The Kennett Indians boys basketball program enters its 2021-22 campaign hampered by the injury bug.

Kennett has two varsity starters who have already suffered season-ending injuries and a third varsity contributor who has yet to return from an injury.

“Heading into the school year I thought we were returning everyone who played on varsity last season with the exception of one kid,” Kennett second-year coach Corbin Clark said. "But we’ve had some obstacles pop up since then. Anyone that follows our football team knows we were hit really hard with injuries this fall and that’s going to impact our basketball squad as well.”

Senior forward Tanner Duncan and junior forward Harley Hamlett are out for the season with injuries.

Junior Anquan Hill is also currently unavailable.

“Harley and Tanner were a big part of what we did last season and both are out for the year,” Clark said. "We are also missing Anquan Hill right now due to an injury but we are hoping to get him back at some point.”

Despite the early setbacks, Kennett does have the luxury of returning senior small forward Ben McMullan. The six-foot-two McMullan put up points in bunches last season.

“He was our leading scorer last season,” Clark said. “He was also our leading rebounder. Everybody knows he will be a guy we build around this year.”

Kennett also returns a pair of veteran guards - seniors

Elijah Jackson and Kamden Crafton.

“Most of the hits we’ve taken are in our frontcourt,” Clark said. “But we do have both of our guys that ran the point back.

“Elijah Jackson is a guy with good court vision that passes it well that got quite a few minutes last season,” Clark continued. “Kamden also got to handle the ball quite a bit for us last season. We are going to have to lean on those two quite a bit when it comes to ball-handing."

Another returner Clark hopes can contribute in the paint is senior Verrius Ellis.

“We are going to be a very guard-oriented team,” Clark said. “But we do return Verrius Ellis. He's probably the most post-oriented player we have with most of our other guys being perimeter-based."

Two incoming freshmen Clark hopes can make an immediate impact at the varsity level are D’Shun Wilson and Will Gaines.

“We feel like they can physically make a difference at the varsity level,” Clark said. “We are just trying to get them coached up where they can turn that corner mentally and transition from middle school basketball to varsity action. But we want to make sure we put our younger guys in situations that will not only challenge and develop them but also allow them to continue to be successful on the court.”

Clark hopes competing in the SEMO Conference prepares his squad for what is likely to be a brutal district tournament field in Class 4, District 1.

“You would think playing in the SEMO Conference would prepare you for the district because often you end up in a district with smaller schools after playing your conference schedule,” Clark said. “But last year New Madrid County Central ran the table in the SEMO Conference and then ended up winning our district

“New Madrid County will likely be in our district again this season,” Clark continued. "Last season our five-team district tournament had four conference champions in it and every team had a double-digit win total. It was an overwhelmingly strong district and I expect it will be the same this season.”

Clark said peaking at the right time is a focal point for his squad. Last season Kennett, which finished 11-13, won five of its first seven games before dropping five of its final seven contests.

“You want to be playing your best basketball late,” Clark said. “That’s something we’ve talked about as a team. I thought we played better early last year than we did late. Hopefully, we can do better with that this year and play our best basketball down the stretch. But it’s a mental challenge to grind through what you see every Tuesday and Friday night from start to finish."

Kennett opens its season when it competes at the Gideon Invitational Nov. 29 - Dec. 3. Two-time defending champion Kennett beat Hayti 66-50 in the title game at Gideon last season.

“It’s a really good field, especially when you add Cooter to the teams that were already in it this year,” Clark said. “It will be a challenge for us to start the season with that tournament. But, at the same time, it should be beneficial to us down the road.”