Basketball, soccer still part of Seymour senior's life

December 24, 2018

Payton Reasoner began playing soccer at age 4 and basketball at age 6.

At Seymour High School, he continued to play both sports.

“They’ve always been a big part of my life,” the senior said. “I’ve enjoyed my teammates and the coaches and the bus rides. The bus rides are a lot of fun.”

In basketball, Reasoner said he likes to fill the role of shooting guard.

“I’m more of a shooting guard when I get in because coach wants me to shoot the 3, so that’s what I try to do,” he said. “I like to shoot from the left wing. It’s just more comfortable for me. It’s mental. When we start our offense, I usually try to start on the left side.”

Reasoner said it’s easier for him to shoot against a zone.

“In man, they’re usually a lot taller than me, so it’s easier to get open when they’re not in your face the whole time. You have to use a lot of screens to get open,” he said. “When teams press us, we just need to get the ball in the middle basically. That’s the goal of the press break.”

Defensively, Reasoner said he prefers to play man-to-man.

“Usually, we just play half-court man-to-man,” he said.

The Owls played in several shootouts last summer, and Reasoner said that was important to get to play together since there were seven seniors who graduated last year.

“The summer shootouts helped us get to know each other, the same as the UIndy (soccer) camp, just get to know how everyone plays, so that helped a lot,” he said.

He said there is no place better to play than the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

“I love the home games because I’ve been shooting there since I was little,” he said. “It’s always nice to have the home feeling. You know the rims and stuff, and the crowd is always nice to have there, too.”

He said the key to turning the season around is to get off to better starts.

“We’ve just got to start out better,” he said. “In most of our losses, we start out down 15 or so in the first quarter. If we would have started out even, we probably could have beaten Franklin and Brownstown.”

In soccer, he played center midfield.

“Mainly, I just tried to get the ball to the wingers and the strikers so we could score goals,” he said.

Reasoner said he liked the physical part of the sport.

“It kind of helped being smaller, though, so I could fit through tight spaces and stuff like that,” he said.

Reasoner said he became quicker, stronger and smarter as he got older and used his quickness to his advantage by outrunning opponents to the ball.

“My senior year, I was usually one of the quickest on the team,” he said.

On the field, he said communication was very important.

“It’s probably the most important part of the game because you have to know what everyone else is doing, and they have to know what you’re doing for you to be able to do anything on the field,” he said.

Reasoner said he had to let teammates know he was going to pass them the ball.

“And they had to let you know where they wanted it, so they would choose a side they wanted it on so it would be easier to get away from a defender,” he said.

Reasoner served as a team captain in the fall.

“In practice, I tried to communicate on what they should be doing and how it should be done and not slacking off on any drills or anything,” he said.

Attending camp during the summer at the University of Indianapolis was fun for the team, Reasoner said.

“That helped a lot for team bonding and stuff,” he said. “Getting to know the players that were moving up to varsity this year helped with how they played and stuff.”

In all sports, Reasoner said practice is important.

“Practice is super-important because you’re trying to get ready for the game, and the harder you practice, it’s going to make the games easier,” he said. “In soccer, we liked to say the practices were harder than the games, and that just made the game easier to play. In basketball, we do a lot of toughness drills, so it’s second nature in the game to be tough and keep playing no matter what.”

Keeping a positive mindset is key, too, he said.

“You just have to forget every play before that and focus on that single play,” Reasoner said. “If you’re not playing that great and your team needs you at the end of the game, you’ve just got to forget about all of that and focus on that one play.”

He has enjoyed being a student at Seymour High School.

“The school is pretty big, but you feel like you know everyone, so I really like that,” he said. “I’ll remember all the games, the bus rides and my teammates and stuff.”

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Reasoner file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Name: Payton Reasoner

High school: Seymour

Parents: Talmadge and Kelly Reasoner

Siblings: Luke and Eli

Sports: Soccer, four years; basketball, four years

Athletic highlights: In soccer, all-Hoosier Hills Conference, HHC champions in 2016 and 2018

Basketball, soccer still part of Seymour senior’s life

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