High School basketball preview: South Titans (+video)
Schedule
December – 4, Southeast; 8, North; 15, at Carroll; 18, at East; 19, Heights.
January – 5, West; 8, at Kapaun; 12, Northwest; 14, 15 or 16, TBA at Koch Arena; 19, at Southeast (G); 21-23, at Topeka tournament (B); 26, at Southeast (B); 28-30, at Free State tournament (G).
February – 2, at North; 9, Carroll; 12, East; 16, at Heights; 19, at West; 23, Kapaun; 25, at West.
Boys
Coach: Chuck Gunter, third season
Last season: 15-8
Top players
Dawson Gunter, 5-10, sr., G
Jeremiah Hudspeth, 5-7, sr., G
TJ Turner, 5-11, sr., G
Rayquan Cunningham, 6-3, jr., F
Jariah Taylor, 6-4, jr., F
For South, the philosophy is simple – score enough points, and it won’t necessarily matter how many the Titans allow.
It’s not that South prefers high-scoring games, but last year provided evidence that it may be best suited for them. When the Titans scored at least 56 points, they were 11-0. The margin was small enough that they lost twice when scoring exactly 55, but their offense was prolific enough to win six times when surrendering 55 or more.
“Scoring really shouldn’t be a problem for us,” coach Chuck Gunter said. “We’ve got multiple guards that can pretty much be playmakers and good shooters. We’re going to have to be an uptempo team because I don’t have the size like I did last year.”
Dawson Gunter, the coach’s son, averaged 13.8 points and may be more productive as a senior as South relies more heavily on perimeter scoring. Hudspeth is another shooter with long range and Turner is a slasher who can drive and create his own shot. Transfer Cortez Harper, from Southeast, is added to the backcourt mix.
After graduating its best post players, South turns to juniors Cunningham and Taylor for expanded roles. A guard-heavy approach should allow Cunningham and Taylor to come along slowly, but a return to the Class 6A Tournament may hinge on their development.
“They’re going to be asked to do a lot more this year,” Chuck Gunter said. “I’m going to be asking a lot from them, but I think they can handle it. They’ve been battle-tested before, and I think they’ll be up to the challenge.”
Girls
Coach: Antwain Scales, fifth season
Last season: 23-2, won Class 6A
Top players
Kendrian Elliott, 6-3, sr., C
Ericka Mattingly 5-7, sr., G
Kyla Callins, 5-10, jr., F
Mauri Scales 5-10, jr., G
Trezure Jobe, 5-6, so., G
What do you get for the team that has traditionally met its most important goals? No more goals.
After winning the last three Class 6A championships but slipping in aims for an undefeated season, South is scaling back the big picture for a day-to-day approach. The benchmark remains the same, but now the journey is important, too.
“I just don’t like us to get sidetracked,” Antwain Scales said. “We just take it game by game, and if (a state championship) happens in the end, so be it. We’re looking at playing Southeast opening up, and that’s a state championship game in itself, the way I see it. If you look ahead, you stumble.”
Elliott (signed with Tulsa) and Mattingly (Texas-Arlington), the cogs in all three championship teams, will try for a fourth before graduating. But their imminent departures may not signal an end for the Titans’ dominance.
A deep junior class includes Mauri Scales, Callins and Destiny Pittman. Sophomores Jobe and Krissandra Pollard worked their way into last year’s rotation and the Titans have a freshman group possibly comparable to the one that included Elliott and Mattingly.
“You’ve still got three juniors that are going to be there next year, beyond Ericka and Kendrian,” Antwain Scales said. “That’s what we try to build on. Our freshman class is really deep, we’ve got about five girls that can really go, they just need experience.”
Jeffrey Lutz
This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 9:58 AM with the headline "High School basketball preview: South Titans (+video)."