2003

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Coach B lly Smith is also in his third year leading the Warriors, who last year advanced to ·he state and region tournaments for the ftrst hme 1n etght years en route to a 15-12 record Sm th feels this year's team wtll be "hard-pressed" to repeat the success of 2003 matn ., oecause of a lack of expenence He 11as only two returnees from last year's squad who saw a lot of play1ng t me - Desmond Jones. a 6-foot-2 forward from Neshoba Central. and Dewayne hug"'es a 5- •oot-9 guard from Sebastopol. Otner returnees are guards AI Willis of Newton County, and Stephen Dyess ano Jarraa Marttn, both of Northeast Lauderdale. Other sophomores are guard Tellas Burnstde o Phtladelphia and forward Tobtos Darden of Lafayette. Ala. Freshmen are forwards Neil Tadlock of Lake, Gerrick Nichols of Thomastown . Lorenzo White of Quitman , Ryan Hudson of Louisville, and guards Andrew Lewis of Morton and Shaun Daugherty of Choctaw Central. ~These guys will be called on to handle most of the sconng," Smtth satd.

For the Warriors to succeed, Smith said his team needs to be more aggressive on both ends of the court.

For us to have a chance against some of the better teams on our schedule. we wtll need to press and run the floor a lot more than last year," Smtth satd

He satd the freshmen will also play a major role tn hts team's success

:. e wtll need for our freshmen to come 1n and contribute as qutckly as poss101e .. Smtih sa d We have been trytng to get them to understand the dtfference between htgh school and communtty college basketball." Regarding preparations for the season opener, Smtth satd , "Our team has been practiCtng hard and they should be ready to start playing agatnst someone other than ourselves Ne w tll get a taste of how good we can be right out of the gate as ltawamba and Delta are twc good teams coming in here early."

~ 2003 The Merid ian Star All R1ghts Reserved.

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