They have a new home.<\/p>\n
And the Kent-Meridian High boys basketball team is hoping new results follow.<\/p>\n
Due to gym renovations at the high school, Kent-Meridian will be playing the majority of its home games this winter at Mill Creek Middle School, a venue that will seat roughly 300 fans.<\/p>\n
The Royals also will play a pair of \u201chome\u201d games at Green River Community College, when it hosts Kentridge on Dec. 9 and Kentwood on Jan. 4.<\/p>\n
Third-year coach Brian Lockhart is hoping the cozy confines of Mill Creek play into the hands of the Royals\u2019 athletic, push-the-ball style of play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should play into our style based on it being confined and us playing up-tempo,\u201d Lockhart said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to go even more up-tempo this year than we were before. I will not start my best players, but I will end with them. My best five will close out the fourth quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite last year\u2019s 2-14 league record, Lockhart has plenty of options from which to choose, too. Though the Royals graduated leading scorer Barenton Ahmed (12.4 points per game), they return their next three top scoring options from a year ago: Jordan Thompson Walker (10.8), D\u2019Juan Miller (7.6) and Gary Bailey (6.4). Meanwhile, sophomore Martel Taylor Barone (4.6), who showed flashes of excellence as a freshman last year but also was a bit timid at times in the physical SPSL North, is expected to continue his ascension.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis fierceness and intensity inside has changed a lot,\u201d Lockhart insists.<\/p>\n
The Royals return a total of seven players from last year\u2019s team, which endured an emotionally difficult season that included the death of teammate Dorian Tursic. Tursic died in January when the 2004 Chevrolet Impala was driving crashed into a tree. The Royals lost 10 of their final 11 games after the accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were some difficult circumstances last year,\u201d Lockhart conceded.<\/p>\n
With a clean slate in a new home, Kent-Meridian has reason for optimism this winter. Along with returning the bulk of last year\u2019s scoring punch, the Royals also will be one of the deepest teams in the SPSL North, a league that appears on paper to be more balanced than it has been in years. Kent-Meridian hasn\u2019t advanced to the postseason since the 2004-2005 season, and has struggled mightily in recent years.<\/p>\n
However, the athleticism and ability is in place for the Royals to make a run for one of the five postseason berths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be the best of the three teams that I\u2019ve had for sure,\u201d Lockhart said. \u201cWe have a lot more depth, the players are interchangeable. I really think we will be vying for one of the top four spots.\u201d<\/p>\n
A top-four spot in a new home.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ROYALS: AT A GLANCE<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 COACH:<\/b> Brian Lockhart, 3rd year.<\/p>\n
\u2022 LAST YEAR:<\/b> 2-14 in league (8th-t), 5-16 overall.<\/p>\n
\u2022 TOP RETURNERS:<\/b> Jordan Thompson Walker, sr., guard; Martel Taylor Barone, so., forward; Brandon Harris, sr., forward; Davontae Bradley Hoffman, sr., guard; D\u2019Juan Miller, sr., guard; Sergio Arroyo, sr., forward; Gary Bailey, jr., guard.<\/p>\n
\u2022 TOP NEWCOMERS:<\/b> Arman Brar, jr., guard; Abu Kamara, so., forward; Sam Hoard, sr., forward; Mike Banks, jr., guard.<\/p>\n
\u2022 STRENGTH:<\/b> Depth, athleticism.<\/p>\n
\u2022 WEAKNESS:<\/b> Defense, rebounding.<\/p>\n
\u2022 LAST STATE BERTH:<\/b> 1992.<\/p>\n
\u2022 OUTLOOK:<\/b> Kent-Meridian is deep and talented, but must avoid digging itself an early hole and play defense for an entire four quarters. The Royals’ depth, which runs about 8 deep, should give teams fits and help them remain fresh late in games. If K-M can remain focused, a playoff berth is a distinct possibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They have a new home.
\nAnd the Kent-Meridian High boys basketball team is hoping new results follow.
\nDue to gym renovations at the high school, Kent-Meridian will be playing the majority of its home games this winter at Mill Creek Middle School, a venue that will seat roughly 300 fans.
\nThe Royals also will play a pair of \u201chome\u201d games at Green River Community College, when it hosts Kentridge on Dec. 9 and Kentwood on Jan. 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-229","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\/229"}],"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\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}