Coach Brian Lockhart is optimistic about the Kent-Meridian High boys basketball team\u2019s chances, but tempers it with the knowledge that the greatest challenge to his players will be remaining academically eligible to play.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first season opener I\u2019ve won since I\u2019ve been here,\u201d says Lockhart, in his seventh year. \u201cThey have the makeup, and with a couple of additions we\u2019ll be very deep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n His key players this year include Romane Jackson, who has led the Royals in scoring with 23, 24 and 14 points in the first three games; Aarmani Reece, a transfer from Chicago; and Angel Chima, who will help round out the starting lineup as \u201cthe most cerebral player,\u201d says Lockhart.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m able to play 10 guys and not really miss anything. And with the way we play \u2014 which is in your face, pressure, pressure, pressure, try to wear you down in the fourth quarter \u2014 that fits right where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Early pressure will be a key trait for Lockhart and the Royals. He remembers that it worked especially well in his fourth year when Kent-Meridian carried a 12-4 South Puget Sound League record and finished second in league playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Kent-Meridian opened this season strong with victories over Renton, Auburn and Tahoma and a loss to South Kitsap. Despite being down to five varsity players in their first game, the Royals persevered and came out on top. Balancing the team\u2019s bravado \u2014 which is healthy but dangerous \u2014 and tempering their expectations to sustain morale has been a challenge for Lockhart, especially after two difficult prior seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The team returns to the league after several seasons of being clipped by small technicalities, says Lockhart. In 2013 the team had a stellar year of victories but was cut from playoffs due to an oversight on one of their players who was ruled ineligible by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) as a fifth-year senior.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough to rebound from,\u201d says Lockhart.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Last year the team faced a rough season of 6-14 that left them demoralized, and Lockhart has made it a point to build morale and players belief in themselves while still<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n making sure they\u2019re resilient to adversity. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I gotta fight with,\u201d he says, \u201cthey punish themselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Another major factor in maintaining the team will be sustaining academic achievement and program eligibility, which has consistently hampered them over the years. Even now academic ineligibility is keeping him from pulling a full team.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been snake-bitten every year where there\u2019s a kid, come playoff time, doesn\u2019t take care of his stuff in the classroom and becomes ineligible,\u201d he says. \u201cMy best shooter I\u2019ve ever had in the program, that happened to him.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Lockhart hopes to compete for a league title this season, and has faith that his full team will be able to deliver.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWith my full team going at it, I think we have a chance,\u201d he says. \u201cWe had a 22-8 summer, were in a few championship games in our tournaments. We didn\u2019t win any of them, but they were there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n For now, Lockhart will have to compete with keeping his top players eligible and making sure they don\u2019t over or undervalue themselves to keep his team performing at its peak.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Royals play at Kentwood at 7:30 p.m. Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Royals play at Kentlake on Friday, Dec. 19 before the holiday break. They will compete on Dec. 26 in the Kennedy Catholic tournament in Burien.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n =====<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Kent-Meridian Royals<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Coach<\/strong>: Brian Lockhart, seventh year<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Career record here:<\/strong> 56-72<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s league record\/place<\/strong>: 4-12, last<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s overall record<\/strong>: 6-14<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Starting returners<\/strong>: Jordan Lockhart, Sr., 5-8<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Top Newcomers<\/strong>: Deangelo Counts, Sr., 6-3; La\u2019Teric Landers, So., 5-10; Armani Reese, Sr., 6-4; Paul Johnson, Sr., 5-10; Kelan Robinson, Jr., 6-3; Tavion Williams, So., 6-1.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Kentridge Chargers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Coach<\/strong>: Dave Jamison<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s league record:<\/strong> 16-0, first<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Overall record<\/strong>: 25-3, state appearance<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Key Returners<\/strong>: Deon Thomas, 5-7, Sr., PG; Nick Hopson, 6-3, Sr., F; Joran Ticeson, 6-6, Jr. F; Elijah Ticeson, 6-0, Jr., G<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Key Newcomers<\/strong>: Micah Simmons, 6-4, Sr., F; Ethan Walker, 6-3, Jr. F; Braiden Beckman, 6-2, Sr., F; Rick Ziegenhagen, 6-4, Sr., F; Matt Fleming, 6-3, Jr., F; AJ Chappell, 5-6, Soph., G<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Team Outlook<\/strong>: Competitiveness, size, and teamwork are strengths. Experience, inside scoring, and guard depth are weaknesses<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note<\/strong>: Look for a feature next week on the Kentridge boys team<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Coach Brian Lockhart is optimistic about the Kent-Meridian High boys basketball team\u2019s chances, but tempers it with the knowledge that the greatest challenge to his players will be remaining academically eligible to play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":20972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-20971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20971"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20971"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n