The Pampa Hustlin’ Harvesters basketball team seek a return to playoff glory in the upcoming 2024-25 season after a fifth-place finish just a season ago.
“We had a pretty good non-district season last year with some pretty tough games and some good tournaments,” Head Coach Braydon Barker said. “But we got fifth in District and were a couple of games back from the playoffs. We swept Perryton last year, but we had two tough losses to Hereford last year and that’s what cost us the playoffs.”
Along with four starters about 80 percent of the squad’s scoring is back which has Barker optimistic for a playoff run.
“Julian Alonzo will be one of our seniors this year,” Barker said. “It’s his fourth year on varsity so we’re really looking forward to big things from him. He averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds last year. Bryce Lynn has been a three-year varsity player, as well. He will be a senior.”
“Dalton Booth, a junior, will be in his third year of varsity. Kyler Peet is coming from JV and Tristan Bagwell, as well. Isaiah Fernandez is coming from Borger as a senior. So we will have those four seniors.”
Barker is hoping his seniors use their experience on varsity to lead the younger players.
“I want them to show the younger guys how to work hard and compete in our District,” Barker said. “Football, baseball, volleyball, etc. Every sport, it’s tough. The Canyon schools are well-built. Dumas and Hereford came down from 5A a few years ago. We’ve got to embrace the competition.”
Juniors Parker Webb, Conner Hall, Trill Young, Cam Johnston, Jose Alonzo and freshman Talan Garcia will also be promoted from junior varsity and looking to make an impact for the Harvesters.
The Harvesters are in their third year of a very stacked District with Canyon, Randall, West Plains, Hereford, Dumas, Perryton and Borger. Some would make the case that Pampa’s District is the best district in the state.
“Randall has been to the State Tournament the last two years,” Barker said. “The State Rankings came out last week and Randall is ranked third. Them and Canyon played in the Regional Finals last year to decide who would go to the State Tournament.
“So two teams from our District made it to the Regional Finals. Canyon is ranked in the Top 15, as well. Those two (Randall and Canyon) beat Dumas and Hereford in the Regional Quarterfinal to go to the Regional Tournament.”
That spells tough sledding for any team to run the table in the District.
“We definitely have the toughest District in the region,” Barker said. “And probably one of them in the state. Randall returns a lot. They are probably the favorites. Canyon lost a lot but they will always be solid. West Plains has a good junior class. They lost some good seniors but they will still be solid. Hereford returns everybody. So, it’ll be tough to make the playoffs, but in every sport it’s tough.”
Taking a look at their non-District schedule, the Harvesters open with Lubbock-Cooper on Nov. 12. They also added Caprock (Nov. 15) and a road trip to Plainview on Nov. 25.
“We’re playing a lot of 5A schools to prepare us for our District,” Barker said. “Then we are going to the New Home Tournament. Our tournaments are tough, we will be battle-tested by the time we start District on Dec. 17.”
The Childress tournament will have a lot of teams from Wichita Falls for Pampa to compete against.
This will be the third year straight that Barker has both Reid Miller and Jason Farmer as his assistant coaches, which provides some consistency to the program.
“Coach Miller has been with me for five or six years and he was at the junior high helping me before that,” Barker said. “Coach Farmer is doing the freshmen again. It’s nice to have the same coaching staff. They’re a big help with varsity and do a great job leading their teams, as well.”
As with any program, the Hustlin’ Harvesters want to win and make the playoffs. But it’s also about improving as both players and members of the community.
“We want to keep improving on and off the court,” Barker said. “These guys like working in the community and their grades have improved over the last couple of years. That’s a big thing for us. On the court we want to get back into the playoffs.
“I want these guys to experience a playoff game. It’s a different feel. I don’t want to necessarily put a goal on wins and losses, but keep improving. We want to show Pampa that we play disciplined. But we definitely want to make the playoffs again.”
The Hustlin’ Harvesters open the season at Caprock on Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. for their first scrimmage of the season. Their second scrimmage will be in Pampa on Nov. 5 at 5 p.m.
