Bulldogs start hoops season with strength

It would logical to think that when the third leading scorer in Harrisburg boys basketball history and the second leading scorer from last year’s team have played their last games to be a rebuilding year for Coach Andy Fehrenbacher, but that’s not the way he’s looking at it with a talented transfer added to eight returning seniors as the 2024-2025 season opens this week at the Goreville Invitational.

“We lost a lot of scoring with Cam (Ande), but we’ll be able to replace that — it’s just going to be a little bit different because there was no doubt last year Cam was going to lead us in scoring — I anticipate more balanced scoring,” Fehrenbacher said. “We have a move in that’s definitely going to be a big part of our team. It was a surprise because the rumor was he was going to Marion. Then the day before school started when seniors to be were registering he showed up here. I had never talked to him before in my life.”

By the time the season ended last year Fehrenbacher was down to just seven players that contributed to a six-game losing streak to end the regular season with a 13-18 record.

However, the determined Bulldogs pulled it all together and upset Anna-Jonesboro in the opening game of the regional, but the season ended with a 14-19 record the next game in the semifinals against Massac County, which the Bulldogs beat at Eldorado Holiday Tournament a little over a month earlier when the majority of the team was still intact.

“What I like about this team is we do have a lot of experience this year,” Fehrenbacher said. “There’s a lot to be said about having a senior laden team because they will play with a lot of confidence. We’ve had good competitive practices. Last year Cam put the team on his back and this year we’ll be more balanced. You don’t really replace a player like that. It’s just a different type of a team. I look for us to a solid year.”

The season opened Monday against Goreville and continues with a 7:30 p.m. game against Hardin County Thursday, a 6 p.m. game against Benton Friday and a 2:30 p.m. game against Anna-Jonesboro Saturday.

Gone is First-Team All-State Ande, who averaged 25.1 points a game his last season and ended up with 1,815 points for his career. Also gone is Connor Henshaw, who is the younger brother of Capel Henshaw, who is second on the all-time scoring list with 1,885 points behind Isaiah Saulsberry’s career mark of 1,990 points. The younger Henshaw averaged 8.5 points a game last year.

Despite not having Ande and Henshaw’s 33.6 points a game coming back, Fehrenbacher will not only have four players that played in the majority of the games and four others that had minimal playing time to build this year’s team around, but Jalon Ellis, who has transferred from Carrier Mills for his senior season.

“Jalon is a 6-1 guard, who has been playing at the varsity level since he was a freshman,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’s an aggressive player that can get to the rim and he can score in a lot of different ways. He’s fit in pretty nicely with our team and he’s going to be a really nice addition to what we have this year.”

Ellis became the newest member of the Wildcats' 1,000 Point Club with three games left in the season. Two of his best games last year were 43 points and 40 points with eight steals and five blocked shots.

“Him and Adrian (Mann) and Cayden (Young) can handle the ball,” Fehrenbacher said. “Any of them can run the point guard position if need be and they can play wing. They are very interchangeable. That’s the nice luxury we’re going to have.”

Mann took over at point guard last in the 17th game at Christmastime when the starter quit the team. The senior played all 33 games with 28 starts and finished as the team leader in assists with 108, second on the team in steals with 37 and third in scoring with 8.3 points a game, third in 3-point goals with 22 and fifth in rebounding with 98 total rebounds.

“Adrian is very capable and very athletic,” Fehrenbacher said. “He moves well and has a lot of instincts on the floor that you don’t really teach. He’s really good at finding the open man and passing the ball up ahead on the break. This year with him being a senior he’s going to be a lot more confident in himself and his abilities. He’s going to be a tough matchup this year.”

Senior forward Owen Rann started 32 of the 33 games and was second in defensive rebounds with 91 and assists with 88, third in steals with 34 and total rebounds with 126 and fourth in scoring with five points a game.

“Owen will be a strong forward type for us,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’s a big body — 6-4 and just under 200 pounds and pretty strong. He can move and shoot. He can hit the three and he can post you up. He’s shown a lot of improvement over the summer.”

Senior forward Reed Rider played in 32 games with 22 starts and finished fifth in steals with seven, sixth in rebounds with 87 and seventh in assists with 34 while averaging 2.9 points a game.

“Reed’s our workhorse,” Fehrenbacher said. “He is our best defender and one of our main rebounders and screener. He doesn’t score a whole lot, but we have enough scoring, so we don’t need a lot out of him. He has a good midrange jumper. He’ll run the floor really hard.”

Young was the first man off the bench the entire season playing in all 33 games with just start. The senior guard was fourth in 3-point goals scored with 11 and in rebounds with 11, tied for fourth in assists with 70 and fifth in scoring with 4.8 points a game.

“Cayden is going to have a really good season,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’s put a ton of time in the off season. He’s not in any other sports — he’s all basketball. He’s got stronger. He’s listed at 6-4, but he’s longer than that because his arms are very long. He can get to the basket very quickly. He’s got a very smooth shot. He’s playing with a ton of confidence in practice. He’ll be a wing player, but there’ll be times we can put in the post because he has a nice touch around the basket. We can use him in a lot of different ways.”

Sophomore Braxton Murphy was brought up from the JV squad and played in the final 11 games leading the team with a 52.6 shooting percentage from beyond the 3-point line by making 10-of-19 shots. The guard/forward averaged 3.2 points a game with a career-high of nine.

“Braxton like Cayden is basketball only,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’s been shooting and playing every day since last season and he is shooting lights out right now. He didn’t have as many shooting attempts last year as the others, but I guarantee you he’ll have a lot more this year and make them. He’s a deadeye shooter. He’s been working at putting the ball on the floor and he has a nice pull up jumper as well. I have five seniors in the starting lineup and he’ll be the sixth man, but he’s very capable of starting.”

The other three players back are senior center Dalton Brimm, who played in 11 games, junior forward Brenden Davis, who played in seven games, and junior forward Gage Thomas, who played in six games.

“Brimm, Davis and Thomas were JV last year and did dress varsity, but didn’t get in much,” Fehrenbacher said.

Rounding out the squad are three newcomers two senior guards Aiden Unthank and Chandler Questelle and senior forward Colten Wheeler.

“Chandler hasn’t played in a few years, in fact he was going to play last year but got hurt at the end of the football season, but this year he’s going to be our seventh guy,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’ll be a guy I can bring off the bench to handle the ball and defend on the perimeter. He’s a really good facilitator setting guys up to score. He’ll definitely be a benefit to us.”