By Byron Beers/Staff Writer

It could have been much worse for head coach Rodney Haydon and his El Reno basketball team this past season.

The Indians got off to a slow start, winning just one game before the holiday break. But Haydon got his squad to peak later in the season and play its best basketball over the final couple of weeks, leaving much promise for next year.

Guthrie ended El Reno’s campaign in the opening round of regional play with a 64-48 victory over the Indians.

It couldn’t take away from what the Indians accomplished over their final five games of the regular season where they won four games against the likes of Noble, Western Heights, Deer Creek and Chickasha.

El Reno finished with a 7-14 overall record and was 4-10 in the Suburban Conference, which was headlined by eventual Class 5A state champion Carl Albert.

What is promising for Haydon is players such as sophomore Fayzon Richey and juniors Taylor Wedman, Glenn Wedman and Jared Krittenbrink all return next year. The foursome was recently honored as all-conference selections.

The Indians lose seniors Eric Palmer, Ben Mauldin and Dillon Young – each of whom contributed in one way or another. But along with the four all-conference selections, they also return Thad Palmer and Jordan Webb – both who saw significant minutes, plus junior guard Tyler Hill.

Throw in a group of freshmen that went 17-1 this year and the Indians figure to have a great mix of experience and talent as well as some much-needed depth.

Coached by Johnny Vick, the freshmen cruised to a Suburban Conference Tournament championship by winning two of their three games over Noble and Shawnee by a combined score of 156-73 before edging Western Heights 36-32 in the title game. The Indians lone loss was to Chickasha on a last-second shot after winning their first nine games.

“We’re definitely optimistic after what we were able to do late in the season,” Haydon said. “I’m ready for the summer to get started and see what we’ve got coming in.

“We’ve got some young kids coming up that are going to fill some roles that are very good basketball players. And then we’ve got a lot coming back that will have even more experience.”

“But we can’t be satisfied because although we’ve got all those guys coming back, you have to remember we only won seven games,” Haydon added. “So those guys have to understand that they just can’t walk out onto the floor just because they’re seniors and they have experience that they’re going to go win games.

“They have to get better and keep working in areas to improve. But from an experience standpoint, we’re going to be where we need to be.”

Junior forward Taylor Wedman might have been the biggest reason for El Reno’s second-half turnaround. After Wedman joined the starting lineup in early January, the Indians took off from every standpoint imaginable.

Wedman went on to pace the team in scoring with 11 points per game and led the way in rebounding with a 5.6 average. More importantly, he gave El Reno some much-needed size in the paint and was even able to hit shots from the perimeter.

The most versatile player was Richey, who was second in both scoring and rebounding. Haydon feels Richey has a chance to be special before his high school career is over.

Glenn Wedman and Jared Krittenbrink were also equally important. Wedman averaged 13 points over the final five games and was the team’s most consistent shooter, while Krittenbrink continued to develop as a solid all-around point guard who is also a capable scoring threat.

“All of our kids worked hard this year and just kept getting better and better as the season went along,” Haydon said. “The season showed that. And we were very close to having a couple of more wins that what we did.”

El Reno was dealt a tough blow in an overtime loss at Chickasha on a last-second shot, and had another against Western Heights it felt it had won on a half-court shot by Krittenbrink before the basket was waved off.

“We could have just as easily thrown in the towel with everything going the way it was,” Haydon said. “It was a long season for us so to struggle like we did when it would have been easiest for us to throw in the towel, we found a way to keep working and get better.

“We always had a good attitude in practice, and to finish the way we did showed the kind of character this team had.”