Parkers Chapel to open season at Drew Central

After a difficult season that saw Parkers Chapel fail to qualify for the regional tournament, the Trojans have a plethora of returnees back aiming to enjoy lengthy trips to the postseason they have enjoyed in recent years.

Parkers Chapel officially tips off their season tonight at Drew Central, and coach Josh Langley is eager to see his team in action.

“Our strength this year is that we have a little bit of everything this year,” Langley said. “We have some size, we have some guys that are quick, and we have some bigger guards that can be match-up problems when we play smaller teams. Last year, our biggest weakness was experience and I feel like we have that now.”

The Trojans have four starters back in point guard Chris Greer, shooting guard Jaylen Gray, center Elijah Brown and guard Braydon McGoogan, and Langley is expecting contributions from several others.

“Brody Goodwin also started games for us at guard last season,” Langley said. “Lancer Clark, Payton Willeford, Mason Dougan are other guys who have played some very significant minute for us in previous seasons as well. I expect a few other guys to get some opportunities that did some really good things over the summer for us.”

As far as the 8-2A is concerned, Langley said the league race should be a very competitive one.

“I feel like the conference is pretty wide open,” Langley said. “We have some really good teams in the conference and I’m hoping we will be one of those teams that can catch some teams off guard. I think our conference one through nine is very tough. You definitely can’t have an off night in this conference.”

Langley believes being a year older and having more experience will be a big benefit.

“I expect us to be much more comfortable this year with the experience these guys received as sophomores and juniors,” Langley said. “We have placed a big emphasis in the offseason on defense and simplifying things offensively. I don’t want our guys to have to think on the floor. I want them to be able to react and just play basketball.”

Langley said his team must do the little things to be successful.

“For us to have success it’s going to have to be a total team effort every night,” Langley said. “We are going to have to focus on the little details like communicating defensively, being in position to make plays. I’m really excited about where we are and looking forward to seeing our guys compete and grow together as the season progresses. The guys have been working extremely hard and that has me excited.”

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