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Woodland’s Kinder reflects on last year’s breakout, previews upcoming junior season
Part of a Woodland team that’s taken such a big step forward over the past few years, Korbin Kinder’s junior season quickly approaches, and he’s looking to take the Cardinals basketball team to newer, greater heights.
The Cardinals, having struck together more than 20 wins last season but falling short early in district play, had a mixed bag when looking back on their 2024 season, with many highs and many lows.
“The kids, we left a couple games there with some last-minute decision-making,” Cardinals coach Shawn Kinder said.
Woodland had such a great reputation that it clinched the No. 5 seed in last year’s Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament, but fell short in the quarterfinals and bowed out in full on the third day.
Led heavily by the talented sophomore, now rising to a junior, Korbin Kinder played a huge role in guiding the Cards to a spectacular 21-6 record last season, but it came without much fanfare.
After winning the season-opening Woodland Invitational Tournament back in early December, Woodland shrugged off a disappointing Christmas Tournament bid before losing in the SCAA championship game a month later.
Entering the back half of his career in Marble Hill, Kinder is looking to make a big step forward as a junior with a talented returning cast at Woodland.
“Our main goal this year is to win that district,” Kinder said. “Get the first district for Woodland.”
Jammed into a mighty talented and loaded district last year, Charleston came away with the title while Notre Dame, Scott City, Kelly, Saxony and Valle contested Woodland’s path to a championship as well.
So has gone the “District of Death,” but it’s not out the window just yet, pending MSHSAA’s release of this year’s district alignments.
Again, Woodland could find itself smack dab in the middle of a district so talented and top-loaded once more, but the excuses are out the window as they look to grab a title no matter who stands in the way.
The emphasis this summer has been on the process, getting quicker on defense and allowing the spread of the offense as the Cardinals look toward a full, efficient offensive effort.
With a couple of tough losses last year, a focal point in the reflection of the previous season, the leadership has been an important key in the turnaround of this Woodland squad.
“We're all really good at speaking up with each other,” Kinder said. “When maybe I’m down, one of my teammates will pick me up.
“We’ve just got to look to go into the season knowing that we can win games and be confident.”
Going into an important 2024-25 season, with a lot of teams still gunning for Woodland on their schedules, Korbin stressed the importance of the Cardinals’ team dynamic.
The free-flow Cardinals offense looks to gel well together, with plenty of guys able to handle and shoot the ball in the offense to generate some big points in the upcoming year.
“We kind of all grew up together, playing since second or third grade, so it's kind of the team bonding that we've all had and shared together,” Kinder said.
“We’ve added a few guys since then, but I think we’ll be able to beat a lot of teams with how we share the ball and play team ball.”