Monday, Jan. 12, 2009

Five things: Carolina Forest boys varsity basketball team

With their inaugural season in AAAA officially underway, the Carolina Forest varsity boys basketball team heads into region play full of hope, determination and a full head of steam. Here are five things the Panthers need to do to make their first AAAA season a successful one:

No. 1 | Stay Healthy It may seem obvious to point out, but if any of the Panthers' starting five (especially one of the Big Three) gets hurt, it would spell disaster for a team entering its first season in a strong region.

No. 2 | Learn how to deal with long trips early in the season Luckily for the Panthers, they play their first away game against South Florence, a team the boys should handle; but they'll have to learn to deal with long bus rides quickly because their next game is in Sumter, an hour and 45 minutes away.

No. 3 | Don't play down to the level of competition Carolina Forest is good enough to sweep South and West Florence if they keep playing like they are now; but if they don't come out of the gate firing, those games could end up closer than they should be.

No. 4 | Sweep Conway If the Panthers want to make a statement, sweeping the season series with their biggest in-conference rival is the perfect way to do it.

No. 5 | Split the season series with Hartsville Hartsville might be the toughest place the Panthers will play all year. Winning in Hartsville is unlikely; but if the boys can get a win against them at home in their second-to-last game of the year, the boys should end up near the top of the region and into the playoffs for the first time since the days of Michael Strickland and Aaron Ellis.

--Bryan Wendland is a senior at Carolina Forest High School and plans to study journalism at the University of South Carolina.