Page 32 - 2018 TR Basketball Preview

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018 | THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE BASKETBALL PREVIEW
CONCORD LADY PIRATES
Concord ladies ‘well-balanced,’ facing ‘brutal’ conference
CONCORD PIRATES
Depth a problem for pirates, but athletic, excel in rebounding
BY TAMMY KEITH
SENIOR WRITER
The Concord Lady Pirates are well-balanced
this year, said coach Keith Cornett, who is in his 14th year at the school and his third year leading the girls team.
The assistant coach is Scott Whillock, who is also the high school principal.
Cornett is realistic about this year’s team, which was 27-8 last season. He called the new conference “absolutely brutal.”
“We have a lot of girls coming back who played a lot of minutes last year ... but we are in the tough- est conference in the state,” he said. “We’re going to be really good, and we might not make it to the regional tournament.
“We went from 2A South that was pretty good to the 5A North that has Mount Vernon, Wonderview, who played for the state champion- ship last year, Sacred Heart and Shirley.
“They’re all really, really good,” he said.“We lost
a really good player in Kaleah Davis, who is playing at Lyon College this year.”
Returning starters are juniors Annalise Cornett, Avery Southerland and Ashlyn Deckard.
Senior Lizzie White — “She’s just going to be my ball handler. She would have been a return- ing starter, but she had shoulder surgery during the year,” Coach Cornett said. “She’s a really, really good softball player. She’s just a good ball handler; she’s a good leader.”
Deckard will be his go-to player on the inside.
“She’s just a really strong, good athlete; just a pretty good player,” the coach said.
Cornett said the team needs to develop overall shooting and ball-handling, but he expects the players to improve in those areas.
A can’t-miss game is Dec. 4 against rivalry Westside, the coach said.
Cornett, with an overall record of 501-221, knows the team has its work cut out for it, but he is still optimistic that his team will rise to the occasion.
BY TAMMY KEITH
SENIOR WRITER
“He is one of the best motors I’ve ever coached. The kid plays extremely hard, and he can score in many ways,” Cornett said.
Bryar will be joined on the court by his brother, sophomore Braxton Cousins. At 6-5, 220, “[Braxton is] a pretty big skilled man for a 10th-grader,” Cornett said.
The team may have its drawbacks, but there is reason to be optimistic, he said.
“Inside, we’re going to be able to score,” the coach said. Braxton Cousins and junior Hunter Spinks will be reliable inside. Spinks played a lot of minutes last season, Cornett said, so he has some experience, which will be invaluable.
Outside, the coach said the team will look to Bryar Cousins and junior Rodney Brock, “a really good ball handler; he played a lot of minutes, too, last year. He’s just solid ... a really good decision-maker.”
The Pirates are in a different — tougher — con- ference, switching from 2A South to 5A North, the coach said.
T
he Concord boys are small in number this year, but don’t count them out.
Coach Keith Cornett, a Concord alumnus, will lead the Pirates again, as- sisted by Scott Whillock, the high school principal
and a former coach.
Cornett, with an overall record of 501-221,
is realistic. He said the team’s lack of depth and experience is a drawback.
“We lost four starters from last year,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of numbers, for one; we’re dressing nine kids. It’s little bitty. We normally have good numbers, but this year, we don’t. Sometimes you have eight good players in a class; sometimes you have zero.”
However, “we’re going to be able to rebound really well; we’re pretty athletic.”
The lone returning starter coming back from last year’s 25-5 season is junior Bryar Cousins.
