Young Blue Jays to open hoop season with a defensive mindset

Every season sets a new journey for high school basketball programs throughout Missouri, but in the case of the 2023-24 Charleston High School boy’s squad, this year REALLY will be a new journey for these kids.

“The only person that we really have,” fourth-year Blue Jay coach Jamarcus Williams said of his team’s experience, “is (senior center) Ko’Terrion Owens. He has three years of varsity experience. But these guys are battling every day and want to earn minutes.

“That is what we need.”

Charleston will open the season today in the two-day Riverbend Classic at New Madrid County Central High School.

The Blue Jays will face Horn Lake (Miss.) at 5 p.m. while the host Eagles will square off with West Memphis (Ark.) at 6:30 p.m.

An earlier game today in the event will pit Campbell vs. Cuba (2 p.m.).

The Blue Jays have been decimated by the graduation of Rico Coleman and Flatrevion Stanback while junior guard PJ Farmer transferred to Sikeston earlier this school year.

All three players were MSHSAA Class 3 District 2 selections last spring.

Williams’ biggest task is to find scorers, as Charleston has lost 60 points per game (it averaged 75) from last year’s team.

“I don’t expect to replace those 60 points within the first 10 games,” Williams said. “But I do expect them to play some tenacious defense.”

That aspect of play has been a staple of Blue Jay Basketball for years, as the program has won District titles in 14 of the past 15 seasons.

“I don’t want to say that this is one of my bigger teams,” Williams said, “but with our skill set, I’ll be forced to play some larger lineups. So, we can take up some space on the defensive end of the floor.”

Aside from Owens, Charleston has seniors Govarion Johnson, Zachyran Thomas, Chase Worthy, and Owen Willis among the 27 players in the high school program.

Charleston recently lost sophomore Tim Frazier with an injury, and Williams was counting on the young athlete to contribute.

“Before we lost him,” Williams said, “I was thinking that we were going to have eight or nine (players) that I could put into the rotation. But we do have some competition. We have guys playing more aggressive and more physical.”

With the loss of talented players from last year, Williams – and his players – acknowledge that expectations from those OUTSIDE the program aren’t as high for this program as in years past.

“Everybody is hungry,” Williams said. “We are a bit immature. They are practicing with the thought process that we have a point to prove. Everybody is counting us out early. The (players) want to prove a point.

“It may take some time, but everybody wants to prove the point that we are going to be a good basketball team.”

Following today’s game, Charleston will host Dexter on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday, the Riverbend Shootout will include New Madrid County Central vs. Sikeston (girls, 12:30 p.m.), Covington (Tenn.) vs. Portageville (boys, 2 p.m.), New Madrid County Central vs. Horn Lake (Miss.) (boys, 5 p.m.).

Admission is $5 per day for both adults and students.