity. 

“We took steps to both challenge ourselves and schedule in a way to maximize tournament seeding if we take care of business,” Pertuset said of their non-conference schedule. “We are excited to see how we grow throughout the duration of the season.”

The Mustangs open the 2025-26 season on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at home against the McClain Tigers in non-conference action. 

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