In City ‘gauntlet,’ Africentric looking to erase pain of last year’s finish
As his players exited the locker room following a 69-62 victory over Walnut Ridge on Dec. 7, Africentric basketball coach Michael Bates reminded sophomore guard Laron Fuller of how far he and his teammates have come in a short time.
“This is your 11th varsity game,” Bates told Fuller. “You were only a freshman last year with only one month of practice.”
The Nubians, like all programs from the City League, didn’t get their 202021 season started until Jan. 25, then played an abbreviated schedule before the postseason started less than a month later.
Africentric went 7-0 in the Citysouth Division but could not compete in the City title game or the Division III district tournament because of COVID-19 protocols.
With a 95-40 victory over Marionfranklin on Tuesday, Africentric is 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the league and has its sights set on another shot at making the City final and being a district championship contender.
“I feel like our motivation with last year being robbed out of the opportunity we fought all season for, we’ve come in with a better mentality being hungry,” junior forward Dailyn Swain said. “We’ve been playing pretty well. I feel like we always start slow but we always stay together.”
At 6 feet 8 and with offers from a list of schools that includes Ohio State and Arizona State, Swain is one of the state’s top recruits.
He’s played like it so far, averaging nearly 20 points as the Nubians’ only losses were 50-47 to Huber Heights Wayne and 61-51 to Huntington (West Virginia) Prep. Wayne was a Division I district runner-up last year, and Huntington Prep was a state semifinalist in
Class AAAA.
Senior guard Dan Wagner, a Division VI first-team all-state defensive back in football, averages 18 points, and Fuller averages 12.
Junior forward Preston Steele and senior wing player Josiah Smith also are key players for the Nubians, who face Briggs and Eastmoor before looking for a season sweep of Walnut Ridge.
Africentric then faces South, which lost to the Nubians 54-52 on Dec. 10 but won three of its first four in the league with sophomore guard Lajames Washington leading the way.
“Everybody (in the City-south) plays everybody tough every time,” Bates said. “I do like what I’m seeing from the team. I’m seeing progress. I’d like to see us play with a little bit more basketball intelligence at the end of games and in some possessions . ... Our January is going to be a gauntlet.”
Walnut Ridge beat South 72-57 on Tuesday to improve to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the City-south, with sophomore guard Dominique Aekins and sophomore forward Na’varion Adams among its top players.
Esatmoor (6-1, 4-1) is another team that figures to remain in the mix for the City-south title. The Warriors were Division II district runners-up in 2020 but went 2-12 last season.
Senior forwards Dennis Asoro and Alonzo Thorpe, who are 6-8 and 6-6, respectively, give the Warriors one of the biggest frontlines in the City alongside senior guard Tramon Hairston, who did not play last season, and sophomore guard James Nowell.
“We’ve got some size and (Asoro and Thorpe) are playing well,” coach Jim Miranda said. “We’re a better team than we were last year.”