Team Preview: Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs return from a season where they reached the district semifinals one year ago, but they will begin the 2013-14 year with a new coach and even more motivation to exceed their tournament run from last year.
New to the program is head coach Matt Carson, who returns to coaching in Highland County after a one-year stint as the head coach at Westfall. This will be Carson's seventh season as a head coach, as he also coached five seasons at Fairfield.
Carson replaces former head coach Jason McLaughlin, who resigned to spend more time with family.
This year is the focus of Carson, inheriting a varsity team that has a variety of ages. The team has goals and a realistic opportunity of winning a Division I Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship, along with advancing back to the district round.
The Mustangs, who finished last season at 12-12 overall (6-7, SHAC) will have five seniors, along with four juniors and three sophomores that will make up the varsity roster.
Seniors this year are: Ryan Inman, Gage Waits, Marc Blankenship, Chaz Lanier and Colt Dunseith. Juniors are Tristan Wilbanks, Quinton Lewis, Ty Setty and Jordan Wilt. The sophomores are Devin Pierson, Christian Inman and Josh Ahrmann.
"We have five seniors this year, and all five of them bring something different to the table to contribute to what we're trying to do," Carson said. "With them, and even with the rest of the team, it's still trying to figure out how we can use everybody's talents and abilities to contribute for the betterment of the team."
LC lost leading scorer Alec Smith to graduation, as Smith scored 17.2 points per game last season, scoring 362 points in 21 regular-season games. Inman was the Mustangs' second-leading scorer with 12 ppg, while Pierson had 9.1 ppg and Waits finished with 7.5 ppg.
"I know last year they took advantage of their size a lot and pounded it into the post," Carson said. "We'll look to do that at times. Coach McLaughlin, I thought, did a good job while he was here, especially stressing defense. I'm going to be the same way in that regard, as I stress defense.
"Maybe where we differ a little bit, philosophy-wise, on offense, is I like to play an uptempo game. We're going to try to do that, and that's no secret. We like to play quick, play fast, take advantage of our speed and get the ball up and down the floor."[[In-content Ad]]
Last season, the Mustangs got off to a very slow start, and with the goals and expectations they have now, that can't happen. Carson said he's challenging his team "to play at a high level early on."
"I want to challenge them early and try to play at a high level early on in the season," he said. "I feel like the best way to do that is to teach them the spots you want them to be in practice, without having to think about it. I have some new ideas and new things I want to do, and I just want my kids to be comfortable when they go out there.
"We want quick feet, quick reactions and fast-paced basketball. They fly all over the court, they have length, they have athleticism. Defense is the cornerstone of this program, and it still will be. I'm just interested to see how all the teams at all the levels handle defense this year."
The Mustangs have shown improvement since the start of the preseason, and the new head coach has noticed.
"We have gotten better every week, maybe not sometimes as quick as what I would like or they would like, but we have been getting better," Carson said. "It's fun to see that process from the beginning in conditioning in October and hopefully till the end of the year in February and March, when hopefully you're poised to make a good tournament run as a team."
Though they have very high goals, the head coach said high school basketball is about "having fun."
"One thing I told them from the beginning, from day one in conditioning, is I just want them to have fun. We're not here doing this for millions of dollars," Carson said. "We're doing this because we love the game of basketball, and I want to teach them how to play as a team, how to work hard together, but also at the same time have fun.
"I think we can be very competitive at all three levels. We have a coaching staff that's committed to the philosophies we've set forth. Everyone's on the same page, all the way down to the junior high level, even teaching at the grade school level. Things are slowly but surely coming together. If we can stay the course and stay steady, I think the potential is limitless for this program."
New to the program is head coach Matt Carson, who returns to coaching in Highland County after a one-year stint as the head coach at Westfall. This will be Carson's seventh season as a head coach, as he also coached five seasons at Fairfield.
Carson replaces former head coach Jason McLaughlin, who resigned to spend more time with family.
This year is the focus of Carson, inheriting a varsity team that has a variety of ages. The team has goals and a realistic opportunity of winning a Division I Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship, along with advancing back to the district round.
The Mustangs, who finished last season at 12-12 overall (6-7, SHAC) will have five seniors, along with four juniors and three sophomores that will make up the varsity roster.
Seniors this year are: Ryan Inman, Gage Waits, Marc Blankenship, Chaz Lanier and Colt Dunseith. Juniors are Tristan Wilbanks, Quinton Lewis, Ty Setty and Jordan Wilt. The sophomores are Devin Pierson, Christian Inman and Josh Ahrmann.
"We have five seniors this year, and all five of them bring something different to the table to contribute to what we're trying to do," Carson said. "With them, and even with the rest of the team, it's still trying to figure out how we can use everybody's talents and abilities to contribute for the betterment of the team."
LC lost leading scorer Alec Smith to graduation, as Smith scored 17.2 points per game last season, scoring 362 points in 21 regular-season games. Inman was the Mustangs' second-leading scorer with 12 ppg, while Pierson had 9.1 ppg and Waits finished with 7.5 ppg.
"I know last year they took advantage of their size a lot and pounded it into the post," Carson said. "We'll look to do that at times. Coach McLaughlin, I thought, did a good job while he was here, especially stressing defense. I'm going to be the same way in that regard, as I stress defense.
"Maybe where we differ a little bit, philosophy-wise, on offense, is I like to play an uptempo game. We're going to try to do that, and that's no secret. We like to play quick, play fast, take advantage of our speed and get the ball up and down the floor."[[In-content Ad]]
Last season, the Mustangs got off to a very slow start, and with the goals and expectations they have now, that can't happen. Carson said he's challenging his team "to play at a high level early on."
"I want to challenge them early and try to play at a high level early on in the season," he said. "I feel like the best way to do that is to teach them the spots you want them to be in practice, without having to think about it. I have some new ideas and new things I want to do, and I just want my kids to be comfortable when they go out there.
"We want quick feet, quick reactions and fast-paced basketball. They fly all over the court, they have length, they have athleticism. Defense is the cornerstone of this program, and it still will be. I'm just interested to see how all the teams at all the levels handle defense this year."
The Mustangs have shown improvement since the start of the preseason, and the new head coach has noticed.
"We have gotten better every week, maybe not sometimes as quick as what I would like or they would like, but we have been getting better," Carson said. "It's fun to see that process from the beginning in conditioning in October and hopefully till the end of the year in February and March, when hopefully you're poised to make a good tournament run as a team."
Though they have very high goals, the head coach said high school basketball is about "having fun."
"One thing I told them from the beginning, from day one in conditioning, is I just want them to have fun. We're not here doing this for millions of dollars," Carson said. "We're doing this because we love the game of basketball, and I want to teach them how to play as a team, how to work hard together, but also at the same time have fun.
"I think we can be very competitive at all three levels. We have a coaching staff that's committed to the philosophies we've set forth. Everyone's on the same page, all the way down to the junior high level, even teaching at the grade school level. Things are slowly but surely coming together. If we can stay the course and stay steady, I think the potential is limitless for this program."