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From the Sports Desk - 03/23/06
Smoky Mountain’s men’s basketball team completed its season 7-18 marking the 12th time in the last 13 years the Mustangs have finished in single digits in wins.
“It was another up and down season,” said Coach Scott Hartbarger, who completed his ninth year at the helm. “We started out playing some non-conference schools that we were able to get some victories against and thought our chemistry looked pretty good. We knew Brevard and Pisgah would be tough, but we felt confident about the other three schools in the league. We lost some very close games that we felt we should have won that would have put us in better position for making the playoffs.”
Once again, SM had several games that could have gone either way.
“Many times we had the lead either at the start of the fourth quarter or midway through the fourth quarter, but we couldn’t finish the games,” he said. “We would hit a stretch where we couldn’t score or we would turn the ball over at critical times. As always, hopefully we learned some things from those games that we can build on for next season.”
The move from 3-A to the 2-A Western Athletic Conference somewhat raised expectations, and Hartbarger acknowledged he was disappointed the record didn’t improve.
“This was more disappointing because we felt we had the same amount of talent and the playing field was a little more level,” Hartbarger said. “We felt the experience of previously playing in the 3-A Mountain Athletic Conference would help us, but Pisgah and Brevard were as good as any teams in the MAC.”
On a positive note, the Mustangs finished strong. They defeated North Henderson in the conference tournament and battled defending state champion Pisgah on even terms for two and a half quarters.
According to Hartbarger, one of the turning points of the season was a loss at North Henderson early in the conference season.
“If we could have won that game, it would have done a lot for our kids’ confidence to be able to finish when the game was on the line,” he said.
The strong finish plus the experience gained by the young guards should pay off next year, Hartbarger said.
“We were inexperienced with a freshman point guard, who had a tremendous season, and a sophomore guard,” the coach said. “Although the other three starters were seniors, Tyson Crawford was the only one with a lot of playing time from the previous season.”
Seniors included Crawford, Matt Hawkins, Cory Siler and Carlose Howard.
“Tyson had a good senior year,” Hartbarger said. “He became better as the year went on and had more confidence in his defensive ability. We knew Tyson could score for us but he picked up his defensive intensity. I’m proud of him and the three years he spent in our program.”
Crawford was chosen all-conference and was named to the all-tournament team following the WAC tourney. He capped his career with a solid performance by scoring 10 points in Friday’s Blue-White All-Star Game.
“Matt was a pleasant surprise,” the coach said. “He came on and did all the little things we needed him to do. He always gave us a great effort. He played solid defense and led us in rebounding, and he scored when he needed to.”
“Cory gained confidence as the season went on,” Hartbarger said. “He had some really good games. I wished he would have played all four years for us.”
“This was the only year Carlose played for us,” the coach said. “In preseason workouts he was sprinting and pulled a muscle that turned into a hernia, He never could get back into basketball shape after that. He was always positive and did a good job on the sidelines for us by keeping everybody’s head in the game.”
Juniors were Dayne Bowers, Josh Jones, Taylor Gilleland and Rodney McCormick.
“Dayne hustles all the time,” Hartbarger said. “He gives real effort in practice and plays with a lot of intensity. He played great defense for us. He always gave us a spark off the bench.”
“We’re excited about Josh,” the coach said. “He got some quality minutes and did some great things in the post rebounding and running the floor. He’s got very good hands. We’re looking for big things from him next year.”
“Taylor is a very good shooter and hit some big shots for us,” Hartbarger said. “We look for him to continue his hard work in the weight room and over the summer. He works extremely hard at making himself a better player.”
McCormick joined the team around midseason.
“Rodney transferred from Ragsdale and became somewhat of a vocal leader for us,” the coach said. “He has a lot of enthusiasm and a passion for the game. He will be a big contributor to our team next year.”
Sophomores were Martin Davis and Jordan Panther.
“Martin started as a sophomore after being on the varsity last year,” Hartbarger said. “He had a solid season. He plays defense extremely well. Sometimes when we went to some trick defenses we asked him to guard the best players, and he did a great job. We will look for Martin to step up his scoring role next year. The experience he has will be very valuable for him.”
“Jordan is very athletic,” the coach said. “He didn’t get a lot of playing time, but he could be a big contributor next year. He needs to spend some time this spring and summer doing some ball handling drills and gain more confidence in his basketball skills.”
Dillon Dunford was the lone freshman on the varsity.
“Dillon did a tremendous job being put in the situation he was to start at point guard as a freshman,” Hartbarger said. “I’ve never had a freshman start every game in my nine years. He grew a lot and learned a lot of things. He will continue to get better and better every year.”
Hartbarger is already looking forward to next season.
“I’m very excited about next year,” he said. “This is the first time since I’ve been here we’ve had the JV team finish first in the conference. I think they won 10 of their last 11 games. With what we have returning from the varsity and coming up from the JVs, I feel like the experience we gained this year will benefit us next year, and we should be in the top three in the conference.”
Brevard mostly had juniors and should be strong next year, according to Hartbarger. He noted Pisgah lost some key players but should still be solid. West Henderson is another team he said could compete for a first division finish.
“I look for great things for us next year,” Hartbarger said. “As always, we want to put a team on the floor our community, faculty and students can be proud of.”
Hartbarger expressed appreciation to his father, Jim, the head JV coach, assistants coaches Daniel Mitchell and Adam Phillips, and JV assistants Ron Watson and Todd Drum.
“We have a solid coaching staff that is going to stay together,” he said. “That’s very important for me and for the players.
He also thanked Principal Alex Bell and the administration for their support, Coach Cindi Simmons of the women’s team for her cooperation in working out practice times and Chris Shuler for serving as manager of all four basketball teams.
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