Basketball season starts after holidays

Read Season Outlooks for Boys and Girls Below

Rockets anticipate toughest on court

Click Link Above to Hear Coach Hodge Interview

CRITTENDEN COUNTY BOYS

The Rocket basketball team gets started in early January. Pictured are (front from left) manager Lance Kayse, Trace Derrington, Hayden Adamson, Ben Dobyns, Tyler Boone, Gabe Mott, Braxton Winders, Preston Turley, Preston Morgeson, Maddox Carlson, videographer Eli Hankins, (back) head coach Denis Hodge, coach Ethan Hill, Tucker Atchison, Jacob Hutchison, Turner Sharp, Gabe Keller, Tanner Beverly, Travis Champion, Tristan Davidson, Seth Guess, Jace Adams, Austin Hankins, Jaxon Hatfield, coach Gaige Courtney and coach Devin Belt.

Crittenden County has finished either first or second in the Fifth District in five of the last seven seasons. The Rockets will put on the floor one of its best teams of the previous decade and will expect nothing less in this COVID-altered season.

Basketball season officially begins in Crittenden County on Tuesday, Jan. 5, the first day students are scheduled to return to class from the holiday break. The KHSAA postponed the start of season for more than a month because of a spike in virus cases in November and early December.

While Rocket basketball coach Denis Hodge concedes that the virus may indeed shape the whole season, he’s ready to talk about things more athletic in nature, and that’s his boys.

Toughness is a word that perhaps most accurately characterizes his ball team. A veteran club with plenty of skill gives Coach Hodge reason to be optimistic. The longtime skipper is quite confident that a simple approach can help this team have a winning season.

“For veteran teams the common denominator is that if they don’t turn the ball over and don’t foul on defense, they’re successful,” Hodge says.

Seniors Gabe Mott and Preston Turley will be the centerpieces to a club that went 16-17 last season. Both are double-digit scorers who have already scored more than 1,000 points in their careers. Turley is

Lady Rockets have plenty of weapons

Crittenden County Girls

Members of the 2020-21 Crittenden County Lady Rockets basketball team are (seated front from left) senior Lilly Perryman and Kacie Easley, (second row seated) seniors Chandler Moss, Jaelyn Duncan, Nahla Woodward and Matthia Long, (standing from left) Addie Hatfield, Natalie Boone, Taylor Guess, Jaylin Tapp, Brylee Conyer, Hannah Long and Riley Smith, (back row) manager Alyssa Woodall, assistant coach Bristyn Prowell, head coach Shannon Hodge and assistant Jessie Matthieu.

It’s certain to be a year of historic proportions for the Lady Rocket basketball team, if for no other reason than the pandemic that is creating so many uncertainties. Already, season has been postponed until early 2021. The Lady Rockets open play Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Right out of the chute, the team’s resilience will be tested against an always tough Lyon County opponent.

There is also historical significance as Hodge joins her former colleague, retired football coach Al Starnes, as the longest serving head coach in CCHS history as she begins her 27th season.

It’s been many years since Hodge has had six seniors on the roster, and perhaps more importantly, 10 players who have varsity experience. Last year’s team went 18-11.

“We’re going to try to pick up the pace, play a little more pressure basketball than we have in the last couple years and look to put 10 people in the game,” Hodge said. “There’s no reason we can’t get out and get after people.”

With a lot of speed and a mixture of offensive and defensive specialists, CCHS girls begin the quest for Fifth District and All A Classic championships with seniors Nahla Woodward, Chandler Moss, Jaelyn

Basketball will start Jan. 4

High school basketball practice can start on Monday, Dec. 14 with competition beginning on Monday, Jan. 4.

The KHSAA on Thursday set the parameters for the entire season with the state tournament to be played during a March 29 to April 8 window. That would mean a March 15 start to post-season district play.

Stay tuned for more CCHS basketball information in the coming days, including previews and schedule updates.