Longhorns end ‘19-20 season with 17-5 record

It was a bittersweet end to the basketball season for the Longhorns, but Head Coach Chris Bartels is proud of the work put in by his 2019-20 team.
“You can go through the what ifs all you want, but you know, what happened, happened and I thought the way our kids handled things was just outstanding,” Bartels said.
“I was really happy that everyone could see the product of what happens when you have a true team that just really sticks together like that, because special things can happen,” he added.
Injuries plague Longhorns
Injuries were a large part of the season for the Longhorns.
The first was senior Logan Jussel, who tore his ACL in the game against Wray on Jan. 9.
Since Jussel was a senior, he attempted to play on the knee after getting cleared later in the season.
He ended up tearing it further, and had surgery in February.
Junior Cedric Maxwell tore his ACL in the SPVA tournament in late January, and had surgery within a week of Jussel.
Despite missing the last third of the season, Maxwell still ranked high in stats.
“He was averaging 11.3 points per game, five-and-a-half rebounds per game, assists, almost four,” Bartels said. “His best basketball was yet to be played this year.”
“He’s capable of 20 points and 10 rebounds a game; that’s just kind of the player he is,” Bartels added, “and I think next year, he’ll be extremely motivated and ready to go, which will be fun to look forward to.”
Also out with a hand injury toward the end of the season was Clay Meeske, who’d seen more playing time after Maxwell and Jussel went down.
Seniors will be missed
The Longhorns will lose five strong seniors to graduation, including Jussel, Bennett Bauerle, Taylor Jablonski, Kobe Clevenger and Dylan Dreiling.
“This senior group was special,” Bartels said.
“Before his injury, (Jussel) was playing extremely well,” he added. “Then Taylor, Kobe and Bennett, really after Logan and Cedric went down, those three responded well.”
Bartels added he’ll miss the seniors on and off the court.
“So those three seniors, we’re going to miss them a ton,” Bartels said. “Not just for this year.”
“We’ll also miss Dylan a lot,” he added. “He just showed up every single day and kind of accepted his role, which is a tough role to accept as a senior.”
“Another thing I could count on was Dylan’s positive attitude. Every day he was always the first one to acknowledge his teammates,” Bartels said.
 

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