Published on January 21, 2026 10:42 am
Last Updated on January 21, 2026 10:42 am
#6 WINDSOR/STEW-STRAS HATCHETS
Coach: Cody Drone
Record at Seeding: 12-7, 2-2 NTC
by DUSTIN WHITE
First-year coach Cody Drone may be new to heading up the Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg boys basketball program, but there’ll be a lot of familiarity when he leads his Hatchets to the sideline at Altamont High School for the 90th Annual National Trail Conference Tournament.
That’s because Drone will be back home, returning to the home floor of his alma mater after taking the reins from Shane Smith when the former Hatchets coach resigned the post after last season. Head coaching stops at Charleston and most recently Sullivan were part of the path that eventually led Drone to the conference in which he grew up.
“I played in the NTC tournament in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 for Altamont,” said Drone. “It was – and still is – one of the best places to play a game. I remember how competitive it was and how the entire communities showed up to cheer on the teams.”
In 2021-22, his only season with the Trojans, Drone authored the only winning campaign Charleston has put together in the last decade and a half. You have to go back even further (2005-06) to find a Charleston team that equaled the win total from Drone’s 18-11 year. His one year at Sullivan, last season, saw that won-loss record inverted.
Now Drone is a Hatchet and the leading scorer for his sixth-seeded squad is Wyatt Wetherell, a junior who began seeing sporadic varsity minutes a year ago but has now busted loose to average 16.1 points per game. Another junior, Brody Bible, has a longer varsity resumé after starting and averaging 9.3 per game as a sophomore.
Bible has slightly upped that scoring average to 10.1, although the latest trends have been even more positive. With Wetherell in street clothes against Neoga on Jan. 6, Bible piled up 24 in a losing effort and has averaged 16 per game in that matchup and three subsequent victories. He also averages double-figure rebounds.
Several seniors – Tyler Vonderheide, Auston Rahn, Seth Rincker and Aiden Sayers – all chip in a handful each night with the occasional double-figure performance.
“As a team, we do a good job of playing in transition and having good pace to our offense” said Drone. “We have athleticism across the team that allows us to pressure and be physical on the defensive end.”
As of Friday’s 76-39 pasting of Ramsey, WSS had won six of seven. There was something of a lull, including losses to Paris and Westville to open the Tri-County Holiday Tournament after getting smacked around by Cumberland 71-44 in the title game of the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament, but since then the loss to Neoga – an admittedly costly defeat in the conference standings – is the Hatchets’ only blemish.
This week is a big test heading into NTC play, however, as both North Clay and St. Anthony will be paying a visit.
“We have the potential to make noise this year in the tournament,” concluded Drone. “We have the ability to score and if we can defend effectively, I like our chances. But this is a very deep and competitive field.”