Two words that could accurately describe the Station Camp High boys basketball team might be experience and depth.
Senior Yalen Reed returns at forward for the Bison after earning Sumner County Co-Player of the Year honors last season.
With nine returning players who received playing time last season, the Bison are not lacking in the experience department.
With the addition of senior Sawyer Taylor – who transferred from Beech last spring – and head coach Seth Massey has plenty of weapons at his disposal.
The Bison will try to improve on last season’s 30-5 campaign. Station Camp suffered a 60-46 loss to visiting Brentwood in the Class AAA sectional round. Brentwood finished as the Class AAA runner-up.
“I don’t know if they’re using that (loss as motivation),” Massey said. “I know I’m not. We felt like we got beat by a very good team, and we would have loved to have kept playing.”
The Bison have one underclassman on their varsity roster, sophomore center Jonathan Gillard. The rest are all juniors or seniors.
The upperclassmen include one of the Sumner County Co-Players of the Year from last season, senior forward Yalen Reed.
“He’s still working to be the player that we think he can be,” Massey said of Reed. “He still has room to continue to improve. He’s learned the game really and is trying to add more things to his game. He’ll play similar to what he did last year. He’ll still be a forward and play inside some and outside a lot.”
The other county player of the year – center Kyle Anderton – is now playing football at Vanderbilt University.
“Replacing the things that (Anderton) gave us on the court probably won’t be as big as they will off the court,” Massey said. “He was a phenomenal leader for us. He and Shi’Vonta Perry both did a fantastic job with the leadership of the team. We’ll miss him on the court too, but it’s a chance for some of our seniors to step up.”
With Taylor’s arrival, the Bison have plenty of depth at the guard positions.
Massey said he’s been getting to know Taylor ever since his arrival.
“He moved, and when he got registered at our school, that was the first time I had really talked to him at all,” Massey said of Taylor. “It was just something that his family decided to do, and we were happy to get him. He’s going to be a big contributor for us.”
The goal is to allow Taylor to feel like a cog in the machine instead of the main component. He led the Buccaneers in scoring last season.
“I feel like with the way we tried to play last year – we had three guys that averaged 10 points per game, and those were our leading scorers – that’s something (Taylor) has really embraced,” Massey said. “He doesn’t feel like he has to carry the load – not that he had to do that last year. He’s a fantastic shooter and scorer. He’s playing free and easy right now, and he’s enjoying it.”
Last season gave senior Keaton Dotson and junior Chase Freeman an opportunity to become major contributors. Freeman assumed the point-guard position midway through the season.
“Keaton had to grow up quick,” Massey said. “Chase Freeman had to grow up quick. (Junior) Thomas Zazzaro and (senior) Peyton Anderson – some of our guards that had to play at a young age – had to grow up quick, and hopefully, that now equals experience.”
Freeman, Taylor and Dotson figure to be the first three in the guard rotation, with senior Anderson and juniors Zazzaro, Reed Reynolds, Bailey Ferguson and Noah Cowart providing additional depth.
“We’ve got more depth than we’ve ever had,” Massey said. “We’re trying to channel that toward competition.”
Senior center Hayden Baldwin could see minutes inside, along with Gillard. Junior Kody Eden will see action at forward.
As far as starters are concerned, Massey said that numerous players have made a case for being in the starting five.
“The beautiful thing we have is that today at practice, it was so rough and physical and competitive,” Massey said. “Right now, I think we have nine guys that could make an argument to start. This is one of the best preseasons that I’ve had because of that competition.”
Station Camp High senior Keaton Dotson (14) is expected to see extensive playing time, as will classmate Sawyer Taylor (34). Taylor transferred from Beech last spring.
That competition is what Massey loves about his players.
“Our whole thing last year, and starting this year with this group, is that they’re so competitive,” Massey said. “They want to win every five-on-five drill in practice. Every game, every scrimmage, these guys are competitive, and they want to win.”
Improving on last year’s finish would involve reaching the state tournament for the first time in school history.
“We’re just trying to see how good we can be,” Massey said. “We want to take this team and reach our potential, whatever that is.”
Station Camp opens its season on Tuesday by hosting Hunters Lane for a Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association Hall of Champions contest, and the Bison will travel to Beech on Dec. 4 to open District 9-AAA play.
Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.