PHS confidence high despite injuries
Published 12:00 am Friday, January 15, 2010
Despite having two players out due to injuries, Pleasant Home coach Jerry Davis said his team will do what they have to do to remain successful this season.
Tonight, the Eagles (14-5, 3-0 in Class 1A, Area 3) will face McKenzie for homecoming.
Right now, Pleasant Home is the only team in its area that remains unbeaten. Tuesday night, the Eagles beat Kinston, 53-37.
During that game, Cody Taylor and Blake Herman suffered injuries.
Asked if the game plan has changed leading into tonight’s contest, Davis said the team has had to “start over.”
“It’s kind of like we started practice all over again (Wednesday),” he said. “Yeah, when you don’t have people that you’ve been playing with, especially with them being your two perimeter shooters — that changes your thought processes some.”
Davis said he has replaced Taylor and Herman with Jeffrey Slaughter and Sid Newby.
“Jeffrey has been starting and doing some spot duty, so he’ll definitely be out there,” Davis said. “And Sid will see some time.”
Davis added that he still has guards Colter Poole and Ethan King to rely on in tonight’s game.
As far as what McKenzie will bring to the table, Davis said the Tigers control the game well.
“McKenzie is very, very, very athletic,” he said. “Every loose ball they manage to rebound and come up with because they’ve got the quickness and hops to go get it. “They’re pretty good basketball players, too,” he said. “It’s one of those situations where we only have three bullets in the gun and we’re playing against a high-powered rifle right now.”
Davis said his team is looking forward to tonight, where tip-off is immediately following the girls varsity game.
“I’d like to have had everybody healthy for the game,” Davis said. “We’re going to be here and play as hard as we can and see what happens after that.”