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Boys basketball team optimistic about season
BY ANDREW MAY, Staff Writer
In a kill or be killed district as competitive top to bottom as 9-4A, Liberty basketball coach Jim Miller fittingly summed up what teams will go through on a nightly basis as they vie for one of four playoff spots up for grabs.
“When you look at the district it’s kind of like hunting bears with a stick,” he said. “Nothing’s going to come easy. The teams that come out of our district will fare well in the playoffs.”
It may be easier to chop down a grizzly with a branch than emerge from one of the area’s most top-heavy districts. In their respective conferences last season, Sherman, Denison, McKinney, Frisco and Wakeland all made the playoffs. Liberty and McKinney North both lost play-in games. That leaves out only Centennial, which struggled to a 4-10 league mark, but returns plenty of talented upperclassmen.
Denison’s TJ Taylor was a TABC all-region pick last year after guiding the Yellowjackets to their second straight district title. Six-foot-6 junior Cameron Clark nearly averaged a double-double last season for Sherman, which advanced to the regional quarterfinals.
“It excites our kids that those types of players and teams are coming into our gyms and communities,” Miller said. “It’s going to be a fun year.”
Frisco Raccoons
Head coach: Eric Green
2007-08 record: 17-12, 9-5 in district; lost to Highland Park in bi-district playoffs
Key returners: Tyler Cutrer, Ben Dillard, Quince Jackson, Ryan Pembleton
The Raccoons will have to climb uphill if they hope to scale the 9-4A mountain this season.
The team’s best player and stabilizing force when things went awry the past two seasons is gone. Casey Cheshier, now a freshman at Southern Arkansas University, was a back-to-back first-team all-district selection his final two years in the Frisco yellow and blue. He provided a solid low post presence and was the best player on both ends of the floor.
Head coach Eric Green can only hope that West Point commitment Ryan Pembleton can fill that role. Pembleton has good size at 6-9, but may get pushed around a bit inside.
Frisco’s backcourt of Tyler Cutrer and Ben Dillard may give opponents problems. Both can shoot from the outside and attack off the dribble. Dillard, now in his sophomore season, is the reigning district Newcomer of the Year. Cutrer was a first teamer last year and should be even better as a senior leader.
Junior guard Quince Jackson (5-10) has a scorer’s mindset, which will be of great benefit to a squad that could struggle to consistently put up points. Jackson rifled through the Newman Smith defense Tuesday for a game-high 28 points. The Raccoons ultimately lost the opener, 78-66, after the 5A Trojans went on a 21-13 run to close the game.
Centennial Titans
Head coach: Russell Miller
2007-08 record: 13-17, 4-10 in district
Key returners: Dominique Carroll, Garrett Horton, Murray Kastner, Zach Lambert, Brandon Jolivette
Impact newcomers: Chris Tecco, Stephen Martin
As if in a nightmare come true, Centennial coach Russell Miller watched in horror as Denton Ryan overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit Tuesday in the season opener, using a layup by Clayton Webb with no time left on the clock to win, 62-61.
Miller didn’t sugarcoat his feelings about the lack of mental preparedness down the stretch. It is a problem that has plagued the Titans the past two seasons.
“There’s a lack of mental toughness that we have,” Miller said. “I think mentally we’re weak, especially during crunch time. I’m not going to say the kids are scared or they panic or anything, I just think it’s mental toughness.”
Centennial has seen its district win total decrease by two games each of the last two years after going 8-6 in league action during the 2005-06 campaign. Last season the Titans struggled mightily in conference play. In losses, the team was outscored by an average of 14.6 points per game.
“We always talk to the kids about the past and what’s taken place in seasons before,” Miller said. “We try not to repeat that. We tell the kids we want to be the first basketball team in Centennial’s history to reach the playoffs.”
