They were two totally different teams with totally different results in 2019-20, but the same theme remained for East Webster coach Jon Ginn of his boys and girls basketball teams moving into next season: promise.
The girls squad finished off a season 20-10 and were second in Class 2A, Region 2 in both the regular season and district tournament to Calhoun City. It was Ginn’s second year as the head coach of the girls and his team made progress in year two as the moved to the second round of the tournament before falling to Coahoma County last Friday.
“Even though we lost three really good players (last season), there were three or four girls that had a lot of experience and that carried over. Even though they had a slow start, I think they expected to win and they were coachable,” Ginn said. “ We changed a little bit about how we did things this year and they listened and had success.”
Last week began with the Lady Wolverines taking care of Pisgah in the first round 67-50. They led for the majority of the ball game and turned it on late in the game as Whitney Winter scored a team-high 17 points to lead the way.
The Lady Wolverines ran into a tough opponent in round two as the had to travel to a dominant Coahoma County team but they stayed in the game most of the way before they lost 57-42. It was a tough ending to the year but there’s so much optimism to take away from it as well.
Senior Jaden Johnson leaves a hole to fill from a leadership standpoint. Ginn mentioned the fact that Johnson was never going to light up a score sheet but she made the tough plays and she led by example on and off the court.
Other than Johnson, however, the Lady Wolverines lose no one on the roster. EWHS returns two rising seniors in Meri-Grace Gregg and Whitney Winter who were the offensive leaders. Winter was named the Offensive MVP for Region 2 while Gregg was named All-Region. They also return starting sophomores Shan Culpepper and Lauren Graves as well as freshman sixth-man Shameriah Culpepper and the rest of the supporting cast.
“I think that’s going to carry over for our girls. I challenged them to dream big,” Ginn said. “We’re losing one senior who is important to us because she’s such a great leader. The things that made Jaden special is what she did in the locker room. But there’s no reason that we can’t do something special next year.”
On the other side of the gym was the boys team which got to 10 wins on the year but not without some tough learning moments. It was a complete rebuild for Ginn after consecutive years losing some key starters and young players having to step into new roles.
It still ended with the Wolverines getting third place in the district and earning a playoff game that they had a chance at winning. EWHS got out on Pisgah 16-1 in the first quarter in round one of the playoffs on the road but couldn’t hold on for the win.
The Dragons made the comeback and they took home the victory in a tough 52-44 game. It was another tough pill to swallow for a team that was so close to getting over the hump this season but came up short along the way.
Like the girls, the boys team returns a big nucleus. They lost two important senior starters and Sedrick Taylor and Nash Caldwell as well as bench player Riley Carrithers, all of which provided a post presence. Ginn said that they will rely heavily on guards next year like Reid Gatlin, Cael Chrismond, Blake Slay and Hayes Fason all who had to play big minutes this year.
They also return a lengthy Chandler Hodges who was All-Region this year.
“We lost some size with Sedrick and Nash and we’ll have a little bit of a different look next year. I’m excited about what they look can do for us,” Ginn said. “I told them that the best teams that I ever coached were ones that had young players that had a dream to be very successful. We’ve got plenty of youth to make that happen so I’m looking forward to tryouts and to see who is going to step up.”