NOV. 16 ....................................... RECTOR* NOV. 17 .............. @HIGHLAND TOURNAMENT NOV. 20 .................................CEDAR RIDGE NOV. 26 ....................(G) @SLOAN-HENDRIX* NOV. 27 .................... (B) @SLOAN-HENDRIX* NOV. 30 ................................... RIVERSIDE* DEC. 10 ....... (G) BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL* DEC. 11 ....... (B) BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL* DEC. 13 ............................. @MARMADUKE* DEC. 18 ......................................(B) @BAY* JAN. 4 ............................. SLOAN-HENDRIX* JAN. 7 ............................. (G) MELBOURNE* JAN. 8 ............................. (B) MELBOURNE*
JAN. 14 ............................(G) @RIVERSIDE* JAN. 15 ............................(B) @RIVERSIDE* JAN. 18 ........................................ (B) BAY* JAN. 19 ................... (B) @ICC TOURNAMENT JAN. 21 ............................... (G) @RECTOR* JAN. 22 ............................... (B) @RECTOR* JAN. 25 .......... @BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL* JAN. 28 ...........................(G) MARMADUKE* JAN. 29 ...........................(B) MARMADUKE* JAN. 31 .........................(G) @MELBOURNE* FEB. 1 ........................... (B) @MELBOURNE*
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
OCT. 16 ................ @WHITE COUNTY CENTRAL OCT. 18 .................................. (G) HILLCREST OCT. 22 ......... (G) @SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH OCT. 23 ....................................CALICO ROCK OCT. 30 ..................................... @BRADFORD NOV. 2 ........... (B) @SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH NOV. 6 ............................... (B) GUY-PERKINS* NOV. 8 .............................................. TIMBO* NOV. 13 ..........................................@TIMBO* NOV. 16 ................ @MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA* NOV. 27 ............................... @WONDERVIEW* NOV. 30 ............................ @RURAL SPECIAL* DEC. 4 ............... WEST SIDE GREERS FERRY*
DEC. 11 ......................................@SHIRLEY* DEC. 14 .............................. SACRED HEART* JAN. 8 ..................... MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA* JAN. 11 .......................... (B) @GUY-PERKINS* JAN. 15 ................................. WONDERVIEW* JAN. 18 ...............................RURAL SPECIAL* JAN. 22 ........... @WEST SIDE GREERS FERRY* JAN. 28 ............................ @SACRED HEART* JAN. 29 ......................................... SHIRLEY* FEB. 1 ................................... @CALICO ROCK FEB. 5 .................................... (B) @MIDLAND FEB. 8 ..........................................BRADFORD
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
SALEM GREYHOUNDS
CONCORD PIRATES
NOV. 5 .................................... (G) MIDLAND NOV. 15 .....................................PANGBURN NOV. 20 ........................................ @SALEM NOV. 27 ............................. @HARRISBURG* NOV. 30 ....................PALESTINE-WHEATLEY* DEC. 4 ..................................@RIVERVIEW* DEC. 7 ..................................TUCKERMAN* DEC. 11 ............................... @BALD KNOB* DEC. 14 .................................... CAVE CITY* DEC. 27-29 .......... (B) @HOXIE TOURNAMENT JAN. 4 ........................ HARDING ACADEMY*
JAN. 8 .................................... @NEWPORT* JAN. 11 ................................HARRISBURG* JAN. 15 ................. @PALESTINE-WHEATLEY* JAN. 18 ................................... RIVERVIEW* JAN. 21 .................................. @BRADFORD JAN. 22 .............................. @TUCKERMAN* JAN. 25 .................................. BALD KNOB* JAN. 29 ................................. @CAVE CITY* FEB. 5 ...................... @HARDING ACADEMY* FEB. 8 .......................................NEWPORT*
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
OCT. 23 .................................. @CONCORD OCT. 26 .......................... @RURAL SPECIAL OCT. 30 ............ WEST SIDE GREERS FERRY NOV. 2 ........................... WESTERN GROVE* NOV. 6 ...................................... @ST. JOE* NOV. 9 ...................................... @OMAHA* NOV. 13 ....................................... @VIOLA* NOV. 20 ......................................... FLIPPIN NOV. 27 .................................... NORFORK* NOV. 30 ............................ @BRUNO-PYATT* DEC. 7 ........................................ ST. JOE* DEC. 11 ... @IZARD COUNTY CONSOLIDATED* DEC. 14 ............................ MOUNTAIN VIEW
DEC. 27 ...... @GREERS FERRY TOURNAMENT JAN. 4 ..................................... LEAD HILL* JAN. 8 ........................................... VIOLA* JAN. 11 ....................................... OMAHA* JAN. 15 ..... IZARD COUNTY CONSOLIDATED* JAN. 18 ................................ @LEAD HILL* JAN. 22 ................................. @NORFORK* JAN. 25 .............................. BRUNO-PYATT* JAN. 29 ...................... @WESTERN GROVE* FEB. 1 ....................................... CONCORD FEB. 8 ....................................... @SHIRLEY
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
CEDAR RIDGE TIMBERWOLVES
CALICO ROCK PIRATES