The Exeter boys basketball team has had a challenging start to its season, but Coach Tremanye Williams is less concerned about the beginning as he is the end.
Finishing at 10-16 last season, the Tigers return three seniors — Kason Nelson, Jesse Eaton and Kendal Gorman — to this year’s squad.
“For this to be a successful season, we need to be competitive in all aspects of the game and play our best basketball at the end of the year,” Williams said. “Nelson is an all-around player that impacts the game in many ways. Eaton is a steady playmaker who plays solid defense, and Gorman is a stretch big who saw a huge increase in his role last season.”
Also returning to Exeter’s varsity squad are a pair of juniors, Ed Lokot and Coby Johnston.
“Lokot takes pride in playing defense at a high level and is developing on the offensive side of the ball,” Williams said. “Johnston is a solid scorer who is developing on the defensive side.”
Beyond those five, Williams said there are a good number of players jockeying for varsity minutes.
“We have 7-10 players who have a chance to fill out the rest of the varsity rotation,” he said. “At the moment I don’t know who will play significant time.”
Whomever gets on the floor, Williams said is defense a point of pride for the Tigers; and as the summer showed, offense needs a little work.
“I think our biggest strength is that most of the players on this team see the value in playing solid defense,” he said. “I think our defense can set the tone on the season. An area we need to improve on is decision making and shot selection. Over the summer, we struggled in these areas.”
Exeter has 18 regular season contests on its schedule and two tournaments, one of which, the Pierce City Invitational, has already been played. The Tigers went 1-2 with a win over Verona, 50-28, and losses to Crane and East Newton, 67-20 and 55-21, respectively. They last fell to Purdy, 67-53, on Friday, and Sarcoxie, 57-44, on Thursday.
Of the 18 games on the slate, 11 are at home, including the season fina- le against Pierce City on Feb. 21, 2025.
“I think our schedule is solid and I believe we have a chance to be competitive most nights,” Williams said. “The one game I would want to pack the stands would be senior night. I would love to see this group get the recognition they deserve.”
Exeter plays next at home against Blue Eye on Friday, with the tip-off listed as 7 p.m.
