The West Orange-Stark Mustangs have a new head basketball coach. Bill Barstow has coached basketball for 25 years, 13 seasons as a head coach many of those with playoff teams.
Barstow is excited about taking the reins with a talented group of Mustangs. “This is by far one of the more athletic groups of guys I’ve been around. Right now, we’re still learning how to play basketball and not necessarily play on the playground. I’m very encouraged with what I’ve seen out there and what I have to work with,” Barstow confessed.
The Mustangs made the playoffs last season, and Coach Barstow has several of the key players back from that squad. Terron Brown is a senior and the coach identifies him as the key returning Mustang. Barstow said if Brown was not an all-district selection last year he should have been.
Jordan Johnson plays guard and was part of the playoff team for West Orange-Stark last season. Terry Harris was also part of the Mustangs’ club that went to the playoffs. Barstow pointed out, “I do have six seniors, and those six have bought in, and we’re just trying to put it altogether and build the program from them.”
Barstow knew the situation with football at West Orange-Stark delaying several players coming to the hard-court. He is fine with sharing athletes and is looking forward to the addition of the football players when that season comes to an end hopefully in mid-December.
Players that will join the Mustangs’ basketball team when the football season concludes include B’Jan Arvie at forward and Brettlin Wiley. “We’re going to keep playing and we’ll build without them and then we’ll welcome them with open arms when they get here,” Barstow added.
The season is young. Coach Barstow is attempting to instill the winning attitude for basketball that already exists with Mustangs’ football. The West Orange-Stark varsity split its first two games. The Mustangs won rather easily against a good Kountze team which was just getting back in the gym following football for the Lions.
The other game was at Lake Charles LaGrange. Coach Barstow wanted to schedule the Mustangs to play that type of inner-city style of basketball and to face a team they are not familiar with. The result was a loss in a close game. Barstow stated, “What we’ve got to learn how do is not just climb the mountain, but actually go down other side of the hill.”
West Orange-Stark plays in a tough basketball district, but Barstow expects to see improvement in the Mustangs. He expects a playoff berth for WO-S with all the senior leadership and talent he has on the team. Coach Barstow admitted it will be a tough district with the defending state champ Silsbee, a state-ranked Hardin-Jefferson, and a much improved Bridge City team. “All I ask is that we’re better tomorrow than we were today,” Barstow concluded.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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