Smith County High School Basketball Preview

by Ryan Nixon

The 2019-2020 Smith County High School Boys Basketball Team

Smith County Owls Season Preview

Following a tough season last year, the Owls brought in Trey Sanders as the new head coach.  Sanders coached the Owls over 12 years ago, but has been the Head Coach of the Gordonsville Tigers since.

Sanders and the Owls will have a lot to prove this season, as they went 1-25 last season.  Sanders said that the Owls had a good summer, and this change of energy could help the Owls turn some head in the season.

“The team responded well at camp this summer,” Sanders said. ”We were able to win some games, which gave them some encouragement.  I learned a lot about them, as they learned a lot about me.  The guys are excited and eager to play.  One thing I have tried to have them focus on is attitude.  I encourage them to approach everything with a ‘We can, We will’ attitude.”

The Owls will have a slight disadvantage at the start of the season, as they have eight players on the football team which have not been able to get much practice with the team. This could lead to a slow start to these players when the season starts.

The 2019-2020 Smith County High School Girls Basketball Team

Smith County Lady Owls Season Preview

The Lady Owls will be led by a new head coach, Todd Hess, when their season starts. Hess was a member of the Lady Owls coaching staff last year, but was promoted this offseason when Gregg Bibb went to Gordonsville.

The coaching change will only be a part of the new look Lady Owls, who had five seniors graduate last year. Hess will need to look to their four juniors to provide leadership this year, as there are no seniors on the roster. Experience is a point that may be lacking, with their only being a few players on the Owls team last year that got a significant amount of minutes. With the graduation of 1,000 point scorer Allyssa West, the team will need some new players to step up to fill her shoes.

The Lady Owls will need these young players to learn fast and get their confidence, because they have a difficult path through their conference this year. Macon County and Upperman are two of the better teams in the state, and are the first two district games the Lady Owls will play this year. These games could help quite a bit in building experience and if the Lady Owls can keep it close or get the win, it should work wonders for their confidence throughout the season and on to next year as well.

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