Guest ECBucFan Posted December 9, 2006 Report Posted December 9, 2006 East Chambers, WO-S playing short of practice due to football By JOHNNIE WALTERS , The Enterprise SOUR LAKE - Nine games. Four practices. East Chambers coach Hank Hargraves has only been able to hold four practices this season to prepare for the nine games his team has already played. So, it's been diffficult for the Bucs to play the type of basketball to which they are accustomed. East Chambers suffered its second loss in two days Friday with a 47-41 decision to West Orange-Stark in a pool play game at the Hardin-Jefferson Christmas Classic. "The hardest thing right now is playing games without practice," said Hargraves, whose team is 6-3 for the season. "As a coach, you want your team to play games, but it's hard to make adjustments in games without really practicing them." Hargraves has had to piece together a team that only had its first practice on Nov. 27. He was forced to make do with the limited amount of practice because most of his squad was on the school's football team, which included his two leading scorers. Mart beat East Chambers 49-21 in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs on Nov. 24. The West Orange-Stark basketball team played with only seven players until its football team ended the season on the same day. Giddings beat WO-S 21-13 in the area round of the Class 3A playoffs. "Most of the team played football," said Hargraves, whose team is ranked No. 7 on the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 2A poll. "If I started practice on the official day, I would have only had three or four players. I wouldn't have had enough to play games even if I wanted to start on time." Despite the late start, Hargraves still has a lot of confidence in his team. "Under the circumstances, I think we are still doing really well," Hargraves said. "They have stepped up and played tough. I just have to be patient." The Bucs return four starters from last year's playoff team. Tramain Thomas, Preston Guillory, Eugene Leday, and Donte Raymond all return to help lead the team back to the playoffs. Thomas returns as the leading scorer. The 6-foot-1 starting quarterback averages 22 points per game this season. He was selected to the TABC All-State team as a sophomore last season. "We have made two consecutive trips to the regional semifinals, so we are ready to go to the next level," said Hargraves, whose team lost to eventual state champion Arp in the Region III semifinals last year. "Our goal is to win a state championship." West Orange-Stark, which is ranked No. 2 on the Class 3A poll, overcame a one-point deficit after the break to outscore the Bucs 24-17 in the second half to seal the 47-41 victory. Andre Bevil led the Mustangs with 13 points. Buddy Broussard had 11 points, and Richard Netherly had 10. "They made more plays than we did," Hargraves said. "I think their legs were fresher. We were leading at halftime, so we had a chance to win." East Chambers had an opportunity to tie the score in the final 15 seconds but missed two 3-point attempts. Thomas led the Bucs with 17 points. Guillory scored 15 points. "We missed a few plays that cost us the win," Hargraves said. "We also missed two 3-pointers at the end that could have forced overtime. But this is all a learning process, and we will continue to improve as the season moves on."
KFDM COOP Posted December 9, 2006 Report Posted December 9, 2006 Good article. Both teams will be fine. WOS has 3 starters not playing today for some reason.
Guest ECBucFan Posted December 10, 2006 Report Posted December 10, 2006 I agree 100%. In fact, I would not be completely comfortable with "peaking" in the first week or two of the season.
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