By Ryan Davenport, WSON Sports Correspondent
The 2024-2025 Henderson County Colonel Boys Basketball team is looking to be in the mix this season with some returning starters and some young guys with potential.
The Colonels went 26-7 last season, going 15-1 in the 2nd region and 5-0 in the 6th district, as the Colonels won in the 6th District Tournament Championship game by taking down the Union County Braves, 72-33. Then in the opening round of the 2nd Region Tournament the Colonels defeated the Trigg County Wildcats, 66-49, at Hopkinsville High School to advance to the semifinals where they defeated the University Heights Blazers, 69-34, to advance to the 2nd Region Championship game where they would lose to the eventual state champions the Lyon County Lyons, 56-44, that ended their season.
Head Coach of the Colonels Tyler Smithhart is in his 13th season as the Varsity Head Coach of the Colonels basketball team. I was able to sit down with him and ask him several questions about this 2024-2025 Colonel team. The first thing Coach Smithart talked about was what his team has done this offseason to improve coming into the season, “You know this team has always been a team that moves the ball really well. These guys have grown up playing together, this group of seniors, but just everyday at practice I’m reminded of just how well they move the ball, how unselfish they are and how they play. I think for us its been a struggle in the off-season to replace a guy like Alec Satterfield, in particular because of the advantages on offense he can create with his speed. Its kind of unique that we don’t really have a point guard. You know Alec, G before that you know we’ve had a lot of guys that really just kind of can create with their speed and physicality. This team is built a little different and they have some advantages in other areas but not having that guy that (is) just on the ball, point guard, blow by you, you know not having that has caused us to have to figure out some different ways to create offensive advantages for ourselves. I think also just being more versatile on defense. We still won’t play a ton of man to man defense this year but we know with the personnel we have and some of the match ups that we’ll have in our region we were going to have to be able mix it up a little bit and not just rely solely on our match up zone so I think those two areas in particular and just improving everybody’s overall skill level. Shooting in particular has been an emphasis for us. We want multiple guys, four or five guys, in our program, in our rotation that can step out and knock down 35 plus percent three point shooting. We hope we get there, we’re going to continue to work at that but those are areas we focused on and areas where we’ve seen growth. ” Smithart said.
Coach Smithhart discussed a new coaching staff addition this season and Smithhart responded with this, “Yeah we’re really excited to bring Brandon Fisher home to Henderson County where he played and started his coaching career as an assistant. I think his first year as an assistant coach was my senior year in high school. Coach Fisher is one of the best in the business in terms of understanding x’s and o’s. His passion for the game is second to none, I mean he loves it, he eats, sleeps, and breathes it. He’s a phenomenal teacher of the game as far as the technical, tactical, skill work, (and) footwork. We have some bigs in our program right now besides Elijah (Suggs), I mean Braden Williams at 6’6 you know 270 (pounds), you know Kahlovion Hall at 6’3 200 pounds, and then Kingston Crawford coming into the program I mean he’s pushing 6’5, then we’ve got a couple of freshman out there 6’6 (and) 6’5. We’ve got some size and some height that we haven’t had around here in a long time and so Brandon (Fisher) has been a tremendous asset in developing and working in concert with Ervin Miller and developing the skill sets of those guys.”
Coach Smithhart discussed some goals this team has this season and Smithhart responded with this, “Well I know ultimately this group has had their sights set on Rupp Arena from day one. I want to do everything I can as their head coach to help make that happen for them. I think we want to be better by the end than we are at the beginning. I think we want to represent ourselves well and what we do every single night on the floor and I think we want to make a lot of lasting memories with this bunch in terms of how passionate we play, how well we play together. We want Colonel Gym to be rocking and we want people to have fun coming out and supporting us and ultimately I think we want to get better in the game and in life over the course of the season, that’s what every season is about and if you focus on those things and do it a day at a time the results will kind of take care of themselves. Our standards don’t change year to year, I know we’ve talked about this group may feel a little pressure, this is the Colonels year. Listen we feel like every year is our year and we know that we’re not going to sit back on our heels and wait for somebody to hunt us down. We’re going to go out and hunt the second region and we’re going to be the agreesor in every game and we’ll let the chips fall.”
I got to interview senior guard Dwaine Moss and he talked about what he has improved in the off-sesason and Dwaine said this, “I feel like I can score the ball more (at a) high level and do more off the ball.”
Moss discussed what it means to play in a Colonel uniform and the impact it has had on him as a player and in his life, “Its made me a better person honestly I almost gave up last year but I stuck it through and its made me what I am today.”
Another player I was able to interview was senior forward Lacon McKinney and asked him a few questions. McKinney talked about some of the improvements he made in the off-season going into the season, “I’ve improved my three point shooting, little bit of my athleticism and my speed, and I’ve worked on my basketball IQ and I think that will help us win games.”
McKinney talked about some goals this team has and Lacon responded with this, “We want to win a second region championship and that’s how it is.”
McKinney talked about what it means to play in a Colonel uniform and the impact it has had on him as a player and in his life, “It means everything. This small town has gathered around our players especially last year in the regional tournament. It’s just a big deal in this town and we appreciate everybody coming out to support.”
Another player I was able to interview was senior center Eli Suggs and asked him a few questions. Suggs talked about some of the improvements he made in the offseason going into this season, “I would say my boxing out, rebounding, and really just getting big in the paint. Coach Fisher (and us) have been putting a lot of paint work in every practice.”
Suggs talked about his personal goals he has this season, “I’d like to beat my block record. I feel like I can get more than I did last season.”
Suggs talked about what it means to play in a Colonel uniform and the impact it has had on him as a player and in his life, “Its been pretty good. I can meet a lot of people that I don’t really know but they know me because of basketball and its just been a good experience. I really don’t know what I would’ve done with my time if I wasn’t on the basketball team.”
The final player I was able to interview was senior guard Cooper Davenport and asked him a few questions. Davenport talked about some of the improvements he made in the off-season heading into this season, “I really feel like most of all I’ve definitely improved on the weights and just in the weight room and also just like creating for myself off the dribble and along with a lot of other things.”
Davenport talked about team goals his team has this season, “So definitely win a regional tournament for the first time in 20 years and make a run at the state tournament. I also think a big goal is just to come out of halftime better and just not letting off the gas (and) be a good second half team.”
Davenport talked about what it means to play in a Colonel uniform and the impact it has had on him as a player and in his life, “Its been great, this is the 5th year now since I was in 8th grade. It’s been great, the coaches (and the) teammates. I can vividly remember a lot of stuff that I’ve done over the past 5 years so it’s been a great run and I’m gonna make this one the best.”
The Colonels open up the season with Daviess County tonight on the road in Owensboro at 7:30 P.M.
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