A different Burgett will be on the bench for Trigg County as the Wildcat program transitions to its third basketball coach in five years.
Mason Burgett takes over for his father Chad, who was 33-44 in three seasons as Wildcat head coach. In moving up from assistant coach, Burgett is one of the youngest head coaches in the state at age 24.
Burgett’s top priority is to get Trigg County back to the district championship and region tournament after a six-year absence – the longest in 30 years.
The Wildcats return two starters from last year’s 14-14 team that lost to Crittenden County 55-54 in the district semifinals. Four of Trigg’s last six district tournament losses have been by six points or less.
The biggest fix facing Burgett is the Wildcat offense, which failed to top 60 points a game for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Last year’s scoring average of 51.8 points was the lowest for a Trigg team since 1950.
Burgett has to figure out what to do with Jhaden Vaughn. The 6-5 junior can play all five positions and play them well. He scored 12.3 points and averaged 8.8 rebounds. He shot 46-percent from the field but only took eight shots a game. Burgett can play Vaughn at the point or at the small forward spot. But wherever he plays him, he needs to make sure he is involved on every trip down the floor.
Vaughn is the tallest player on a team that graduated two frontcourt players – Kendric Adams and Khyran Vaughn – that combined to score 21 points and grab 13 rebounds.
Senior Luke Washer will be looking to improve his stat line of 3.4 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 50-percent from the field.
The Wildcats are a guard-heavy bunch that should allow them to push the tempo more and score points from its defense. Rebounding could be a problem.
Hunter Reynolds, Jerimyah Shearer, and T.T. Gude all saw considerable time in the backcourt last year and will help pull off Trigg’s defensive game plan. Freshmen Kahmani Gude and Davaree Gude and junior Landon Stewart – who only played three games last year before a season-ending knee injury — will also factor into this year’s backcourt.
Burgett should have a deeper bench than Trigg has featured in the past, but the question remains if that means Trigg will score more points this year.
If Trigg County can keep its offense from bogging down in the half-court, an increase in scoring should lead to an increase in wins for Burgett.
Trigg County opens its season Thursday night at Wildcat Gym against Heritage Christian Academy.
