NEWTOWN – The Mingo Central High School boys' basketball team lost three seniors to graduation – Jarius Jackson, Preston Smith and Justin May – and all three are tough shoes to replace.
The three provided the Miners with the majority of their scoring last season – and with Jackson (6 foot 6) and May (6 foot 4) – have Mingo Central some of its height inside the paint.
“We probably lost 60 percent of our scoring with the three seniors and they are going to be hard to replace,” Miners' Coach Stan Elkins said. “We really don't have many true post players or back-to-the-basket type of players. We lost Jarius (Jackson) and he was 6 foot 6 and J-May (Justin May) was 6 foot 4. We'll have to adjust how we play accordingly.”
Others will have to step up – returning players from last year and also newcomers.
“We do have some players who are coming back with some experience, including Jake Cline who is a senior, Ethan Thomason who is a junior and sophomore Matt Hatfield. We have another young man, Caden Porter, who is a sophomore who gave us some minutes last year. We do have some experience coming back and some new guys that can help us.”
The Miners, coming off a 10-13 season a year ago, will have preseason game action this week as Mingo Central is scheduled to host Wayne on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m., then hit the road at Grundy, Va., on Nov. 29.
Mingo Central is working toward its season opener, a December 9 home game against Lincoln County.
BATTLE-TESTED MINERS: The Miners' 2022-23 schedule is just as beefy as last year's, with a home-and-away series against Class AAA rival Logan, Class AA sectional foe Chapmanville. 2A teams Westside, Bluefield and Wyoming East and Single-A foes Man and Tug Valley.
Chapmanville is back on the Miners' schedule after a one-year hiatus. The Tigers most recently won back-to-back Class AA state titles in 2018 and 2019 and were the No. 1-ranked team in the state in 2020 with a 22-2 record before the season was shut down due to COVID concerns.
The Tigers, 13-11 last season, picked up transfer guard Sal Dean of Belfry during the off-season and also returns 6 foot 6 Zion Blevins, a Second Team All-State pick. Brody Dalton and Isaiah Smith, both Honorable Mention All-State selections a year ago, also are back.
Chapmanville, coached by former Miners' mentor Brad Napier, lost 53-41 to Bluefield in last year's Class AA regional co-final.
Logan should be loaded again this season and will be a formidable foe for the Miners. The Wildcats closed out 23-3 last season and won the Class AAA sectional and regional crowns but were upset 65-63 by rival Scott in last year's state tournament.
The Wildcats beat the Miners twice last season – 76-66 at home and 66-52 atop Miner Mountain.
In the game at Logan's Willie Akers last year, the Miners shot the lights out, hitting 69 percent of its attempts from the floor and a sizzling 63 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Man, 22-3 last season, made it all the way to the Class A state tournament but were upended in the opening round. The Billies won the Class A state title in 2021.
The Miners split with the Hillbillies last season, winning 58-55 at home and falling 56-52 on the road.
Mingo Central swept the rival Tug Valley Panthers last season, taking a 68-59 win at home and then winning 58-51 at Naugatuck.
MCHS dropped both games to Bluefield last season in 63-53 and 60-45 defeats.
“We're playing a tough schedule,” Elkins said. “We're not dodging anyone. We were 10-13 last year but we felt like we could have been 13-10 or even better than that. The ball just didn't bounce our way. We felt like we were competitive and won some games we shouldn't have and lost some games that we should have won. Our strength of schedule last year was probably in the top five in Class AA in the state. This year, you'll see the same thing. We want to play the best competition that we can and we'll definitely be battle-tested.”
MCHS once again plays in a three-team sectional with Chapmanville and Liberty-Raleigh. Liberty upset the Miners in last year’s opening round sectional tourney game.
HATFIELD-MCCOY SHOOTOUT: Mingo Central will also once again host the annual two-day Hatfield-McCoy Shootout, set for Feb. 3-4 at the historic Williamson Fieldhouse.
The Miners are tentatively set to play cross border rival Belfry, Ky., in one of their two Shootout games but the second matchup has not yet been set, Elkins said.
“We don't know for sure but one of them may be Belfry,” Elkins said. “That's one of the reasons I think that we did not schedule them this year because we had talked about trying to play them in the Shootout. That's a game that's always a heated rivalry and a game that's always highly contested.”
Elkins said his team always enjoys playing games at Williamson.
“The venue is the historic Williamson Fieldhouse. If you've never been to the fieldhouse for a game you'll be in for a treat,” Elkins said. “There's none finer in southern West Virginia or maybe even the whole state. It's very iconic and many great players have passed through there. Our kids are always excited to play in front of a big crowd at the field house. We hope to be able to make our fans proud of us this year when we play.”
HOOP PREVIEWS: Look for a complete team preview of the Mingo Central boys’ basketball team in next week’s Mingo Messenger sports section.
Also, there will be team previews of the Mingo Central girls and also the Tug Valley High School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.
