Exeter youth find roles throughout campaign

BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

The Exeter boys basketball team endured a difficult season on the hardwood, and the Tigers are hoping young players who found their roles will grow into them in coming campaigns.

Tremanye Williams, Exeter boys basketball coach, said the 2-22 Tigers had a 3-out-of-10 season, hampered by struggles with decision-making, turnovers and offensive productivity.

“We struggle with decision making and consistently taking care of the basketball,” Williams said. “I think some guys improved in some areas, but not being productive on offense led to a lot of easy offense for the opposing team. We did not meet our goals/ expectations, and we struggled against teams that could play at a faster pace.

“For us to be competitive against the teams that see consistent success, we will need to be able to handle the basketball a lot better. If we could have had a more productive offense, the defense wouldn’t have been in such a bad position every game.”

Exeter’s pair of wins came over the same opponent, Verona, getting a 50-28 victory in the Verona Tournament on Dec. 7, 2024, and a 66-61 win on Feb. 14.

“The overtime win against Verona on their homecoming night was a pretty exciting game,” Williams said. “It could have gone bad when we allowed them to claw back into the game and they hit an impressive shot to send it into overtime, but we rallied together in the end.”

Williams said in spite of the losses this season, the Tigers did find ways to grow, especially the younger players.

“The biggest improvement I noticed was with the guys that found their way into the rotation,” Williams said. “Some of the guys that weren’t slotted to play a lot of minutes early in the season found a role and improved upon that, namely the freshmen and other younger players.

“I would have enjoyed watching us be able to control the pace better. Most games, we had to adjust to what the other team was doing and allowed the other team to impose their will.”

Exeter will lose a lineup’s worth of seniors in Kason Nelson, Kendall Gorman, Jesse Eaton, Zane Davidson and Kason Crowe, players Williams said did well weathering the storm this season.

“Our seniors did a great job of keeping the locker room positive despite a challenging season for the program,” he said. “They were a good group of boys that I witnessed become men, and I wish them the best of luck moving forward.”

Beyond the seniors, Exeter has five juniors, three sophomore and seven freshmen. Williams said many of those players will be expected to step into new roles next season.

“We will be a young team next year, and those underclassmen will have bigger roles for the program,” he said. “I think with a strong offseason, we could see a lot more scoring out of that group.”

To find that success, Williams said a couple aspects of the game will need work.

“We have to lower the turnover rate,” he said. “That will be the focus from the beginning. We have to learn how to handle the basketball, and make good decisions consistently.”

Exeter’s season ended on Feb. 24 at the hands of Galena, 74-38, in the Class 2, District 11 Tournament.