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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Calera Eagles are working hard to improve on the court this boys basketball season as they hope their young core can continue to move in a positive direction throughout the 2024-25 season and beyond.

“I want us to consistently come out every night and work hard together and just continue to grow just every day in our practices,” Calera coach George Drake said. “We’re kind of a young team still, but this group right here has an opportunity to start something this year that can roll over the next couple years, so consistency is just one on our main things when it comes to just how we approach our practices and effort that everything rolls over to our game.”

After losing four starters from last season’s squad that went 5-26, the Eagles only have two seniors back this year in Semaj Kimbrough and DeVyn Goodman. They’ll be relied upon to lead as two of the six returning players from last year’s team.

The biggest piece back is the lone returning starter from last season: junior point guard Garrett Mahone. Drake is counting on him to take the next step in his game through an improved outside shot and as a person this year by stepping up as a veteran leader.

Calera will also have a pair of physical returning players in Darian Hamilton and Cayden Specks. Both are fresh off of football season so are used to playing through contact and have basketball experience from previous seasons as well.

They’ll also add six more newcomers to the mix, including junior Carlos Wisenhunt, freshman Kegan Johnson and a handful of experienced former JV players ready to take the next step.

On the offensive end, Drake said that some of their playstyle will look the same as last year, but their goal is to get faster and disrupt opponents in transition, something he personally has experience doing.

“This year, we’ll still do some of the stuff that we did last year. We also try to reach back into something what I would call my identity as a player and what it’s been as a coach–get up and down the court,” Drake said. “We’re going to play fast, we’re going to play full-court and we’re going to try to cause a little bit of chaos and play fast.”

In order to have good transition offense though, that starts with strong defense, and Drake has made that a priority this year as well. Strong on-ball defense is another aspect that the Eagles boss likes to feature in his game, and he hopes that leads to turnovers.

“I think how we go will be predicated off how I would play on the defensive end,” Drake said. “If we can create turnovers and we can pressure you and do those type of things to our strengths and our physicality, I think we’ll have success. We’ll have fun playing hard on the defensive end, so I’m guessing that will be a strength for us.”

With so many new or young pieces on the team, Drake wants them to come together and grow as a unit.

Some of those players haven’t gone through the trials of a grueling three-month varsity season, so as someone who has led Calera teams through hard times, Drake’s goal for his players is that they keep working and learning even when they fall short.

He also wants them to have fun and enjoy making memories with their teammates off the court since that leads to better chemistry on the court.

“The goal for this team is just team camaraderie and gaining the experience together,” Drake said. “Obviously, you want to win, but even through our losses being able to learn and understand that the season isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, and so those guys just kind of keeping that concept at the forefront of their minds and understanding that when it comes together, it’s going to be really fun getting out there and competing night in and night out.

“So, my goal is just that they come out every day and they work hard in practice, and then off the court, enjoy each other, their teammates and really just bond and gel and create that bond amongst themselves that will roll over to when they’re on the court.”

The Calera Eagles will begin the season on the road at Oak Mountain on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. They will open up their home slate on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. against Murphy.