Tharptown is developing for the future

Entering his third year as the head coach of the Tharptown boys basketball team, Chuck Simmons is seeking to continue building a program capable of winning an area title and returning the Wildcats to Hanceville – a place it hasn’t been in more than 15 years.

Before the season even began, Simmons and his staff had to work through some key roadblocks and find a way to replace Dalton Maldonada, who averaged 14 points per game for the Wildcats last year.

Simmons said some of his key guys, especially in the post, have sustained significant injuries prior to the season and will be sidelined for the year. This has resulted in him having to pull younger, inexperienced players up from the Tharptown B-team squad to fill in.

As one of only two seniors on the roster, Simmons said post player Bryson Borden will be called upon to shoulder much of the load when it comes to taking charge on the court. Fellow senior KadenHallmarkandjuniors David Sanchez, Joshua Bahena, Jackson Knighten and Austin Chaney could all play pivotal roles for the Wildcats as well, the coach said.

Simmons said sophomore post player Cody McCluskey will be “thrown into the fire” given the number of injuries the team has sustained so far. However, the coach is confident McCluskey will make improvements along the way.

“We’ve got a couple of guards that can score, so if they don’t fold under the pressure, we should be good offensively,” Simmons said. “We really should be a B-team, but that doesn’t faze us. We’re going to tackle what’s in front of us and we’re going to play our ball.”

Overall, Simmons said the goal for this season is to continue developing for the future while helping some of his younger players take a step forward in their respective games.

“We always want to compete,” Simmons said. “We’re going to show up with a positive mindset, a lot of energy and just compete as hard as we can night in and night out.”