by Nicklaus Elkins

The Scott High School Boys Basketball team is coming soon. After a 10-13 season, the
team has a lot to prove. The Scott boys’ basketball team lost to Logan in the first round of
regionals on Friday, March 6th at Willie Akers Arena. The team lost only one senior, Jeremiah
“Peanut” Brown. With a lot of returners, their future is bright.

Jace Watts, Junior wing player, said that a lot of promising things about the team and the upcoming season.

“I am excited and feel we can have a pretty solid year,” Watts said.

The boys started the season last year off strong and are looking to do it again this year. The only thing different is keeping that momentum throughout the year. The Skyhawks started off last season 5-1 with that one loss in their first game against the Doddridge County Bulldogs.

Watts feels as if the team can keep the momentum for a longer period of time this season. The reason for losing the momentum is that Watts thinks the games they lost after that were very close and feels they should’ve reacted better. The few games the team lost after that hot streak were Buffalo 56-57 and Braxton County 64-71. With those losses only totaling 8 points, Watts was not wrong when he said they were close.

“We have went to a few camps and have held a couple practices; we are now starting to have our open gyms,” Watts said. “I’ve been in the gym a lot getting shots up and just trying to improve my game.”

Other than getting the team back together a little earlier this season, he is hoping to pick up from last year and make a great run. The team lost a crucial piece, Senior Jeremiah “Peanut” Brown. Brown played mostly in the paint, getting rebounds, moving the ball around, and creating shots for other teammates. Watts said you could definitely tell that Brown was a leader on the court, whether it was making plays or controlling his team when things got chippy. The team will have to fill that missing spot in the upcoming season.

“I think it’s going to hurt more in the leadership role he had, he was a really good leader and got us through a
lot of adversity,” Watts said.

Nathaniel Burton, Skyhawk small forward, said he agrees his absence will be felt.

“It is definitely going to affect the leadership role. I definitely think Peanut held the team together,” Burton said.

Both felt the same way about the loss and are hoping for someone to step up and fill the role. The Skyhawks went 10-13 last season. Every team hopes for a winning season, and that is what the team is looking for this season. Teams have different issues on why they are losing, and teams have different things that they are doing good to win. For Scott, Watts and Burton felt they let their heads get in the way of winning games. They both said they feel that if they eliminate that problem, they can go pretty far this year.

“We do not want to let off the gas,” Watts said. “We will not let off the gas.”