Confidence, ‘brotherhood’ guides Warriors to state

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Russell Christian Academy's Ashton Temple puts up a shot under pressure earlier this year. Paula Merritt

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February 21, 2012

By Jamie Wachter / Sports Editor The Meridian Star The Meridian Star Tue Feb 21, 2012, 06:00 AM CST

MERIDIAN —     Success really does breed success.

   Last fall, the Russell Christian Academy football team had its first winning season and made its first trip into the MAIS 8-Man state playoffs.

   Now, that success has helped the Warriors’ basketball team reach similar heights. RCA (23-10) will face Tri-County Academy at 6:30 p.m. today in the first round of the MAIS Class A state tournament at Delta Academy in Marks. The game will be the first the Warriors have played in a state tournament and this year also marked the first time Russell topped the 20-win barrier.

   And it all started in a different sport.

   “Our athletic director — Langford Knight — and our coaches have raised the bar and our kids have responded to the challenge,” Russell headmaster and basketball coach Kevin Mosley said. “All of our sports have stepped up this year and this is a biproduct of that.

   “I think coach Nate Ballard did a great job of setting a foundation of that, not just for his team but for all of us. I think the baseball team will be very successful.

   “And we have so many kids that play so many sports, and that is something we encourage. And I think that just helps build the unity within a team and it carries over from one sport to another. There is a sense of family here, that we are all in it together.”

   The players agree. Five Warriors — seniors Andrew Culpepper, Josh McQueen, Jacob Palmer and Joseph Spurlock as well as sophomore Nathan Gordon — played football in addition to basketball.

   And Palmer, the team’s captain, said the football breakthrough was paramount to what followed in the gym.

   “It carried over a lot,” he said. “We brought that confidence with us. We weren’t coming off a losing season. We figured out what a winning season felt like and we wanted another one.”

   But the winning and advancing to the state tournament didn’t just happen because RCA suddenly won in football. The team’s cameraderie has played a part as well, Palmer said.

   “We came together and really started working as a team,” he added. “We stopped being individuals and really became a team.

   “We came together kind of like a brotherhood.”

   That unselfishness is displayed on the court and in the scorebook. Dylan Nolan is the lone Warrior to average in double figures, and the junior just barely made it at 10.0. However, six other Warriors — Ashton Temple, Spurlock, Gary Boles, Jordan Lowe, Palmer and John Epps III — average at least five points per game with four averaging more than seven.

   “If we play our team ball, nobody can stop us,” Palmer, who averages 6.1 points, said. “We all know that if one of teammates is open and we get them the ball, they will make the play.”

   And Mosley believes that is his team’s greateast weapon. And the best sign of how the Warriors are indeed a great team.

   “We don’t have a lot of superstars,” he said. “There’s not one person you can key on with us.

   “Ultimately, I think that is what a coach wants. It makes you hard to scout, it makes you hard to prepare against. That’s one of our strengths, I think. And I think that is a key, really, for all these teams that are successful. They all have depth and teamwork.”

   But the Warriors aren’t the only top team left. With the 16-team tournament begining Monday, Mosley and the Warriors know there are no weaklings left. And to continue the successful run will require even more dedication and improvment.

   “We have a big challenge in that we will be playing one of the top-ranked teams in the state,” Mosley said. “We just have to maintain a level of excellence and maintain a level of playing to our potential.

   “One of the hardest things to teach is consistency of effort and consistency of focus. When we play with that consistency, I think we can play with anybody in the state. When we lose that, though, we drop off pretty quick. That will be our challenge.”

   Added Palmer: “We just have to go in with the attitude that we can win, and if we do that, we will be successful.”

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