Lee's Summit West winter previews

Boys Basketball
By KARL ZINKE
karl.zinke@examiner.net

Michael Schieber has a good reason to think that this might be his best team yet at Lee’s Summit West.
With two Division I-caliber guards and a strong supporting cast, the Titans hope to make some noise in Schieber’s fifth season (please check on graphic to make sure that’s correct).
Leading the way will be all-state guard Michael Dixon, who has signed with Missouri to play college ball.
“Mike has a great work ethic,” Schieber said of the 6-foot-1 senior who averaged 20 points, six rebounds and four assists per game to earn his second first-team all-state honors as a junior. “He is a gym rat and works every day on making himself and others better. He is a great kid from a great family.
“The other part of it is that Mike has a great desire to win. He hates to lose no matter what the drill or game. He has a lot of qualities you just don’t teach.”
And Schieber will have Dixon’s full attention after getting his college choice out of the way early. Dixon picked the Tigers over Arizona, Oklahoma, California and Purdue.
“I think the pressure of having that decision over with is good,” Schieber said. “It will allow him on his – and the team’s – goals this season. I know that was his goal and his family’s goal, to have it over with for the start of the season.
“Having Todd Fletcher’s process over with is good for us as well.”
Fletcher, a 6-2 senior guard who averaged 10 points, five rebounds and three assists last year, has signed with the Air Force Academy.
Fletcher, along with seniors B.J. Jackson (5-7) and Alec Hall (5-10) and junior Banks Born (6-2), give the Titans a strong back court.
With those guards, and a strong front court with three 6-6 forwards in senior Colin Artinger, Melvin Turner and Ryan Hafner, Schieber thinks he has a team that will be tough to beat.
“I think we are as talented as any group I have coached at West,” Schieber said. “I think the group in my second year that went to the quarterfinals had a great will to win and compete … and that is what I expect from all the kids this year.
“Mike started as a freshman with that group for part of the year, and I think he experience how hard you have to play to win. If we have that will to win, it could be a very special season for us. There are good teams out there than can beat us – no question. We just have to bring it every night and play hungry. If we do that, good things will happen for us.”
That’s not to say that Schieber doesn’t have any worries.
“I think we have a lot of guys who can play,” he said. “We are pretty deep, which is great to practice against and gives us a lot of options in games. But defense and rebounding are my concerns.
“We have to be able to get stops on the defensive end and to be able to run – which is what we want to do. We’ve been focusing our practices around this, but I think we have a long way to go to get as good as we can get.”

Girls Basketball
By KARL ZINKE
karl.zinke@examiner.net

The Lee’s Summit West girls have one senior who will see major playing time this season.
Young? Yes. Inexperienced? No.
The Titans may be starting an all underclassmen lineup but coach Darin Hall says his team can challenge for a conference title and more despite a move up to the Suburban Middle Six.
“Although we’re young, we’ve got quite a few kids who played at the varsity level last year,” Hall said. “We have a chance to be pretty good, but we still have to put everything together – and saying and doing are two different things.”
The pieces of the puzzle are there, though. The Titans return most of their key elements from a team that went 17-8 overall and finished second in the tough Small Six with an 8-2 mark.
West returns its starting point guard in 5-foot-4 sophomore Morgan Maddox. The leading 3-point shooter, 5-6 sophomore guard Katie Douglas, comes back. And starting center, 5-10 junior Keyanna Anderson, also returns.
The Titans also got a bit of welcome news. Bailey Swyden, a 5-5 junior guard, has transferred in from Atlanta after earning all-state honors in Georgia as a sophomore.
“I’d be surprised if she didn’t start for us,” Hall said. “She’s a good 3-point shooter too. The other thing she does well is the kid can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket and score, and that’s something we didn’t have last year.
“And Emiah Bingley (a 5-7 freshman) can do that too, and she has the ability to play any position. But she’s another kid who can put it on the floor and go to the hoop, and that’s something that was sorely lacking last year.”
With Maddox and Swyden able to handle the ball equally well, Hall said he will have a two-guard front and be more perimeter-oriented.
Another reason for that will be the return of junior Paige Vanderpool. The 5-9 guard sat out approximately half of last season with a back injury, but should get plenty of playing time.

Girls Swimming
By JASON TARWATER
jason.tarwater@examiner.net

With two important state qualifiers back, Lee’s Summit West looks to move forward, despite losing 10 seniors from last year’s squad.
Jean Madison is back after earning all-state honors in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM last year. Ashley Nolan qualified in both the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle last year.
Libby Pike and Maddie Whyte were also at the state meet as relay alternates.
In total, the Titans have 17 returners and 27 newcomers to the team.
Coach Colleen Gibler said several of the newcomers are already swimming state-qualifying times, which will help add depth to the Titans lineup.
“I have freshmen coming in at or near state cuts,” she said. “And I have quite a few freshmen coming in with experience who are not quite at the state cuts. We plan to take care of that.”
The Titans also shift to the Suburban Middle Six this season, as opposed to the Suburban Small Six, where they were the last two years.

Wrestling
Lee’s Summit West’s wrestling coach did not submit preview information