The state champs have a message, y’all. Cannon School says ‘Don’t forget about us.’
BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
Cannon School won the N.C. Independent Schools state championship in February and was poised to bring all five starters back. The Cougars would’ve been at least among the favorites to win a championship this season.
But when top-10 national recruit Jalen Bradley, the N.C. high school player of the year, decided to transfer to IMG Academy in Florida, something changed. Cougars coach Che’ Roth feels that when people began to talk about the top teams in North Carolina for the 2020-21 season, they began to leave the Cougars out.
And Roth feels that’s wrong.
“We bring four starters back and we bring back a whole lot of kids who invested a lot in that state championship,” Roth said after Friday’s 89-59 win over Freedom Christian at the Phenom Hoops’ “November Classic” in Rock Hill. “It’s a team thing. It’s a program thing. Taking nothing away from Jaden, he’s a special talent, but we had three guys on the all-state team last year and we played without (7-foot center Christian Reeves) all last year, and we had another starter (6-8 Elijah Ormiston) who was playing his first year or organized basketball.”
Ormiston, who averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds in his first season of organized basketball, is back for Year 2, and Reeves, a Division I recruit, is back from a back injury. Senior wing Jarvis Moss has turned into a bona-fide star. He scored 37 points in a game earlier this week. So make no mistake, Cannon still has a lot of pieces.
On Friday, the Cougars were down to eight players plus football star Tyler Green, who had one practice under his belt, due to nagging injuries. Two starters -- Reeves and Ormiston -- didn’t play. Still Cannon led 39-25 at halftime and ran away for an easy win.
Karon Boyd, a 6-5 transfer from Cox Mill, had 26 points, 16 rebounds and four assists. DJ Nix had 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists. Moss had 18 points, five assists and four rebounds.
And Cannon sent a message to all of North Carolina, playing in a big showcase event:
Don’t forget about us.
“I do like that people kind of (overlook) what our kids are all about,” Roth said. “They’re playing with a chip on their shoulders. But I always believe in our group. The uniform says ‘Cannon,’ and it’s a really, really tight team. It’s a brand new team. The ‘20 team won their championship and we closed the book on that team. This is a brand new team with brand new leadership. Jarvis (Moss) and DJ (Nix) and Deuce Rolle have done an exceptional job leading this team.
“We’ve got a lot of size, a lot of depth and we can shoot it. As long as we continue to work hard, I like our chances.”
BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
Cannon School won the N.C. Independent Schools state championship in February and was poised to bring all five starters back. The Cougars would’ve been at least among the favorites to win a championship this season.
But when top-10 national recruit Jalen Bradley, the N.C. high school player of the year, decided to transfer to IMG Academy in Florida, something changed. Cougars coach Che’ Roth feels that when people began to talk about the top teams in North Carolina for the 2020-21 season, they began to leave the Cougars out.
And Roth feels that’s wrong.
“We bring four starters back and we bring back a whole lot of kids who invested a lot in that state championship,” Roth said after Friday’s 89-59 win over Freedom Christian at the Phenom Hoops’ “November Classic” in Rock Hill. “It’s a team thing. It’s a program thing. Taking nothing away from Jaden, he’s a special talent, but we had three guys on the all-state team last year and we played without (7-foot center Christian Reeves) all last year, and we had another starter (6-8 Elijah Ormiston) who was playing his first year or organized basketball.”
Ormiston, who averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds in his first season of organized basketball, is back for Year 2, and Reeves, a Division I recruit, is back from a back injury. Senior wing Jarvis Moss has turned into a bona-fide star. He scored 37 points in a game earlier this week. So make no mistake, Cannon still has a lot of pieces.
On Friday, the Cougars were down to eight players plus football star Tyler Green, who had one practice under his belt, due to nagging injuries. Two starters -- Reeves and Ormiston -- didn’t play. Still Cannon led 39-25 at halftime and ran away for an easy win.
Karon Boyd, a 6-5 transfer from Cox Mill, had 26 points, 16 rebounds and four assists. DJ Nix had 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists. Moss had 18 points, five assists and four rebounds.
And Cannon sent a message to all of North Carolina, playing in a big showcase event:
Don’t forget about us.
“I do like that people kind of (overlook) what our kids are all about,” Roth said. “They’re playing with a chip on their shoulders. But I always believe in our group. The uniform says ‘Cannon,’ and it’s a really, really tight team. It’s a brand new team. The ‘20 team won their championship and we closed the book on that team. This is a brand new team with brand new leadership. Jarvis (Moss) and DJ (Nix) and Deuce Rolle have done an exceptional job leading this team.
“We’ve got a lot of size, a lot of depth and we can shoot it. As long as we continue to work hard, I like our chances.”
