Wheaton sets goal of winning district title
By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
When Seth Lash was hired in 2022, he set a goal for this year’s group to win a district championship.
Only 5 points away from meeting that goal, falling to Blue Eye 44-39 in the district title game, the Bulldogs hope to “hold the rope” going into next season and eventually win the tug of war for a piece of district hardware.
Wheaton went 19-9 this season and 5-1 in Ozark 7 play, and Lash said if he were to grade the season, it would be an A.
“My goal when I arrived at Wheaton for this group was to win a district championship,” he said. “I said it day No. 1 the first time I met the kids before our first summer open gym. So, in that sense we didn’t meet our goal, but we accomplished so much this year, and I’m so proud of what we accomplished.
“That is why you set the bar high and keep it high, because if our goal was to have a good season I don’t know that we would’ve had the season we did.”
The Bulldogs never lost more than two in a row this season, and they were on a seven-game heater when they fell to Blue Eye.
“I think our biggest improvement came in February as the season was ending and preparing for districts,” Lash said. “We just hit our stride and had the right focus to be playing our best basketball when we needed to be.
“We improved so much from last year it’s hard to ask for more, but if there was one area [we could have improved], it would have been to be more assertive driving the basketball to create opportunities for ourselves or teammates.”
The winning season provided numerous exciting moments, both in the regular season and postseason.
“We won third place in the Lockwood tournament,” Lash said. “We also won our homecoming game, which is always exciting for the kids and fans. And, we played three really competitive games in the district tournament.”
Wheaton had six seniors on this year’s roster, all of whom, Lash said, played a pivotal role.
“They each brought different things to the table,” he said. “They complimented each other well. They played hard each night. I can’t thank them enough for continuing to work and try to do things the right way.
“I’m so happy for them that they got the experience a season like they had because not everyone gets to go out the way that they got to.”
Seniors included Devin Bateman, Blake Morgan, Fernando Gonzalez, Payton Pyle, Zander Dutra and Michael Hang.
Wheaton’s remaining roster had only one junior, Houston Roller, leaving the court open for underclassmen next season.
“[Houston] has been a starter for the past two seasons,” Lash said. “He understands what needs to be done and is ready to lead. We also have a freshman who played a lot of minutes this year and was our leading scorer some nights, he is ready to take on a larger role as well. After that, we have guys that had varsity jerseys but didn’t see consistent minutes, and JV guys will have to look to fill holes and try to carry on the standard that we have built.
“Our goal for next year is to ‘hold the rope.’ We don’t want to have a let down. I’m hoping that the guys we have coming back are ready to step into new/bigger roles and show that they are ready to compete at that level.”
Lash said to set that standard, it took this year’s squad a season of effort.
“I want to thank the kids because they put in the work for us to have the year that we did,” he said. “In year No. 2, they really bought into what I was wanting them to do and thought would give us the best chance to be successful. They deserve the credit and recognition for that.”
Recognition came for three players in the form of All-Ozark 7 awards. Gonzalez was named to the First Team, Hang to the Second Team and Morgan to Honorable Mention. All three were also named to the All-District team.
