The Fayette boys hope to rebound from their three-win season a year ago as they enter the second year of a rebuilding process under head coach Brandon Friebe in his second stint leading the Falcons. He previously served as head coach from 2004 to 2008, when he led the Falcons to a district title. He returned last season to try to help right the ship after three consecutive losing seasons despite Fayette having plenty of talent on the floor.

The Falcons finished 3-22 a year ago, their fourth losing season in a row with single-digit wins. However, Fayette was legitimately better than their record a year ago and lost seven of those games by nine points or less, including an overtime loss to Tipton by just five points.

“You have to reframe what success is year-to-year when you’re in a rebuilding process,” Friebe said. “We feel that we ended the year playing our best basketball. Our goal coming in was to start where we left off. We are really proud of the guys for the work they put in over the summer. The majority of our guys have been really committed.”

And while Fayette lost four seniors from a year ago—two of whom were full-time starters—the Falcons return a strong roster of experienced players. Those include seniors Payton Oeth and Charles Alexander, juniors Colten Cross and Parker LaValley, and explosive sophomore Blake Braden, who are expected to make up the starting lineup when the Falcons take the floor for the Glasgow Tournament on Dec. 2.

Oeth is the tallest player on the roster by far at 6’4. A returning starter, he saw limited time on the court a year ago after sitting out the first semester while recovering from surgery. His playing time was restricted once he did return. Coach Friebe said he’s excited to have to his forward returning full-time and healthy. “Having him from the get-go this year is going to be a huge, tremendous help for us, not just in what he brings to the team talent-wise, but his leadership is incredible.”

Alexander returns to the starting five as an outside perimeter shooter. “We feel like he will be even more dangerous than he was last year.” The senior began last season as the team’s starting point guard, but Friebe said he will likely play the two spot, poised to take a 3-point shot.

Colten Cross, now a junior, is expected to start at point guard, the role he took on late in the season a year ago. “Colten slipped into the point guard position, and we moved Charles off the ball just to try to get him more looks at shots,” Friebe said. “Colten will be our primary ball handler when he’s in the game. He has the ability to make really good decisions.”

Colten showed what he can do last year in the district game against Westran when he went on a 9-0 solo run. Friebe said he picked right up where he left off during summer workouts. “He’s shooting the ball much better. And his leadership has been an intangible for us.”

Braden is expected to move up from a bench contributor a year ago to a full-time starter as a sophomore. Friebe said that while Braden his a ton of athletic talen, he has yet to find is ceiling.

“He’s just an incredible athlete,” Friebe said. “Last year, he proved that not only is he a capable slasher, but he is a dangerous shooter as well.”

Braden will also draw the toughest defensive assignment night in and night out. “He’s going to have to set the tone for us defensively,” Friebe said.

The team’s fifth starter will likely be LaValley, who Friebe said had an incredible summer and started to finish well inside with contact. “He’s one of our better shooters on the perimeter,” Friebe said, and noted LaValley was one of the team’s high scorers by the end of summer ball.

Senior Jaron Cross, junior Thad Quint, and sophomore Morgen Campbell are all expected to make significant contributions off the bench.

Friebe called the stocky Jaron Cross a capable defender even against oversized players. “He’s strong and shoots the ball well from outside. He has the ability to make catch-and-shoot threes. He sees the floor well and can distribute the ball.”

Coach Friebe has his eyes on several specific games on this year’s schedule, particularly an early bout against former longtime Lewis & Clark Conference rival Westran on Dec. 16. Fayette lost this game by 45 points last season, but rebounded against them in the first round of districts in what became the final game of the season. The Falcons led at one point in the third quarter before ultimately falling 57-49.

“You wonder where we’re going to stack up against them this year,” Friebe said. “That’s a game we’re always excited to play.”

New Bloomfield is another team Fayette is ready to face again after losing 74-72 a year ago.

Of course, Friebe is also looking forward to an always competitive Glasgow Tournament, stacked with quality teams such as Harrisburg, Westran, New Franklin, Slater, Marceline, and Cairo, along with the home team.

“It will be a good test of where we are,” he said.

Other tournaments this year include the New Franklin Tournament to kick off the second semester, and the Harrisburg Tournament leading into the final conference stretch in February.

Another game that sticks out will be against perennial powerhouse Van Far on Dec. 29 at the Moberly Area Community College shootout.

Once again, Fayette faces a strong schedule against Central State 8 teams, such as Eugene, the defending Class 2 state champion. “They will be at least as good as they were last year,” Friebe said. South Callaway will also be a challenging matchup, and Fayette looks for a better game against Russellville this year after losing by three at home last year.

Fayette will not have the luxury of home-court advantage much this season, with only seven games scheduled to be played here. The Falcons will spend much of the season on the road, with 19 games at away or neutral sites.

“It’s a very difficult schedule,” Friebe said. “We have some bigger schools on our schedule, like Macon and Brookfield. We feel like that because of the difficulty of our schedule, you can’t help but get toughened up in a hurry. It’s a good test for us and will continue to give us opportunities to get better.”

Like most high school teams throughout Missouri, Fayette will debut an up-tempo style that Friebe describes as “controlled chaos.”

“Our goal will be to put as much pressure on other teams as we can on both ends of the floor,” Friebe explained. “We want to get people on their heels in transition coming down the floor.”

That high-speed style will also mean deploying a full-court press for most, if not all, of every game. The team has made some adjustments on defense that Friebe said may not make a lot of sense to some. That’s the “chaos” part that will make it difficult for opponents to scout and plan.

Fans had their first look at the Falcons during the annual Black & Gold Scrimmage on Thursday, Nov. 20, during Meet the Falcons. It was the team’s final tune-up before they face area rival and defending tournament champions Harrisburg next week as the seventh seed at the Glasgow Tournament. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.