The Southern Denton County region is home to some of the best boys basketball talent in the state, and it should be more of the same this coming season.
The Marcus boys are coming off of a state championship victory, in which the Marauders defeated Garland Lakeview Centennial 40-38 to bring home the school’s first state championship in the sport.
The state championship most valuable player Marcus Smart and fellow standout Phil Forte will both return for Marcus this year.
Forte averaged 16.8 PPG last season and Smart averaged 13.9, and both players have committed to the Oklahoma State University.
Over at Flower Mound, the Jaguars will be under new leadership this season and, following an off the court hazing incident which forced the removal of several players from the team along with the resignation of Charles Freet from the head coaching position, it is difficult to say how the Jaguars will fair in 2012.
The Jaguars finished 13-17 last season and former Lewisville coach Henry Thomas will take over as interim coach at Flower Mound.
Coming off of a season in which the Wildcats finished 8-20 with a 2-12 district record, Guyer coach Grant Long said he is optimistic about his team’s chances in 2012.
Long said what makes him feel the best is the amount of experience returning to this year’s team.
“We’ve definitely improved,” Long said. “We have many returning players from a very young team that included four freshman playing varsity minutes last year. This year, we have good size and good young talent.”
Long said he expects big things from a number of players, including Andrew Williams – Sr. 6’8 post, Justin Griffin – Jr. 6’6 post, Zach Williard – Sr. guard, Josh Jordan – Soph. 6’5 post, Miles Crawford – Soph. guard, Alex Partridge – Soph. guard.
Long said he expects Coppell and Keller Central to be the teams to beat in district this season, and said to turn things around this season, his team will have to do a couple of things.
“We’ll have to get the ball to our big men, play great defense, and have our young talented sophomores play well,” Long said.
In 3A, the Argyle boys wrapped up a brilliant 2011 campaign with a mark of 34-3 and 10-0 in district competition.
The Eagles reached the regional finals before losing to A Maceo Smith.
Clark Overlander was voted district MVP last season and will be returning this year for Argyle, as they look to repeat their run from last season.
Expect big things from Conner York as well.
Liberty Christian did not do as well as hoped last season, finishing 5-7 in district competition and missing the playoffs by one spot.
While the Warriors did finish the season with an overall record of 20-13, the playoffs are the ultimate objective for Liberty Christian, who finished fifth in district competition.
Look for Brad Horton to be among the team leaders this season.
Click here for a preview of the girls teams.
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