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rorn lono junior roniry
fYoung Mustangs' improvement bolsters
fcoach Barnes' optimism for tournament
r
J By Sam Davis
J Thi Chronicle Sports Editor
#
J Toney Barnes, coach of Parkland's junior varsity
? team, is in a unique position.
Barnes conies into the Lash/Chronicle
Tournament as one of the defending champions. Last
J season he led the underdog Mustangs to the champi
onship in the ninth grade bracket.
> This season Barnes will be coaching virtually the
't same team. But this year he will be coaching
J Parkland's junior varsity team. Most of the members
f of the team were on the Mustangs' ninth grade team
? a year ago.
J * And like last season, the Mustangs will come in as
; a prohibitive underdog. Parkland, seeded eighth, will
* take on top-seeded Carver (last year's champion) in
; the opening round on Friday (Jan. 2) at 7:30 p.m.
J "It doesn't really matter about how1 we're seeded,"
j Barnes said. "You still have to go through the same
?thing if you expect to win the tournament."
! The 3-A Mustangs are 0-3 thus far this season. All
J of their losses have been to 4-A opponents. In their
* most recent game, the Mustangs held the lead until
I the fourth quarter when they had untimely turnovers
j and dropped a four-point decision to Mount Tabor.
} "We played well in our last game against Mount
| Tabor, but we threw it away at the end," Barnes said.
A
"We had three or four bad passes in a row. But we
played our best game of the year. I think they're one
of the best teams in the city."
Antoine Mclntyre is the Mustangs' leader. He
leads the team in scoring and assists.
"Antoine runs the show," Barnes said. "He's very
good with his ball-handling. He's smart and he sees
the court well."
Another key for Parkland is Mclntyre's grasp of
the offense.
"He was with me last year, so he knows what 1
want out there," Barnes said.
Sometimes, however, the other players aren't on
the same page. In addition to the holdovers from last
year's ninth-grade team, the Mustangs have four
freshmen on the team.
"It takes a while for them to learn to play togeth
er," Barnes said. "We have some talented freshmen,
but they have to learn to be aggressive and fight for
the ball and box out."
But looking at the results from last season, Barnes
thinks the team will come together soon. It could even
happen as it did last year.
"Last year we started out 0-5, then we went on 12
game winning streak," Barnes said. "Hopefully we'll
play well in the tournament and get started on anoth
er winning streak."
Slough early games prepared
iMount Tabor for tournament
2 < ,
? >1
# {iy Sam Davis
J | Hf. Cnmmicu Sports Editor
Last year's 9th-grade bracket of the
? }.ash/Chronicle Tournament was supposed to come
Jdown to a battle of Mount Tabor and Reynolds in the
{championship game.
*! Only someone forgot to tell Parkland and
afireensboro Smith- Neither of the two had posted a
J victory before the tournament began, but both pulled
?off upsets in the opening round to knock off the
nmorittt
I' This year, the results will be different. For one,
{Parkland received the top seed by virtue"of its cham
Jpioship last season. Secondly, Mount Tabor and
?Reynolds will square ofT in the'opening round on Sat.
Mian. 3) at 12 noon.
J> The other opening-round game will feature
parkland against Smith at 10 a.m.
Mount Tabor has played a tough schedule thus far.
{The Spartans' record (3-2) coming into the tourna
ment isn't up to par with its pie-tournament record
flltst year, but Coach Mike Kniesel said he's pleased
#\|ith his team's progress. The team has suffered two
Jljisses thus far. (
J > "We've lost to two good basketball teams (Forsyth
?Country Day's JV and Greensboro Dudley)," Kniesel
rytys. "Both had a lot of good players."
|| The Spartans came close in both losses. Against
p?CD. Mount Tabor lost by only two points. The lead
?went back and forth down the stretch before the
k ?
Furies captured the win.
Against Dudley, Mount Tabor held the lead until
the final minutes in a 78-76 loss.
"I was disappointed that we lost, but not because
of the effort" Kniesel says.
* The Spartans led by one point with six seconds
left. But Dudley got off a 25-foot shot at the buzzer
that gave it a win.
Kniesel's club has 14 players on its roster. The
team's leading scorer is Anthony Hauser, a 6-3 for
ward. Hauser averages 15 points per game. Hauser has
an excellent supporting cast. Terrell Cornelius, a 6-0
small forward, averages 12 points per game.
The leader of the backcourt is Nathan Ernst, the
starting point guard who averages eight points per
game. He also steadies the team with his play-making.
Ernst's backcourt mate is Steve Ackley.
Chris Williams is the team's pivotman. The 6-2
Williams provides rebounding on both ends of the
court and is also strong defensively.
The bench is also one of the team's strengths.
So is its ability to run the court on the fast break.,
"We're very good in running the floor," says
Kniesel, whose team averages 65 points per game. "We
score a bundle, because we get up and down the
floor."
Defensively, the Spartans aren't where Kniesel
would like it to be. If the team plays well on the defen- I
sive end. the Spartans could come away with a cham- |
pionship. ? p
NORTH FORSYTH
fwi pifgt Bl ^
; The Vikings dropped their first game but have
since reeled off eight consecutive victories, including
tlvo wins against tough Mount Tabor.
{ "It all starts with practice." Brown said. "We go at
( hard and we've done some things to get us better
irepared for the tournament. We want to be a little
-fiore active and aggressive. We've been working real
jard on that.
> "Kevin Nelson has been our leader and we look
*>r him to step up a little more. In order for us to win
he tournament, I feel our guards have to to play well,
j "Jacob Hopkins has to step it up at guard and so
^oes Justin Masencup. Jacob has been with me two
tfcars and he's focused now. Rebound and play aggres
sive."
| The Vikings open their tournament play against
$lenn on Friday at 4 p.ni. If they get past that game
ind Reynolds defeats East Forsyth, tne Vikings will
??t a chance to avenge their only loss of the season.
| "We're not looking at it that way," Brown says.
V"But I'm sure the kids will be up for a game like that.
{Put we just want to take it one game at a time."
? The Vikings boast a unit with all the ingredients
Vieeded to be successful. They are a talented bunch
Wh both size and quickness. Nelson, a 5-10 sopho
^nore guard, is the team's leader. He averages I5 points
*>er game and is also a dependable play-maker.
?Mitchell Bittle. a 6-0 freshman guard, provides an
v
offensive spark. He also averages more than 10 points
per game. Up front, the Vikings have two bruisers in ,
6-2 Lance Searcy and 6-3 David Elderidge. Elderidge '
is the team's most versatile player and the 230-pound L
Searcy hhs the backboards well on both ends of the
court.
Masencup, another sophomore guard, provides 1
veteran leadership ofT the bench. Masencup is just one
of several players who give the team a spark off the |
bench.
"As a team we're averaging 7S points a game, but
we're working hard for our points," Brown says. "We
have to fihd a way to get some easy baskets."
Like the other coaches, Brown says he thinks the
field is wide open this year.
"I don't know who the favorite would.be," Brown
says. "There are some good teams in the tournament.
The one that comes out and plays hard every game is
going to be the one that wins. I've already told my
team that they can't afTord to come out flat. They have
to play hard every minute and be hungry."
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