Bernie hoops bringing back experience, effort this summer

Bernie High School senior basketball player Taven Owens handles the ball against a defender from Forsyth High School recently in the Rib City Shootout at the Bearcat Event Center at Dexter High School.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

In the previous seven basketball seasons leading up to last winter, the Bernie High School boy’s squad had never endured a losing record, and it had never averaged fewer than 55.7 points per game for the season.

Both statistics took a hit last season, as an incredibly young team (the Mules had just one senior) struggled to score (averaging just 41.8 points per game) and win (finishing 10-14).

“I think we have the right attitude for trying to accomplish the goal of getting better,” veteran Mule coach Jason Long said of his 2024-25 group after watching them in the Recent Rib City Shootout event at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter. “After last season, they want to come back stronger and put together a better product.”

Just having experience will go a long way in achieving that goal.

A year ago, Bernie had just one senior (Jayden Robinette), but this winter, Long will have 15 returning players from his program from 2023-24, including six seniors.

“When you have seniors,” Long said, “you have guys who have been through it the longest and are the most experienced.”

The Mules will return seniors Cade Arnold, Taven Owens, Jonah Copeland, Blake Nash, Cody Massey, and Dallas Akins, and Long believes they will certainly make an impact on game days, but also every day.

“I think a senior can have a really big impact on your practice,” Long said. “They have been through it and they can set the tone for the kind of effort that is expected.

“They are used to it.”

As much as the Bernie squad struggled to score at times last season, Long did get his kids to defend.

Bernie’s pace of play limited opponents to under 45 points per game on average, which allowed it to stay in games. Five of the Mules’ final six losses were by single digits and half of their 14 losses were within that range.

“These kids like to show up and they like to work,” Long said. “They are trying to get better.”