By Chris Parker
Macks Creek boys basketball has a new head coach in Mike Phillips this season.
He takes over a program coming off a 7-19 season.
Senior shooting guard Nick Hicks returns with the most experience for Macks Creek.
“Nick has the most experience on the varsity team,” Phillips said. “His defense and three-point shooting are things we know we can expect day-in and day-out from Nick.”
Junior forward Trevor Smith and sophomore forward Daytona Linton each saw some varsity action last season.
“We are expecting them to be players who can come in and give us important minutes which will include throwing some different defensive looks at teams while helping us spread the floor with their shooting,” Phillips said.
Sophomore Eli Charlton saw some varsity starts last season.
“Even though he (Charlton) is a little undersized in the post, he is as strong as they come and has some great footwork around the basket,” Phillips said.
A large freshman group that includes Tate Boothe, Carter Ferrell, Sebastian Sanchez and Cash Stoner will look to make immediate impacts at the varsity level.
“We will be small and quick. We hopefully will play defense that will create some offense for us,” Phillips said. “We will need to get ready for varsity game speed really quick with all of our youth.”
Macks Creek opens the season on Nov. 23 against Owensville in the Bluefish Shootout at Rolla.
“We will be able to beat some teams that people won’t be expecting us to,” Phillips said. “I think our goals will be to make every game competitive and play for a trophy in every tournament. When district come around, we want to make a run and see where things end up.”
