Players change, but Cubs eye another state crown

With the help of one of the top guards in the state and a group of talented role players, Bell City won its second Class 1 state title in three years last season.

Another championship run for the Cubs will require the contributions of several new, younger players, something which has not been a problem recently. Bell City graduated five of its top six players, including first-team all-state guard Dominitrix Johnson. Johnson poured in 40 points in the state championship game.

Johnson was complemented by the outside shooting of seniors Zak McIntyre and Randy Conn, along with Derek Pobst. Tyler Victor, a rebounding presence at 6-foot-5, also graduated.

"Every year we lose somebody that they say you can't replace," Bell City coach David Heeb said. "We lost C.J. [Hadley] the first time we won state and then we lost Eric [Henry] and then we lost Dom last year. We just keep finding a way to get it done. We're certainly going to miss our seniors and especially Dom.

"But we're having a lot of fun right now and we're working hard. We're not going to change our goals. We think we can win the state tournament."

This year's squad will have a pair of athletic inside players in 6-1 junior Jeff Liggins and 6-1 senior A.J. Henry. Liggins averaged 10 points per game last season, while Henry contributed toward the end of the season after returning from knee surgery. Blaine Stewart, a 5-10 junior guard, also showed the ability to be a scorer from the outside before missing the playoffs with a broken foot.

Juniors Kerry Lasters (6-0), Garrett McIntyre (6-1) and Kyle Robinette (5-9) saw playing time at the varsity level coming off the bench last season. Lerome Segars (5-11), John Goodman (5-11) and Gary Turner (5-10) moved up from the junior varsity squad and should contend for varsity minutes this season as well.

"I think this is going to be one of our most balanced teams that we've had," Heeb said. "We may not have the big name that everybody's heard of, but we've got guys at the fifth, sixth, seventh spots on this team that may have started last year or the previous years. We've got good depth, and we're probably quicker than we've been in the last couple years. I think we'll get it done by committee."

Derek James of the Standard Democrat contributed to this report.