By Chris Parker
Licking boys basketball enters the second season of the Mike Phillips era with a young but talented team returning.
The Wildcats finished 12-13 overall last year and return just one senior in four-year starting point guard Cole Wallace this year.
“Cole is exactly what you want as a point guard – a guy who looks to pass first, lead the team in charges taken and always is the first on the floor for practice,” Phillips said. “Hopefully, his hard work ethic will show the young guys what it takes to be a great teammate.”
Wallace averaged 5.2 assists per game with 6.9 points per game last season.
Keyton Cook and Austin James return for their junior years after starting as sophomores last season. The duo led Licking in scoring with Cook averaging 15.7 points per game while James added in 12.2 points per game.
“These two guys led us in scoring last year and shot the ball great for sophomores who were told we expected them to be the main scorers on the team,” Phillips said. “They both have a unique skillset on offense that allows them to shoot off the dribble or just be catch and shoot guys.”
Carter Sullins will see even more time on the court this year after serving as the backup point guard in his freshman season.
“Carter Sullins, a sophomore, was our backup point guard last year and we will expect him to be able to pass and score this year,” Phillips said.
Roston Stockard will look to bring his scoring to the varsity level as a sophomore. Last season, Stockard averaged 20 points per game on the junior varsity level. Junior Garrett Gorman will be in the mix to handle the ball on the varsity level after leading the JV team to a 16-3 record as the point guard last year.
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The junior trio of Gaige Nicholson, Oscar Phillips and Kenny Ramsey will look to move up to varsity this year. Nicholson and Phillips will be key in the post where Phillips is looking for improvement.
“Defending the lane was an issue last year,” Phillips said. “We were not great at shutting down the lane and that is something we will work on early in the year. Hopefully, our aggressive defensive style will help our transition game get quicker.”
Licking has had a strong off-season of work that will also help this winter’s team.
“All our guys have done what has been asked of them in the summer and over the off-season. We also have five guys that work out with a personal trainer and two that went to individual camps that hopefully will help them be ready for the start of the season,” Phillips said.
Scoring should not be an issue for Licking with two double-digit, all-conference players leading the way.
“We should be quick and be able to score some points,” Phillips said. “I think the team we have will see a lot of defenses this year and we have been learning an offense to run against everything. We have been together for a year now and we have some sets that should allow our scorers to get open.”
Licking opens the season on Nov. 22 at Salem.
“These kids really care for one another and want to see each other have success. I think that will help us turn into a great defensive team and the time we put in out of practice will help us turn into a great offensive team,” Phillips said. “We won’t be a big team, like some Licking teams of the past, but we will still work on attacking defenses off the dribble and cutting to get us in the lane.”
