It’s been four years since Wyoming East made the state tournament, the longest such drought in school history.
East coach Derek Brooks is hoping that changes this year. He certainly has the team back for it.
“We’ve got a lot of kids back,” Brooks said. “Of course we’ve got Tanner Whitten and he’s a big part of what we do. He scores, rebounds and defends, so he does a little bit of everything. We have Tuckler Cook back and we’d like to see more scoring from him. He played a lot of minutes for us last year but didn’t shoot it a lot. I don’t know if it was confidence but we told him we want him to shoot, so hopefully we’ll see more of that. Garrett Mitchell was our other leading scorer and he’s back. We’re looking to see even more scoring from him. He’s shooting it quite well in practice, so we’re looking for big things from him.
“Chandler Johnson is another returning starter. We want to see more scoring from him. He’s more of our presence inside but I want him trying to score the ball more inside. A lot of what we do though is going to be based on how Cole Lambert can handle the point. He’s a sophomore and he’s going to be running the offense for us. We’re going to go as he goes. He’s looked good in practice and during the summer so I’m excited to see how he does.”
The Warriors were close last to a return to the state tournament last year but lost to Bluefield at home and eventually Chapmanville on the road. This year’s team, while guard heavy, features numerous players that are two-year starters. They also have a size advantage for a guard-heavy team. Many of the Warriors clear six feet.
It should lead to some mismatches.
“We’re not a huge team, but at the guard position we’re pretty big,” Brooks said. “Garrett’s 6-foot-3, Tucker’s 6-foot-3 and Whitten’s 6-foot-4 and Chandler’s 6-foot-5. Cole’s the smallest we’ll have on the floor at about 5-foot-10 but other than that we’re pretty big, especially for double-A basketball. Even though they’re that big they shoot the ball at a good clip, so we can score at every level. We can exploit mismatches inside, and shoot from everywhere. I think our offense in general is a strong point for our team.”
In the first couple weeks of practice Brooks has already noticed growth from this years team as opposed to last year’s. They’re more experienced and have played more basketball over the summer – a luxury they weren’t afforded last season with Covid.
“I’ve just seen tremendous growth from almost every one of the guys,” Brooks said. “They’re more confident in themselves and just their experience over the last two years helped them tremendously. I think they’ll handle pressure better. Those close games over the last couple of years, I think we’ll be able to pull those out. A lot of those guys have grown leaps and bounds. I think Garrett has had tremendous strides over the last season and Cole Lambert, his body did a complete 180. He went from a boy to a man. Their experience is going to help them a ton.”
The weakness Brooks has seen in his team is something that will be tested. He hasn’t felt good about how his team has handled pressure defenses, an issue considering they play in a section with Bluefield. They’ll get their first crack at testing their improvement when they open the season with Shady Spring though.
“I think our weakness has always been ballhandling and handling pressure,” Brooks said. “I haven’t had a team yet that’s really comfortable with pressure but this team is getting to that point. We have four guys that can handle it well and get it up the floor. Chandler, I think he’ll surprise you sometimes to and get it up the floor. I think this team will be able to handle that pressure better but I still think it’s a weak point for us.”
Brooks also wants to see his team close games better this year. they were on the losing end of many of those contests last season, something that’s stuck with him all offseason.
“I think we just need to close games,” Brooks said. “We competed in almost every game we played in last year. I felt we let a few go that we should’ve won. The biggest one being the sectional championship against Bluefield. I 100 percent thought we were the better team, we just didn’t show it that night. We struggled shooting the basketball, we made some very bad turnovers and just let that one get away from us. It’s going to be a competitive region though. Nobody really lost any players.”
Still, the goal remains the same for the Warriors – win a state championship. While getting back to the state tournament would be a welcome success, that’s not enough.
“I know it’s cliche, but for us it’s always a state championship,” Brooks said. “If we don’t win a state championship you can’t go home satisfied. I don’t like the taste that losing leaves in your mouth and if you’re not a state champion then you’ve lost your last basketball game of the year and that’s never fun. It’s always a state championship for us.”
