The Clarke Central High School varsity boys basketball team practices during school on Oct. 9. With the upcoming season coming soon, players are beginning to set goals for what they wish to accomplish this winter. “I want to at least make a region team,” varsity forward and senior Ellis Flurry said. “I really just wanna go deeper into the state playoffs with the whole team and I want to get better at rebounding and scoring more.”
By ANDREW CALDWELL – Staff Writer
The Clarke Central varsity boys basketball team is getting ready for the nearing season.
As the season approaches, the Clarke Central High School varsity boys basketball team prepares for their first preseason game against Madison High School on Nov. 13.
Varsity forward Ellis Flurry, a senior, feels the team will progress not only in fundamentals and plays but collaboration skills as well.
“I think we will improve by just playing as a team,” Flurry said. “There will be teams that are bigger, faster, or might have better players, but we just have to play better as a team and not just individually.”
Head coach Andre McIntyre expects the team to be better offensively and defensively. According to him, the team must be prepared for challenging teams.
“We’re expecting to score throughout the season, be region champs and improve each day,” McIntyre said. “We have a tough schedule. I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Flurry expects the team to develop through early conditioning, which he says will help the team do well this season.
“We’re practicing a lot more before the season together, and we’ve been around each other a lot so that will help with the chemistry,” Flurry said.
The team played in summer tournaments, and after playing 31 games, Flurry saw improvement in the team and what they needed to improve on.
“(The tournaments showed) our strengths and weaknesses of the team,” Flurry said. “We went to Georgia State and played, and we did alright. Then we went to Furman with only about six people and won most of our games.”
McIntyre, who is entering his sixth season at CCHS, expects the many key returning players to benefit the success of the team.
“(The seniors have) played for three years on varsity, so they’ve been through all the battles and the wars of the games. So just them bringing their leadership is huge,” McIntyre said. “We wanna get better, (and) if we do the things we work on, we should be in good shape.”
