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 The Toppers lost four starters from last season, according to Head
Coach Ryan Deibert, with sophomore Peyton Taylor the only returning
starter. No worries though as Deibert has a deep lineup to choose
from, with many of the underclassmen gaining varsity experience last
season. "A lot of them have played minutes. A lot of them have some
experience and it's just getting them to play and log a lot of
minutes together," says Deibert of the team made up of six seniors,
five juniors and three sophomores.
Coach Deibert continued, "So I think the biggest issue has been a
lot of communication on the floor and being on the same page. As we
get more into the season I think that stuff will mesh pretty good. I
think we have pieces. There are some pretty good pieces there. But
it's just getting them to all fit together."
One key piece of that puzzle looks to be 6'2" senior Brett Huff, who
will handle the ball a lot more this season and will also be relied
upon to shoot the three. Huff is the returning leading scorer from
the team last season when he averaged 5.1 ppg.
"I think we're gonna be pretty good," says Huff, "I mean we haven't
really played together that much, but in practice we're getting
better as a team, so I think we should be fun once the season
starts."
Huff knows he must step up and fill a void left by last year's ball
handlers, Michael Lowery, Beau Collier and Blake Collier. When asked
if he felt the role of team leader might be on his shoulders, Huff
answered, "Yeah, 'cause I am handling the ball a lot more this year
'cause we used to have Mike and Beau and Blake handling the ball the
last few years."
Huff will also share the point guard position with fellow senior
Dalton Litterly and newcomer Gezus Oliver.
Litterly is also expected to be a team leader on the court and he
has logged many varsity minutes throughout his high school career.
The 5'11" senior averaged 4.2 ppg last season and was always a
defensive threat for the Toppers. This season he knows his role will
be more demanding.
"Coach Deibert wants me to play really good defense and I'm pretty
sure he wants me to take care of the ball a lot more and I know he
wants me to be a leader on the team," says Litterly. That should be
a pretty natural role for the senior to step into given his vast
experience on the court last season.
Another senior stepping into a key role for the Toppers this season
will be Will Stewart. At 6'0" Stewart logged a lot of varsity
minutes last season and did a great job rebounding and playing tough
defense against some often bigger opponents in the paint.
Stewart looks forward to doing whatever he's called upon to do,
which means, "Rebounding and putting the boards back and handling
the ball if I need to. I'll be getting all the rebounds that Peyton
doesn't get," joked Stewart, "And you can put that in there."
Stewart is referring to Peyton Taylor, the 6'7" sophomore who is the
only returning starter to this year's squad. Taylor has sat out some
of the preseason practices due to an ankle injury but he looks to
get some playing time Monday night to work his way back into shape.
Taylor, who averaged 4.6 ppg last season, confirmed that he has
grown two inches since last season. "I am done growing now," he
said.
The growth spurt that Taylor experienced is not the only change in
physical appearance that will be obvious to Topper fans. Take one
look at Lukas Aylesworth and fans will be able to notice quite a
difference in the junior forward. Aylesworth will still wear the
number 14, but the uniform, which has fit snuggly the last two
seasons, is now a loose fit on his trim physique. Aylesworth worked
out over the summer and dropped 25 pounds and gained a great deal of
muscle that will no doubt help to improve his game on the court.
Aylesworth also spent a lot of time over the summer working on his
game, he said, "Oh yeah, a lot. I did a lot of dribbling, a lot of
shooting and a lot of free throws...a lot of free throws," he
emphasized.
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Aylesworth explained that the team spent a lot of time in the gym
this summer, working on improving their basketball game as much as
three days a week all summer long. As a Topper who gained a lot of
varsity experience last season, Aylesworth added, "I definitely
would say I bring a little bit of experience, more than some of the
younger kids and other kids my age."
Aylesworth also knows his role on the team. "I have to help
rebounding a lot, help Peyton a lot and I'm a post. I am a quicker
post so I run the floor a lot and get up and down and work the other
big guys with slower footwork," said the 6'0" junior who always has
a smile on his face.
Brandon Huff, Caleb Przykopanski and Liam Haigh round out the senior
class of Toppers, and don't let the smiles on their faces fool you,
these three can shoot lights out and will make an impact when
running the floor at the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium.
Eli Griesheim joins Aylesworth on the list of juniors with varsity
experience. Griesheim possesses great speed and he leads a class of
juniors featuring Eli Olson, Zach Drake and Mitchell Hagenbuch, who
will be working hard to earn time on the court.
Seth Huff, the last of the four Huff boys sporting the purple and
gold in recent years, will also hope to gain valuable experience at
the varsity level as a 5'8" sophomore. Just maybe he'll get to play
along side his older brothers on the hardwood and not just on the
driveway basketball court at home.
Finally, there always has to be a last piece of the puzzle, and that
may be newcomer Gezus Oliver, who comes to Mount Pulaski by way of
Springfield Southeast. Oliver played both Junior Varsity and
Freshman basketball for the Spartans and averaged around 10 ppg
playing small forward.
Oliver also mentioned he got a lot of rebounds last season and "I
got a couple double-doubles." The 6'1" sophomore noted that a reason
for moving to Mount Pulaski was to settle somewhere more peaceful.
"It's more peaceful out here than it is back home and that was a big
reason," he said of the move to the smaller community.
Oliver will likely impact the team right away with his quickness and
athleticism. He anticipates his role with the Toppers to include,
"Making good passes, scoring more, not hesitating, being more
confident with it, killing it defensively, making sure no one scores
and getting just easy points."
It's evident from watching a practice that the pieces of the puzzle
are fitting together nicely and that these guys are just ready to
hit the court to not only prove themselves as contenders but also
have fun.
Finally, when asked about goals for the upcoming season, both Huff
and Litterly expressed their desire to win regionals, with Huff
adding, "Winning sectionals and to keep going from there."
As the season is set to get underway tonight with Mount Pulaski
hosting the Bill Rucks Memorial Tournament, Litterly added "I am
ready." So are the fans.
Good luck to the Toppers!
Monday, November 23rd schedule for the tournament:
5:00 p.m. Central A & M vs. Illini Central
6:30 p.m. PORTA vs. Decatur LSA
8:00 p.m. Mount Pulaski vs. Decatur Christian
[Teena Lowery]
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