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Eagles face tall task in Hoop Fest
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| Greene County Tech’s Wes Livingston (2) takes aim at the basket during earlier action in the Hurricane Classic in Jonesboro. Livingston and the Eagles travel to Perryville, Mo., on Saturday to face Chaminade Prep of St. Louis. Saundra Sovick/Paxton News Bureau |
GCT to challenge Chaminade Prep
By Cory Clark
cclark@paragoulddailypress.com
After a two-week break, the Greene County Tech Golden Eagles take to the floor once again Saturday when they travel to Perryville, Mo., for the Heartland Hoop Fest where they will play Chaminade Prep of St. Louis.
The Golden Eagles, who have not played since winning the Hurricane Classic at Jonesboro High School Dec. 6., received an invitation to compete in the Hoop Fest last spring. The showcase will feature teams from Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky.
“Last spring, we got a call from the chamber of commerce in Perryville and they heard we had a good team and said they had been following us for a couple of years,” Bowlin said. “They wanted to know if we wanted to come up there and play in a showcase because they were bringing in some very good teams from around the region.”
Since accepting, Bowlin said he has heard only good things about the showcase.
“They have a nice place to play and it gives our kids exposure up in that area,” he said. “We’re honored to be able to play in it.”
Having not played in two weeks, Bowlin said he expects his team to be a little rusty early against Chaminade Prep.
“We have not played in two weeks, but I thought we were playing pretty good,” Bowlin said. “But we are going to probably be a little sluggish because nothing replaces playing.”
Dealing with a long layoff is the least of Bowlin’s concerns as he’s much more worried about dealing with Chaminade Prep, which enters the game as the second ranked team overall in Missouri.
A few years ago, David Lee was a McDonald’s All-American at Chaminade before going on to star at the University of Florida and making his way into the NBA with the New York Knicks.
This year, Chaminade Prep features major division one recruit Bradley Beal, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound shooting guard.
Bowlin said Beal has already garnered major attention and according to scout.com, Beal has already taken official visits to Kansas, Missouri, Purdue and St. Louis University as well as receiving attention from the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.
“I know that he’s on Bill Self’s speed dial at Kansas,” he said. “He had 51 the other night in a game, and we talked to some of the coaches at St. Louis McClure High School and they said he’s the real deal.”
Being a prep school, Chaminade gives students the opportunity to basically receive another year of high school preparation before they go to college.
“This is the first prep school we’ve ever played,” he said.
From what he has heard about Chaminade Prep, Bowlin said he expects Chaminade to be a very athletic team.
“They are supposed to be extremely good, maybe not as structured as some of the teams we’ve played but they rely a lot on their athleticism,” he said.
The Golden Eagles have already finished third in the prestigious Rumble on the Ridge in Forrest City and won the Hurricane Classic, beating host Jonesboro in the final.
Playing against such good competition already, Bowlin said he expects his team to be ready when they take the floor against the Eagles.
“It’s a big challenge, but I don’t think they are going to show us anything we have not already seen,” he said.
As for playing on the road, Bowlin said his team is used to it by now as they have played only one home game so far this season and he will be looking to his seniors to step up.
“We expect a lot from our seniors to take that load ad sort of filter it down to the younger kids,” he said. “We’ve played eight of our first nine games on the road and this game will make it ten out of eleven.”
Playing such a tough early season schedule, Bowlin said he is a bit surprised by his team’s 8-1 record.
“If someone would have told me in July that we would be 8-1 I probably would have told them they needed to see a doctor,” he said.
The coach pointed to the play of his big three ” seniors Wes Livingston, Trase Davis and Zach Mitchell.
“I think they are finally playing like I knew they could,” he said.
Coming into the season, Bowlin knew what he was going to get from the big three, but he wondered what kind of production he would get from other players on the team who were stepping into new or larger roles.
He noted that senior Kevin Hawes and junior Caleb Hartwig have come along quicker than he thought after coming over from playing football.
Two transfers, Chase Halbrook from Palestine, and Zach George from Rivercrest, have also impressed Bowlin with how quickly they have acclimated themselves to the Tech program.
