Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



FULTONDALE — After finishing two games above the .500 mark in the 2006-07 season, Fultondale head coach Phillip Lawson is cautiously optimistic that this year’s club could exceed last season’s success.

“If we get some good guard play, we have a chance to be better than we were last season,” Lawson said. “We should be competitive, but we can do some good things if our guard play falls in place.”

Lawson has three starters back from last year’s club, all three play up front. Senior center Chris Brown, who stands 6-foot-4 and weights 225 pounds, returns after averaging over 12 points per game as a junior.

Joining Brown are senior power forward J.D. Hood and senior small forward LaKendrick Smith.

Lawson’s number one priority before the season starts is to find new starters at point guard and shooting guard, as both of last season’s back court starters have graduated.

Back off the bench are D’dragus Talley, Christian McCollough, Landon Robinson and Josh Tarwater.

Other members of this year’s club are R.J. Sanders, Chris Barber, C.J. Mixon, Chris Preston, and Taylor Minor.

The Wildcats hope to challenge for the 2A, Area 11 title, a year after finishing third in area play and just missing out on a trip to the sub-state round of the playoffs.

Fultondale will continue to use multiple defensive sets including man-to-man, a 1-3-1 zone and a 2-3 zone.

On offense, the Wildcats will employ what Lawson calls a controlled break that tests to see if the opposing team will hustle back on defense for an entire game.

“We want to get the ball into scoring position in 2.5 seconds, if we get the lay up, that’s great, but if it’s not there, then we’ll hit the trailer and set up our offense,” he said. “We just aren’t up and down the floor, run and gun, we hope to keep the score in most games in the 70s. If we do that, we have a chance to win most games.”

“I really don’t know what to expect, but expectation around here are higher than they have been,” Lawson said. “When I got here we had only one senior. We were basically a B-team playing a varsity schedule. This year, I’ve got the largest number of seniors I’ve ever had. This group has a chance to do some special things. I’m optimistic about our chances of being very competitive this season.”