Developing Layton is making Woodland even more difficult to deal with

As the Woodland High School varsity boy’s basketball squad has rolled through its impressive 19-4 season, thus far, there has been no shortage of offensive contributors to that success.

Generally speaking, Cardinal junior guard Korbin Kinder paces his team offensively, but not always.

In a rout of Kelly last month, Kinder joined four other teammates (junior Jackson Shock, senior Hayden Vangennip, senior Lane Lee, and junior Calvin Layton) in scoring double figures.

“Woodland just seems to be able to wear people down,” fourth-year Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said last month before playing the Cardinals in the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament championship game. “They play so fast, and they keep coming.”

Notre Dame limited Kinder to single digits in a recent battle, but the Bulldogs still fell to Woodland, in large part because Layton has morphed into a very impressive player, as well.

“Cal has really, really come on and developed as a player,” third-year Woodland coach Shawn Kinder said following that game.

Layton sank five 3-pointers against Notre Dame and finished with 27 points, but that was far from an anomaly.

The 6-foot-2 athlete had 21 points against Kelly, 25 against Scott City, 11 against Charleston, and 10 in a narrow loss Saturday to a very athletic Confluence Prep squad.

“We knew that he could shoot it,” Coach Kinder continued. “We were really trying to get Cal not to be a shooter but more of a scorer.”

The perseverance has paid off.

The Cardinals are ranked 14th in Class 2 after being ranked as high as sixth recently. Woodland has won 21 games three different years over the past decade and still has at least four games remaining this season.

For Layton, his improved play provides shelter for himself and the other Cardinal players so that a defense can not solely focus on shutting one guy down and stymieing the Cardinal attack (see the win over Notre Dame, for example).

“Cal is starting to develop,” Coach Kinder said. “He’s starting to score more in a variety of ways. He is attacking now (and) hitting that mid-range jumper. He gets to the basket some.

“He’s got length at 6-2, 6-3. He stretches out there and plays at both ends.”

The other “end” has been critical to Woodland’s success this season, according to Kinder.

Woodland is holding opponents to 56 points per game, which is the stingiest a Cardinal team has played in three seasons.

“(Layton) gets to the glass and helps us rebound,” Coach Kinder said. “He is able to guard a ‘big,’ or he can guard out on the perimeter. He has that length.

“But offensively, we have really tried to develop him into a scorer.”

Woodland will have a re-match at Charleston (10-10) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Cardinals topped the Bluejays 68-64 in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament earlier this season.