Cardinals need a strong Kinder if they hope to make history

The Woodland High School varsity boy’s basketball program claiming a District title has never occurred, despite the program achieving immense success through the years, particularly of late, during the regular season. However, the Cardinals (19-5) were recently designated as the team to beat in the upcoming Class 3 District 2 tournament by being named the top seed.

“We’ve gotten better from last year,” third-year Woodland coach Shawn Kinder said earlier this season about his team’s improved defensive play, “as far as some of the things that we have stressed.”

The Cardinals have balance at both ends of the court this season, but if they are to topple the remaining District foes, which includes Class 3 No. 7-ranked Scott City (21-3), Kinder will need a strong performance from his son, junior guard Korbin Kinder.

“Korb is a leader,” Shawn said. “I’ve never seen anybody get along with so many people like Korb does.”

That shows in the Cardinals’ offensive balance.

Kinder almost always is either leading Woodland in scoring, or at least nearly doing so, but often, it is Cardinals players such as Calvin Layton or Lane Lee that are producing offensively, courtesy of Kinder’s passing.

“He is just a good person,” Shawn continued, “and a good teammate.”

And a very, very good player.

Kinder recently matched Layton with a team-leading 18 points in a road loss at Charleston.

“Korb can shoot it,” Shawn assessed. “He can score very well for us at the offensive end.”

Korbin can produce offensively at the three levels. He can shoot the 3-pointer, he is a tough match-up off the bounce, and he has the physical strength to finish through traffic at the rim.

“He takes a lot of the pressure off a lot of the guys because the defense is having to key on him and know where he is,” Shawn explained. “He shoots the ball at a very high percentage.

“He doesn’t shoot a lot of shots, but the shots he takes, he typically makes.”

Shawn said Korbin is shooting in the “high 70 percent range.”

“Korb is just a really nice player,” Shawn concluded.

Woodland, which is ranked No. 14 in Class 3, was scheduled to play at Class 2 No. 2-ranked Puxico on Tuesday, but the weather nixed that much-anticipated contest.

The Cardinals are scheduled to close their regular season on Thursday against Chaffee (15-9) at 7:30 p.m. in Marble Hill.

Kinder’s team earned the bye in the postseason and will play the winner of No. 4-seed Greenville (11-10) and No. 5-seed Saxony Lutheran (7-17) on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. at Greenville High School.