Preview: Central Ozark Conference

<p>Prep Hoops Missouri continues its conference previews with a look at the Central Ozark Conference. This is always a competitive league with several teams vying for the top spot and this year should be no different with teams such as Nixa, Webb City, Ozark, Republic and Joplin in the mix.</p> <h4>Earl’s Preseason Starting Five</h4> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="824147" first="Kaleb" last="Wofford"] 6’2" Nixa: A smooth shooting 2021 guard who begins his fourth year of varsity action.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="984953" first="Always" last="Wright"] 6’2" Joplin: An impressive 2022 shooting guard who averaged 12 points while shooting 41 percent from 3-point range.</p> <p>Drew McMillin 6’0" Republic: Talented 2021 guard who averaged 19 points a game while shooting 47 percent from 3-point range.</p> <p>Nickhai Howard 6’0" Webb City: Physical 2021 combo guard who averaged 10 points and a team-high six rebounds as a junior. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="824208" first="Landon" last="Austin"] 6’2" Neosho: Versatile 2021 guard who averaged 17 points, six rebounds and four assists a game as a junior.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Best of the Rest</h4> <p>2021</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="824191" first="Jason" last="Jones"] 6’6" Nixa</p> <p>Blaine Cline 6’4" Ozark</p> <p>Kyle Flavin, Ozark</p> <p>Chase Flynn, Neosho</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>2022</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="985424" first="Colin" last="Ruffin"] 6’3” Nixa</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="984946" first="Cohl" last="Vaden"] 5’10" Webb City</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1050173" first="Ethan" last="Whatley"] 6’2" Ozark</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1050175" first="Ethan" last="Jones"] 6’0" Branson</p> <p>Haden Brown 6’4" Willard</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1010549" first="Trey" last="Pulford"] 6’1" Willard</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1010026" first="Max" last="Higginbotham"] 6’3" Webb City</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1010547" first="Gavin" last="Davis"] 6’4" Willard</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>2023</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1070087" first="Kael" last="Combs"] 6’3" Nixa</p> <p>Ahlante Askew 6'1" Republic</p> <p>Max Templeman 5’10" Carthage</p> <p>Dante Washington 6’1" Joplin</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>2024</p> <p>All Wright 6’0" Joplin</p> <p>Joseph Hafer 6’5" Joplin</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Predicted Order of Finish</h4> <p>1 Nixa</p> <p>2 Ozark</p> <p>3 Republic</p> <p>4 Webb City</p> <p>5 Joplin</p> <p>6 Neosho</p> <p>7 Willard</p> <p>8 Branson</p> <p>9 Carthage</p> <p>10 Carl Junction</p>