Team Preview: Bethany (4A)

<p>Bethany posted a successful post-season that placed the Bronchos in the State Tournament for the first time in 11 years (not to mention a win against top-ranked Kingfisher).</p> <p>A mix of returners and newcomers, coach Quinn Wooldridge said, will lead the way for Bethany during the 2020-2021 season.</p> <p>Production starts with the interior tandem of 6-foot-8-inch [player_tooltip player_id="955385" first="Michal" last="Wooldridge"] and 6-foot-7-inch Payton Tolle. Coach Wooldridge said that the Bronchos will affect a new scheme with more allowance for post-centric play.</p> [caption id="attachment_1057294" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/09/Michael-Wooldridge.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1057294" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/09/Michael-Wooldridge-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="955385" first="Michal" last="Wooldridge"] (Joshua Cleary/Prep Hoops).[/caption] <p>"The previous two years, with all the perimeter depth we had, those two guys kind of tag-teamed each other," Wooldridge said. "This year. . . that’s two of our three best players, so those guys have to play together.</p> <p>"At the 4A level, I don’t know that anybody will have two of them that size, especially two of them that can actually play" Wooldridge said.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="955385" first="Michal" last="Wooldridge"] will play the five-spot for the Bronchos, coach Wooldridge said.</p> <p>"Mike, the best description for the way he’ll play with us is kind of like a sawed-off Gasol brother," Wooldridge said. "He’ll play a lot at the elbow, we’ll post him a lot."</p> <p>Tolle, a Wichita-State baseball signee, also received high praise from coach Wooldridge.</p> <p>"[Tolle] is a big, strong kid that’s a pretty good rebounder and defender," Wooldridge said, "and he’s pretty mobile and athletic for his size, too."</p> <p>The Bronchos also return the talents of [player_tooltip player_id="1015856" first="Luke" last="O’Neal"], a utility player who can fill many roles, Wooldridge said.</p> <p>"[O’Neal], he’s really worked on his body, gotten a lot stronger," Wooldridge said, "he was a four, basically, last year, and this year, due to losing some perimeter guys, he’s going to be a full-time perimeter guy and will run the point for us some too.</p> <p>"He can guard the one-through-five at the 4A level defensively," Wooldridge said.</p> [caption id="attachment_1090406" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/HH-Elite-17U-_-Luke-ONeal.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-1090406 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/HH-Elite-17U-_-Luke-ONeal-300x220.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="220" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1015856" first="Luke" last="O’Neal"] (Clare Reynolds/Prep Hoops).[/caption] <p>Fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id="1015788" first="David" last="Castillo"], who plays with O’Neal for H&amp;H Elite, is out for the Bronchos with a torn ACL that he suffered in a scrimmage, and his timeline is unclear at this point, Wooldridge said.</p> <p>After those four, Wooldridge will be fielding players with little-or-no minutes.</p> <p>"We were so deep as a 4A team these last two years. . . what that did was keep some of our underclassman guys from getting any varsity experience," Wooldridge said. "They’re going to be playing in the 8 o’clock game instead of the 5:30 game now."</p> <p>Junior forward Cameron Wright, who stands about 6-foot-3-inches, will be one of those players.</p> <p>"[Cameron] is pretty athletic and can block shots and rebound and kind of a developing 3-point shooter," Wooldridge said. "He’s gonna get a chance to get some opportunities out there."</p> <p>Six-foot-2-inch perimeter player Woods Harrell could also have expanded minutes, Wooldridge said. A senior, Daniel Ramos, will also be expected to step up for the Bronchos as a forward.</p> <p>"[Ramos] has got a great scoring touch and just knack for scoring around the basket even against bigger guys," Wooldridge said.</p> <p>Wooldridge said the aforementioned lack of experience will be one of the greatest obstacles facing Bethany.</p> <p>"We’re still in the position to have a really good team and make a great run at things, we’re just built so much differently than we’ve been the last couple of years," Wooldridge said, "We’ve still got a good group of guys that are back, that are experienced, we’re just having to find some other guys that can step in and fill roles that were vacated."</p>