ALL 5 STARTERS RETURN LED BY GARRISON, ROLFS & LAFFERTY

By William

LITTLE RIVER – When the 2019-20 high school basketball season ended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Little River boys were getting ready to battle it out in the final four of the state Class 1A tournament after going 23-3 for the season.

After the great success of his first season at the helm, Head Coach Wayne Morrow is expecting big things for the Redskins, especially when he has possibly the best players in Class 1A if not the entire state of Kansas with senior Jayden Garrison.

All Garrison did in 2019-20 season was average 23.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game. A repeat like that in 2020-21 along with having the entire remaining four of last season’s starting lineup joining him, Little River will definitely be filled with high expectations when they hit the hardwood on Friday, December 4 for the first time with a home game against Lincoln.

The one glitch that Coach Morrow mentions could be a slight concern is that Little River has an exciting disadvantage to most other teams entering the new season as they may only have four practices to group together as most of the basketball team is still competing as this is written on the football field with Little River going for an 8-Man Division I state championship on Saturday, November 28.

What ever happens on Saturday, Coach Morrow has few doubts that the Redskins will ready, locked and loaded when they hit the 2020-21 basketball season because like with football – they have unfinished business and that is to win a state title and they have the players to do it with.

Here is a season preview of the 2020-21 Little River Redskins:

OPENING 2 WEEKS OF THE SEASON:

  • Open the season on Friday, December 4 when they host Lincoln
  • Monday, December 7 – on the road at Canton/Galva as part of the Goessel Tournament
  • Saturday, December 12 – on the road at Goessel, the Goessel Tournament
  • Tuesday, December 15 – host Moundridge

WHAT DOES COACH MORROW BRING TO THE BENCH?

  • Coach Morrow led the Little River Redskins to a 23-3 record in 2019-20, including a spot in the Class 1A final four of the state tournament before the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down.
  • Coach Morrow led the Redskins to a league championship with an unbeaten 9-0 mark in the Wheat State League.
  • Coach Morrow is in his 29th year overall as a head coach.
  • Coach Morrow has been head coach at Norwich, Madison, Marysville, Newton, Valley Center, Larned and Little River and passed the 300-victory mark sometime in 2008.
  • This is Coach Morrow’s second season at Little River.
  • Coach Morrow is assisted by Roger Trimmell, former long-time coach at McPherson College.

ABOUT COACHING:

  • Coach Morrow reflected on his coaching career by saying, “I retired from education in 2018 after 36 years serving as a teacher, administrator, and coach. Coaching at Little River is just an opportunity to finish doing what I love the most – coaching. I know I have a lot of information about my career records in a box, but my goal now is really to have some fun, coach the kids to learn to give their very best – day in and day out – while teaching them a little about basketball and life beyond basketball.”

WHO DOES NOT RETURN FOR THE LITTLE RIVER REDSKINS?

  • Little River did not graduate any seniors from the 2019-20 team.

WHO DOES RETURN FOR THE LITTLE RIVER REDSKINS?

The Little River Redskins will return all five (5) starters:

  • Jayden Garrison, a 6’1” senior who averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per game in 2019-20.
  • Trey Rolfs, a 6’1” senior who averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.1 steals per game in 2019-20.
  • Braxton Lafferty, a 6’0” sophomore who averaged 9.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.3 steals per game as a freshman in 2019-20.
  • Rylan Konen, a 6’0” sophomore who averaged 5.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game as a freshman in 2019-20.
  • Keaton Richardson, a 5’9” senior who averaged 4.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in 2019-20.

RETURNEES & NEWCOMER(S) THAT MAY SEE PLAYING TIME?

Among the other returnees and newcomers that Coach Morrow is counting on to contribute are:

  • Dalton Mantz, a 5’7” sophomore who played a lot of key minutes in 2019-20 and was a starter when Jayden Garrison was out for a couple of games.
  • Ty Herzog, a 6’1” junior who also played a lot of key minutes in 2019-20 and is a solid rebounder.
  • Graham Stephens, a 5’9” senior who returns this season after not playing in 2019-20 due to an injury during the football season, should be a key addition to the rotation as the season progresses.

WHAT COACH MORROW IS SAYING ABOUT THE UPCOMING 2020-21 REDSKIN SEASON?

GENERAL OUTLOOK:

  • “We will be coming off a very successful football season regardless of the outcome in the state championship game on Saturday, November 28 and the challenge will be regrouping the players for basketball with no rest or time off.”
  • “I know that we have some kids playing in that state championship game, and we hope to make it through one more football game injury free.”
  • “We will have to keep it simple early until we can get them into basketball condition, which is totally different than football conditioning.”
  • “We had a fun and successful basketball season in 2019-20, and the expectations will be high, but we all know that last year’s successes do not win any game this season.”
  • “After being new at Little River last season, at least this season the players now know the coaches and the expectations, as that took a little time to figure out last season.”
  • “The highlight last season was watching the team grow and players mature throughout the season as everyone worked to be on the same page. “

REFLECTING ON KEY LOSSES AND POSSIBLE NEWCOMERS:

  • “We did not graduate any players from last season, so we are hoping to strive for improvement and build on what we established last season. Barring any injuries, etc., we will add a few players that will hopefully give us some added depth.”
  • “I truthfully do not know for sure how the roster will fill out at this time due to the kids still playing football.”
  • “One addition from last year that we are looking forward to having will be Graham Stephens, a senior who sat out last season following a late football season injury.”
  • “I am also anticipating a few younger players joining us this season, and this will help us in building a stronger basketball program at Little River for future years.”

OVERALL OUTLOOK FOR THE 2020-21 SEASON:

  • “Like most everyone, I am just hoping that we get to play and finish the season after the abrupt ending last season due to the coronavirus pandemic was so disappointing.”
  • “There is a lot to look forward to this season if we approach things correctly.”
  • “We should be a more mature team with much needed depth added, but it is still going to take some time with little team preparation before we kickoff the season on Friday, December 4 at home with Lincoln before turning around and playing the following Monday, December 7, at Canton/Galva in the first round of the Goessel Tournament.”
  • “We will only have four, maybe five practices for those first two upcoming games and that will be quite the challenge, but we do intend to challenge the team to step up and be ready to give it their best.”

{Little River Redskin Activity Postings is in need of WINTER SPORT SPONSORS to cover costs – low as $8/week – inquiry with William at crossdovewriter@gmail.com}

{Follow us at www.mcpherson-county-ks.com}