Falcons feast on Ricebird field
By Bridget Bauer / Correspondent
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 10:47 AM CST
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| North Pulaski’s Haley Hudson calls time out during a game at the Heavenly Hoopfest last week at Mount St. Mary in Little Rock (Chad Matchett). |
North Pulaski Coach Ray Cooper was hoping the Falcons performance in last week’s Stuttgart Ricebird Invitational would be a sign of what to expect for the season. After losing all three games last year, North Pulaski this time won all three to claim the tournament title.
The difference is having eight players returning. However, of those eight, six are juniors so they have worked through the inexperienced mistakes.
“We are more cohesive this year,” Cooper said. “We have set our goals to win every game, and we’ll see what happens after that.”
Returning for the Falcons are two seniors, Carlos Donley, a 6-foot-7 center, and Jerald Blair a 5-11 guard. The six juniors are point guard Joe Agee (5-2), point guard Aaron Cooper (5-11), and two guards DaQuan Bryant (6-3), Christian Knight-Hueszel (6-0), Kyron Ware (6-1) and Troy Greene (6-2).Last season, the group lost its 10 games by just single digits. So, they knew this year could be special.
“They know and are revitalized,” Cooper said. “They have worked hard throughout the summer and off-season. It’s the best since I’ve been here.”
Cooper has noticed a maturity he didn’t see last season. The Falcons like to run but sometimes they have to slow down, and during the tournament they played the halfcourt game better. Last year if North Pulaski had to slow down, it usually meant a loss. Cooper noticed some other positives about this team.
In the first game against Watson Chapel, a 6A state semifinalist last year, the Falcons didn’t play well. At first, Cooper was disappointed.
“We got down the first half and came back to win,” he said. “It wasn’t a well-executed game. But after looking at the game, there was a bright spot because we were able to win when not playing well.”
Cooper talked about that to this team before the next game against Stuttgart and won 67-43. He said the Falcons played as sharp as any team in his four years at North Pulaski. In the finals against Helena-West Helena Central, the Falcons won but let leads slip away.
“We have a tendency to go away from the game when we jump out to a lead,” Cooper said. “We have to get where we stick to the game plan.”
Last season, Aaron Cooper and Bryant were the leading scorers, and at least one of them was during the three games. But during the three games, coach Cooper saw signs of other players contributing which will make the Falcons a balanced-scoring team. The coach also saw improvement in the way North Pulaski plays offense.
“Last year, we struggled,” he said. “We are understanding how to attack different defenses and sticking to the game plan.”
