WEST POINT — Most high school basketball coaches have a general idea who will be their leading scorer on most nights.
West Point High boys basketball coach Brad Cox is not in that group.
Cox feels like the lack of star power and the ultimate in balance is a big reason why the Green Wave will play host to Provine at 7 tonight in the opening round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association north state Class 5A playoffs.
“We really could have any of six or seven different player lead us in scoring on any given night,” Cox said. “We have an incredibly unselfish team and that is a big reason why we are where we are.”
The Green Wave knocked off New Hope and Oxford last week to win the Class 5A, Region 2 tournament at Oxford.
By securing the district title — the school’s first in boys basketball since 1989 — West Point earned the right to host in the opening round.
The Green Wave won the region title thanks to key contributions from multiple players.
Cortez Malone is the senior point guard who acts like the West Point coach on the floor. Senior Keon McKinney is the team’s top defensive star, charged each night with guarding the other team’s top scorer. Senior Arrington Lenoir has emerged as the team’s secret weapon off the bench. Despite being in the role of sixth man, Arrington has led the squad in scoring on several occasions.
That trio led West Point to the title last week and now this week has been chosen as The Dispatch’s Prep Players of the Week.
“At the beginning of the year we had difficulty playing team ball,” Lenoir said. “Later on, we realized if we were going to get where we wanted to go, we had to go hard and play more team ball.”
While Cox relies on seven seniors, the team still had to work on its chemistry thanks to a couple of transfers who joined the squad this year.
“If you look at our record (12-13), its does not look that good,” Cox said. “However, it took several games for this group to mesh. Even though we had seniors, we still had some new pieces.”
The Green Wave also played a difficult schedule. West Point played region champions Starkville, Tupelo, Aberdeen and Louisville twice apiece.
“We really have faced a lot of challenges this year,” Malone said. “The New Hope game (a regular-season win in January) is really where it all came together for us. That is when it clicked.
“Being out here every day and being able to play with these guys has been an incredible experience.”
The Green Wave did knock off New Hope roughly a month ago. New Hope returned the favor with a win on its home court to end the regular season.
When the two met again, the rubber match determined who would keep playing in the postseason.
“Before we played New Hope, we had some real intense practices,” McKinney said. “We knew we had to shut down New Hope to get another chance at Oxford. Being able to beat New Hope in the regular season gave us a lot of confidence that we could do it again in the tournament.
“After we beat New Hope (in the tournament), we had all kinds of confidence before the game with Oxford. We knew Oxford had two scorers and if we shut them down, we could win.”
Cox said his team is best on the defensive end. His style is to preach defense and let the offense come. Leading the defensive charge on a nightly basis is McKinney.
“He is our total shutdown player,” Cox said. “Against New Hope, he had Jason Tate, who is a great shooter. Keon held him scoreless in the first half and that set the tone for the game.
“Against Oxford, Keon did a great job against Justin Fondren. He takes it a challenge to shut down the other team’s best player.”
Malone and McKinney will be joined in the starting lineup tonight by junior Rico Robinson, senior Quante Gaston and senior Daryl Thomas.
Lenoir will also play multiple minutes off the bench. The Green Wave will actually be starting a five-guard lineup tonight.
Running the floor and playing defense is what makes this team click.
“We play a lot of defense and we rebound a lot,” Malone said. “To be a senior and to make history (by winning district) is really a big deal. We took it up a notch last week. Now, we got to go up another notch if we want to keep winning.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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