Cunningham contributes in a big way for Chargers

This season isn't even complete yet, but it's hard to imagine just how much damage Caleb Cunningham can still do on the basketball court for Choctaw County High School.

As just a sophomore in high school, Cunningham is already producing at as high a level as anyone in Class 2A, Region 2 and really in all of 2A. Last week continued to reaffirm just how good the talented 10th grader is.

Taking on Bruce in Region 2 action, Cunningham led the way with 28 points on 9-of-14 with 10-of-12 makes from the free-throw line. His work set the tone for a dominant 90-53 win for the Chargers in one of the team's most complete wins this season. It also earned him OCH Regional Medical Center Athlete of the Week honors.

As good as Cunningham was and continues to be, Choctaw County coach Chris Pettit believes there's much more meat left on the bone. The 9-of-14 shooting was a good night and it's consistent with what Cunningham does. It's also reflective of the percentage of shots he takes. Pettit believes he can produce at an even higher rate.

“He's a little more poised than I want him to be,” Pettit said. “When he scores as much as he does, we want him to shoot more. He's a very unselfish player. He makes passes when he could just go ahead and shoot. I hate to say that, but I'd like him to be a little more selfish sometimes.”

Cunningham is an ever-evolving player. It's year three for him playing for the Chargers, but he's also still a young player. The last two years, he spent most of his time playing in the post because of his height and his ability to get the job done around the rim.

In the offseason, Pettit worked with Cunningham on developing his game even more.

“The one thing we worked on in the offseason and in the summer is to make him more complete,” Pettit said. “He's really worked on his outside shooting and his midrange game has gotten good. He does a lot of things well. He rebounds, defends and blocks shots. He's a great team player and the sky is the limit for him.”

Cunningham and Choctaw County enter the new week at 16-8 for the year with a 2-2 Region 2 record ahead of tonight's final district game against J.Z. George. The team is set to be the No. 3 seed in the district tournament next week with a win and it's a step back from the undefeated regular season that the Chargers had in district play last year.

Choctaw County has also already won more games than *it did all of last year. Cunningham

and Calvin Roberts are playing at an extremely high level. If more players can help out the two stars as they did against Bruce, the team is set to be one of the challengers in the district and the North.

“We've been up and down,” Pettit said. “Defensively, we've got a lot of room for improvement. Offensively, it's been a two-man show, but we've got a lot of guys that are getting confident with their shot. If we can get that kind of production with more guards, I feel good about where we are.”