Acclimating: Lions learning roles

photo by: Mike Yoder

Jackson Mallory shoots during drills at a Lawrence High School basketball camp Thursday, June 9 at LHS.

When Lawrence High boys basketball coach Mike Lewis walked into the school’s gymnasium for his team’s first workout this summer, he received a blast from the past.

Among the group of players on the court were former all-state standouts Dorian Green, Anthony Bonner and Justin Roberts. All three of them have led the Lions to the Class 6A state tournament in the past decade.

But heading into this upcoming season, the Lions will have to find ways to win without any of them.

After back-to-back trips to the Class 6A Final Four, the Lions return only one starter and have plenty of roles to fill throughout the summer. But next season’s group is confident there won’t be any drop off.

“I think we’ll be fine,” senior guard Jackson Mallory said. “I don’t think we’ll be rebuilding. I think it’ll be more of a starting where we left off.”

It’s a change from the state-title-or-bust expectations two years ago and last season’s squad which was ranked among the top teams in the state for most of the year before placing third in 6A.

Without many of the familiar faces from the past two years, the Lions will play in the KAMO tournament this weekend with three teams: freshmen, small varsity and varsity. Next week, the Lions will participate in the Kansas University team camp.

“We have some young guys who I’m not sure where they are going to be at the varsity level,” Lewis said. “This summer will be a great time to start to get them acclimated. I’d say it’s a good combination of reloading and rebuilding and that’s really what summer is all about. You start to come in, get a feel for your freshmen class, and get a good vibe going amongst your team.”

On the second day of twice-a-week workouts on Thursday, the Lions scrimmaged against each other after working on half-court team drills.

“I’ve been working on my game a lot to help us more offensively and not just on the defensive end,” senior guard Braden Solko said. “My game has gotten better a lot and I know these other guys have been working really hard, so we real excited about this year.”

Mallory is the only returning starter from last season, but Solko and senior Kobe Buffalomeat received spot starts when they filled in for injured players.

Despite some inexperience, Solko noted players off of the bench and from junior varsity aren’t completely new because last year’s starters “pushed us every practice.”

“We have some good ideas and some things that we’re going to throw at them and see how we respond,” Lewis said. “But the challenge of acclimating some new guys and moving in a little bit of a different direction is no doubt a challenge and something that we look forward to.”

Whichever direction the Lions decide to go with their new starting lineup and roles, they are confident they can match what they’ve done in the past.

“We’ll be pretty deep this year,” Solko said. “Not many guys have much experience but they’ll adapt just like we did last year. … We’ve had some great players come through, so we’re ready to get our chance.”

Mallory added: “If we play the way we can, play the way we know we can, we’ll surprise people this year.”