“All of our new guys have come in and accepted their roles and some of them had to change their roles from what they were last year and they are just worried about the team,” he said. “And that says a lot about how they were raised and what kind of individuals they are.”
Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
After a two-week break, the Greene County Tech Golden Eagles take to the floor once again Saturday when they travel to Perryville, Mo., for the Heartland Hoop Fest where they will play Chaminade Prep of St. Louis.
The Golden Eagles, who have not played since winning the Hurricane Classic at Jonesboro High School Dec. 6., received an invitation to compete in the Hoop Fest last spring. The showcase will feature teams from Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky.
“Last spring, we got a call from the chamber of commerce in Perryville and they heard we had a good team and said they had been following us for a couple of years,” Bowlin said. “They wanted to know if we wanted to come up there and play in a showcase because they were bringing in some very good teams from around the region.”
Since accepting, Bowlin said he has heard only good things about the showcase.
“They have a nice place to play and it gives our kids exposure up in that area,” he said. “We’re honored to be able to play in it.”
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“We have not played in two weeks, but I thought we were playing pretty good,” Bowlin said. “But we are going to probably be a little sluggish because nothing replaces playing.”
Dealing with a long layoff is the least of Bowlin’s concerns as he’s much more worried about dealing with Chaminade Prep, which enters the game as the second ranked team overall in Missouri.
A few years ago, David Lee was a McDonald’s All-American at Chaminade before going on to star at the University of Florida and making his way into the NBA with the New York Knicks.
This year, Chaminade Prep features major division one recruit Bradley Beal, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound shooting guard.
Bowlin said Beal has already garnered major attention and according to scout.com, Beal has already taken official visits to Kansas, Missouri, Purdue and St. Louis University as well as receiving attention from the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.
“I know that he’s on Bill Self’s speed dial at Kansas,” he said. “He had 51 the other night in a game, and we talked to some of the coaches at St. Louis McClure High School and they said he’s the real deal.”
Being a prep school, Chaminade gives students the opportunity to basically receive another year of high school preparation before they go to college.
“This is the first prep school we’ve ever played,” he said.
From what he has heard about Chaminade Prep, Bowlin said he expects Chaminade to be a very athletic team.
“They are supposed to be extremely good, maybe not as structured as some of the teams we’ve played but they rely a lot on their athleticism,” he said.
The Golden Eagles have already finished third in the prestigious Rumble on the Ridge in Forrest City and won the Hurricane Classic, beating host Jonesboro in the final.
Playing against such good competition already, Bowlin said he expects his team to be ready when they take the floor against the Eagles.
“It’s a big challenge, but I don’t think they are going to show us anything we have not already seen,” he said.
As for playing on the road, Bowlin said his team is used to it by now as they have played only one home game so far this season and he will be looking to his seniors to step up.
“We expect a lot from our seniors to take that load ad sort of filter it down to the younger kids,” he said. “We’ve played eight of our first nine games on the road and this game will make it ten out of eleven.”
Playing such a tough early season schedule, Bowlin said he is a bit surprised by his team’s 8-1 record.
“If someone would have told me in July that we would be 8-1 I probably would have told them they needed to see a doctor,” he said.
The coach pointed to the play of his big three ” seniors Wes Livingston, Trase Davis and Zach Mitchell.
“I think they are finally playing like I knew they could,” he said.
Coming into the season, Bowlin knew what he was going to get from the big three, but he wondered what kind of production he would get from other players on the team who were stepping into new or larger roles.
He noted that senior Kevin Hawes and junior Caleb Hartwig have come along quicker than he thought after coming over from playing football.
Two transfers, Chase Halbrook from Palestine, and Zach George from Rivercrest, have also impressed Bowlin with how quickly they have acclimated themselves to the Tech program.
“All of our new guys have come in and accepted their roles and some of them had to change their roles from what they were last year and they are just worried about the team,” he said. “And that says a lot about how they were raised and what kind of individuals they are.”
Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
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| NEA tourney begins Friday |
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