4 minute read
Elizabethton Cyclones
Page 4 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2020 Cyclones
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Advertisement
2020-2021 Elizabethton Cyclones
Chemistry, team culture key to Cyclones season
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
2020 has already been a year filled with more questions than answers from different aspects of life that even reaches down to high school athletics.
For basketball coaches like head coach Lucas Honeycutt of the Elizabethton Cyclones boys team, that hasn’t been more evident than in trying to pencil in how his team will look in the 2020-2021 season.
“There are a lot of question marks with not having a summer and being able to go and participate in team camp,” Honeycutt said during the basketball media day.
“We got basically a whole new roster this year. There are a lot of kids coming in from playing junior varsity with minimal experience coming into varsity games.”
Thankfully for Honeycutt, there are a few players that he can lean on for leadership.
“Two guys coming back, starting wise, is William Willocks and Jake Roberts along with Braden Phillips who played a lot of minutes for us as well,” Honeycutt said.
“Then we have a host of guys that are going to be coming in and filling a host of those other spots.
“Nicholas Wilson inside is going to be big for us. Seth Carter and Bryce VanHuss are going to be splitting time at point guard and shooting guard,” Honeycutt continued.
“We look for Dalton Mitchell and Nate Stephens to come back and help with those duties as well so those four guys are going to be rotating in and out to help us handle the ball and play on the wing as well.”
Honeycutt added that his team will either have a large roster where a lot of players will be rotating or possibly he and the coaching staff might get comfortable and find a short roster.
Another big thing impacting basketball will be COVID.
“It’s going to be a trend this year where you go a number of days without certain kids due to these restrictions and contact tracing comes into play and we had some of those already,” Honeycutt commented.
“It’s going to be a weird year. We are hoping to get to play number one and then we are going to do everything that we can to keep plugging in kids.
“By the end of the year, you may have some freshmen stepping in and some younger guys that you can count on. We have some guys that are new to the team that may be able to come in and contribute.”
Honeycutt feels like for his team to be successful, there is one major thing that needs to occur.
“If we don’t have good team chemistry and team culture, I think that we are going to struggle but if those guys buy in and play for one another and do the things they have been doing thus far and keep working hard every day,” Honeycutt stated.
As far as the league goes, the Cyclone skipper sees East and Unicoi Co. at the top due to having a lot of returners, and then from there, it’s jumbled.
“I like to think everyone else is even until someone separates themselves,” he said. “We have to get a lot better and kids have to grow up for us to be successful.”
2020-2021 ELIZABETHTON CYCLONES
# name 0 Jake roberts 1 Brayden Phillips 3 nate stephens 10 seth Carter 12 Bryce vanhuss 14 Kaleb hambrick 15 Dalton Mitchell 21 Will Churchill 22 Mac Paulson 24 William Willocks 42 Chris earnest 44 Caleb Franklin 50 nicholas Wilson 52 Bradley Cannon 54 Cameron smith head Coach: lucas honeycutt asst Coach: Barry edney, Gary harrison, tee Blevins
Bookkeeper: Kevin harmon Principal: Jon Minton athletic Director: Forrest holt
December
3 at Knox Catholic (G) 11 at sullivan Central* 12 university high (B) 14 at Cosby 15 at David Crockett 18 at happy valley* 21-23 heritage Christmas tourney at Maryville heritage
January
2 Dobyns-Bennett 5 Johnson County* 8 unicoi Co.* 12 sullivan south* 15 at sullivan east* 16 Cosby 18 at university high (B) 22 sullivan Central* 23 David Crockett 26 happy valley* 29 at Johnson Co.* 30 Knox Catholic (G)
February
2 at unicoi Co.* 5 sullivan east* 9 at sullivan south* 12 at Dobyns-Bennett
2020 Elizabethton Cheerleaders
(Bottom L-R) Kailey Peters, Olivia Vaughn, and Sophie Paulson. (Middle L-R) Cassidy Estep, Laci Lipford, Morgan Guinn, and Haley Stresemann. (Top L-R) Sara Zimmerman, Cagney Bennett, Kiarra Kerr, Montana Ramsey, Lucy Maupin, Maely Ingram, and Kaylee Hollifield.
