By Chris Parker
Dora boys basketball returns just one full-time starter from last season’s eight-win team in sophomore point guard Brylon Mayberry.
Mayberry was the second-leading scorer last year at 10.6 points per game while he led the team in assists with 3.3 assists per game.
“He is an excellent ball handler, sees and reads the floor well, and is a serious threat from beyond the arc,” Dora head coach Caleb Reynolds said. “We expect big things from him this season as he leads our young team.”
The Falcons will have just two upperclassmen expected to make an impact this year. Senior Cayden Peck and junior Spencer Howard will be key players in the post. Peck is 6-foot-6 while Howard stands at 6-foor-4.
“We expect them to lead our team in rebounding and have a huge impact defensively,” Reynolds said.
Sophomore Ashton Roberts will see an expanded role this year.
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“He’s very athletic and has the ability to play inside as well as on the perimeter,” Reynolds said.
Fellow sophomores Easton Carter, Waylon Masters and Brayden York will also see bigger varsity roles this year.
Overall, Dora will be young, so Reynolds will look for his team to out-work the other team.
“Our greatest strength this year will be how hard we compete. As a young, inexperienced team, there are many things we are still learning, but our players’ work ethic and will to win is a great foundation for us to build on. We will not be the most skilled team in the state this year, but no one will compete harder than we do,” Reynolds said. “There are many things we will continually look to improve on, both as a team and individually. Our hope is that the level at which we are playing come March will be higher than where we begin in November.”
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Dora will open the regular season on Nov. 20 at Galena.
“Overall we hope to improve as a team this season,” Reynolds said. “Whenever you have a young team the goal is to help them develop for down the road. We know we have a talented group who are capable of winning games, and we expect them to do just that.”