As the basketball season starts to bounce around the corner, our Warrior hoopers begin to whip into winning shape so that this year they can dominate the competition. Coming off of an unfortunate 6-19 season the year prior where we saw the team just narrowly lose out on some down to the wire matchups, there was definitely some off season work to be done.
The coaching staff had been stressing the fitness and sharpness of the team this upcoming season. The summer was key to the development of players, as the staff reminded the roster to use the break as a way to develop their craft. Head Coach Kerry Sarden especially emphasizes the conditioning aspect of the team, as he feels like the common denominator to the underwhelming season last year. He felt these losses were not to the fault of the talent, but rather the fact that the talent was too tired, too quickly. “This year, we’re doing conditioning before the conditioning,” Sarden says, “We expect for the boys to be up and at it from the first minute all the way to the very last.”
Many of the players Sarden expects to be ready and fit for the season come from the class of 2025. Many of these Juniors are expected to make the step up to the Varsity level and impact the team majorly. Of these is center Brooks Allen, someone who has experience playing with the varsity squad previously because of his dominance on the JV level. Brooks’ work ethic is hard to ignore, as he is a major gym rat as well as a dual sport athlete, playing baseball in the spring. Over the break, Allen never truly took any days off and was consistently on the grind for two months straight. “Every day I would wake up at 5:00 A.M to go to the gym and then go back after work at 11:00 P.M,” Allen said, “I felt sore day in and day out, but I’ll take the pain knowing the gain it will produce.”
Another player that went hard this summer was Point Guard Josh Griffith. Griffith, homing in on a likely star role on the 2023-24 roster, focused on every aspect of the game. Through the highly touted AAU circuit where he had a strong summer for Hoop Atlanta, Griffith kept his game sharp while simultaneously developing his skills. On top of the rigorous basketball conditioning, Griffith has picked up cross country where he scored a varsity spot, boasting a sub-18-minute mile, all to get in better shape for the season. He would also go to the gym for the majority of the week, getting up shots religiously and practicing with his personal trainer on his passing, shooting, and dribbling abilities. Griffith’s hard work has begun to pay off, as he recently received his first college offer from Brevard College. Of course, this was exciting for Griffith as he has a definite future in college basketball, but his focus as of now is on the upcoming season. “It has been a grind for the past couple months,” said Griffith, “All of this hard work throughout the summer and fall will for sure pay off on the court.”
This season will prove to be an improvement on the Warriors program, as so many of the players are showing to have that extra motivation and cutting edge at the moment. The work will prove worth it as the season approaches and the wins begin to tally up. The warriors are ready for the winter and the tough 6A region that comes with it.
