By Bryan Bloodworth
BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington High School’s boys basketball team returns several players from last year’s Big 12 Conference co-championship team, so sixth-year coach Micheal Mosley is expecting good things.
“We’ve got a lot of our team from last year back,” said Mosley. “We’re excited. The guys are more mature that we have returning and more comfortable in the way we play.”
PODCAST: Listen to Mosley interview here.
The Purple Raiders shared the conference crown with Peoria Manual and posted 25-7 overall record last year and advanced to the Class 3A sectional title game.
Leading the way will be senior returnees play-maker Dazon Farris, who started 30 games a year ago, Jeremiah Beasley and JaVaun McGill. Junior returnees are Colton Sandage and Patrick Fisher, Farris’ younger brother. Another key component will be sophomore returnee Chris Payton.
“We’ll be high energy and have some intensity,” said Mosley. “I think we’ll play a little more conventional than we have in the past just because our skill set is so well-rounded. We’ll still be a team that tries to force tempo and play our style of basketball and make teams adjust to us.
“We’re going to try to press. Right now, it’s going to depend on how well the new guys can adjust and be able to contribute early on. If not, I feel that because of the experiences we have that our returning guys can be key, and if we have to we can get stops in the half-court as well.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