Size will again hamper what the squad is able to do on both ends of the floor. Since Jason Jackson graduated a few years back, Centennial’s tallest player has been 6-3, according to Miller. To combat the lack of height in the frontcourt, the Titans have switched to a 4-1 interchangeable post offense. Four players line the perimeter with one on the block. A steady flow of traffic allows each player to take his man to the post in an effort to create mismatches and open up the floor for the guards.
The idea is to take opposing teams’ big men out of the picture with an up-tempo attack. The Titans will also double frequently in the half court to keep centers from gashing them in the paint.
But in the end, it still comes back to being able to finish.
“Our kids believe we can compete for a district championship,” Miller said. “In the past we haven’t taken care of the little things to put us in that position. We’ve got to do the little things on the court for four quarters, not three.”
Wakeland Wolverines
Head coach: Brent Benningfield
2007-08 record: 25-8, 12-2; lost to Kennedale in area round
Key returners: Preston Whitley, Malcolm Todd, Nick Hinton
Impact newcomer: Dallas Grier
Following a molar-grinding 66-65 double-overtime loss to Kennedale in the 2008 area round, Wakeland is left pondering what might have been.
At the time it was difficult enough to swallow, but further compounded by the fact that the Wildcats went on to win the 3A state title a short time later.
But the Wolverines’ window of opportunity hasn’t closed. The path back to the postseason will be bumpier in a higher classification, but Wakeland has enough firepower to stay the course.
Reigning first-team all-district selections Nick Hinton and Preston Whitley give the team good size in the middle n the Wolverines have more height than any team in the league. Second teamer Malcolm Todd will help assuage the loss of guard Justin Crawford, last season’s emotional leader.
Six-foot-3 junior Wilson Herlin can lock it down defensively for a team that has been to the playoffs in each of its first two seasons. Head coach Brent Benningfield boasts a 48-14 record during that span.
Wakeland will be tested right out of the gate today when it faces 5A Wylie, which advanced to the area round last season. A bevy of other solid 5A opponents should prepare the Wolverines well.
Liberty Redhawks
Head coach: Jim Miller
2007-08 record: 15-14, 8-6
Key returners: Cameron Brown, Malcolm Hill
Impact newcomers: Dante Dunston, Saddiqu Thomas, Tri Lewis
Head coach Jim Miller joked that he should send Centennial bench boss Russell Miller a Christmas card this year thanking him for a pair of new additions in Dante Dunston and Saddiqu Thomas.
The duo played at Centennial a year ago but will now suit up for the Redhawks as they make the move up to 4A. They join a cast that includes last season’s 9-3A Newcomer of the Year Malcolm Hill and first-team selection Cameron Brown.
Both sophomores played pivotal roles in leading Liberty to within one win of the postseason in its first varsity season.
“We would have loved to play in a couple playoff games, but the play-in game against Van Alstyne had that same type of atmosphere,” Jim Miller said. “I’m hopeful that that’s going to pay dividends this year.”
Senior Rosco Timberlake scored 15 points to supplement Brown’s 20 Tuesday in a 76-63 loss to Whitesboro. Liberty bounced back to beat North Crowley’s JV team Thursday in the opening game of the Ponder Tournament, but Miller knows the sledding may be tough early because of injuries. Dunston is out with a sore back and Hill is still suffering from a foot injury he sustained in football. Another player has bronchitis.
Aside from ailments, getting the eight football players on the team to shake the rust and get into playing shape will take some time.
“Hopefully that will be able to balance out and we’ll find ourselves there at the end of the year competing for one of those playoff spots,” Miller said. “Our kids are a year older, a little more experienced, a little more mature.”
Liberty went through several battles last season with the likes of Wakeland and Princeton. As solid as those two were, top to bottom 9-3A pales in comparison to what the Redhawks will face in district this season. Miller said the key is to protect home court and hope to steal a game or two on the road. Hill and Brown will be the catalysts if that is to occur.
“Both are very talented young men, but have some parts of their game they need to improve on,” Miller said. “Those are certainly two guys that need to play well on the floor for us to get us where we need to be.”
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