There was no return trip to the state tournament for the Wellsville-Middletown boys basketball team this winter.

After losing to Cairo 72-44 in a Class 2, District 5 quarterfinal game on Feb. 20 at Sturgeon High School, the Tigers finished with their first losing season in four years, going 9-16. W-M lost its final six games of the season.

Last year, the Tigers won 20 games and finished fourth in the Class 1 state tournament. This year, they brought back nine players from the 2021-22 squad, but lost two key players – Keaton Mayes and all-state performer Isaac Seabaugh – to graduation.

After losing its first three games, W-M came back to win three games in a row. The Tigers were 8-7 before they hit a skid, losing nine of their next 10 games. Their only win during that stretch was a 58-49 Homecoming victory over Louisiana on Feb. 2. It was the team’s only win in Eastern Missouri Conference play.

“It was a great win for our kids,” said Steve Lasman, who wrapped up his sixth season as W-M coach. “Just when I thought our kids were drowning, they come back and win a game like that. I’m so proud of our kids.”

Sophomore Carson Huff was the top scorer in that contest, finishing with 18 points, including 15 in the second half. He averaged 12 points, three rebounds and three assists a game this season.

Next year, Huff will be one of just four returning players. The others are sophomores Cooper Henderson, Hunter Bickell and Gage Marshall.

Henderson started several games for the Tigers, Bickell finished with five points and five rebounds off the bench against Bowling Green on Feb. 10 and Marshall had a 10-point performance in the Tigers’ regular season finale against Wright City on Feb. 16.

W-M had no freshmen and juniors. The Tigers will lose five players – seniors Dylan Alsop, CJ Curd, Jacob Mandrell, Lucas Moore and Logan Pursifull – to graduation.

Pursifull sat out in the first eight games of the season due to an ACL injury he suffered in April. In his first game back, he scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Tigers’ home game against Calvary Lutheran on Jan. 2. Pursifull was the Tigers' lone representative on the all-Eastern Missouri Conference team, earning second-team honors.

Alsop and Mandrell had several strong performances this season. Both finished with 11 points in the Tigers’ 53-35 loss to Community R-6 in their season opener on Nov. 22 on the road.

W-M picked up its first win of the season on Dec. 2, when it cruised past New Haven 45-18 in the seventh-place game of the Montgomery County Invitational. The Tigers defeated New Haven again on Jan. 20 at home. They also had wins over Calvary Lutheran, Chamois, Columbia Independent, Liberty Christian, Keytesville and Southwest.

The Tigers finished second in the Keytesville Tournament after losing to Higbee 57-53 in the finals on Jan. 25. W-M won the tournament title in each of the last two years.

The Tigers’ loss to Cairo on Feb. 20 marked the first time since 2014 they were eliminated in the district quarterfinals. Lasman said despite the losing record, he was pleased with the way his team played this winter.

“I love the Wellsville-Middletown kids,” Lasman said. “We just keep playing hard. We don’t quit. They’re a great bunch of kids.”

Lasman also coached the W-M Junior High boys team this year. The players were sixth-graders Reid Bickell, Cooper Huff, Colton Schofield, Landon Helderman, Lawrence Oligschlaeger, Andrew Maskey and Tyson Sewell, seventh-graders Royce Wilkinson, Garrett Poage and Matt Winter and eighth-graders Shane Joles and Gage Nichols.