Wooster, Triway boys basketball teams eye growth with young, talented rosters

Ché Richardson’s Wooster boys basketball program took a turn in a bit of a better direction last season. It wasn’t exactly what Richardson was looking for, but it was a start.

After a 7-16 season in his inaugural year, Richardson last year guided the Generals to a 10-13 mark, 6-6 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Now comes the hard part: keeping that momentum going after losing six letter-winners and returning only three.

The biggest hole left by graduation is the loss of Brady Bowen, a second-team All-Northeast Inland District selection a year ago after averaging 19 points. Anthony Carmean received an all-district honorable mention before moving on.

The trio of senior guard Tre Edwards, senior forward Drew Thomas and sophomore guard Javon Mosley will be leaned upon heavily this season. The list of newcomers includes 11 names, meaning the intra-roster battles could be intense.

That group is headed by three seniors, guards Heath Alberts and Andon Hart and forward Kolten McKinley. The junior class includes guards Brock Bowen, Javen Mitchell and Kyler Spencer and forward Jameson Engman. Guards Cam Chaney and Adrian Jelks and forward Jack Thomas highlight the sophomore group, and freshman guard Sam Schantz will look for some minutes.

“As you can see from our returning players and newcomers, we’re an inexperienced group at the varsity level, but we have a lot of talent,” Richardson said. “This team is very capable of competing every night. We’ll be able to push the pace more in transition and apply defensive pressure. As a collective we’ll need to mature quickly, but the potential is definitely there.”

Triway

Triway started head coach Nathan Loney’s tenure with a plus season, going 13-10 overall and 8-4 in the Principals Athletic Conference. The Titans bring back a lot more than they lost and will still be young.

Guard Brady Flinner is the only senior among six returning letter-winners, and center Roman Gilbert is the only other upperclassman on a roster that features eight juniors and a sophomore among players likely to find their way into the rotation.

“We’re way more experienced,” Loney said. “(We’re) stronger, (have better) physicality and a much better understanding of what type of basketball we are playing.”

That’s what happens when all those sophomores start growing into their bodies. The junior group is comprised mainly of backcourt players including Bruin Flinner, Jalen Hackett, Lane Crilow, Brandt Clippinger and Jaxon Clippinger. Loney labeled Hackett a combo guard, Crilow a shooting guard and Brandt Clippinger a point guard.

Bruin Flinner last year was a first-team All-Northeast Inland District selection after averaging 15 points. He and Hackett were first-team All-PAC.

Newcomers include junior point guard Chase Walter, junior combo guard Alex Robinson, junior guard Tucker Harris and sophomore combo guard Deacon Gilbert.

Triway last year finished tied for second in the PAC with Manchester at 8-4. The whole league was chasing Northwest. Loney said this year anything could happen.

“League play will be a fight night in and night out with no off nights,” he said. “I would like to see us finish in the top three.”