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Briarfield basketball is off to a strong start, with all four teams predominantly winning out of the gate. Coach Blake Ratcliff, who began his career at Briarfield last year coaching both boys’ squads, is now at the helm of all four teams. “It’s busy,” he said, “but it’s so important to get with the young ones too, to develop that foundation and move forward and see where they’re at. We want to get to work establishing what is to come.”
The junior varsity girls team is successful already, with a 6-1 record, posting one loss to Tensas who they’ll see again tomorrow at home. Ratcliff says the team has a little bit of all the pieces: “big in spots, quick and talented in spots.” The team is working with a core group of ninth graders, with some younger kids stepping up. “Our end goal, our expectation, is to win the district tournament. We’re developing and cleaning some things up, but that’s where we have our eye,” Ratcliff said.
A big class of ninth grade boys moved onto varsity from last year’s junior varsity team, which would make it easy to anticipate this as a rebuilding year. But so far, with a 5-1 record, the team is giving fans reason to hope for a repeat of a successful season. Current ninth graders Davis Holt and Trecin Baker, as well as eighth grader Jackson Thornton, had a lot of playing time on last year’s team and are leading the pack this year. “Some other guys are stepping up too, and I say the same thing I say for the girls. We’re looking to win the tournament,” he said.
Ratcliff brings a lot of new terminology, new concepts, along with some new faces, to the varsity girls squad. With a 6-0 start, the girls are “getting there,” he says, and learning how to play together. “We talk a lot about trying to create a positive culture, working hard, coming to work everyday and doing the right things. There’s gonna be a night or two when it’s not very pretty, but I think we’ll come out alright.” The team is young, with only two seniors on the team, and a freshman and a couple of tenth graders in the starting lineup. Ratcliff says the team is trying to hang their hat on being the harder workers. “There’s a bright future, I know,” he said.
The varsity boys had a late start to the season after football, which many also play, went into the playoffs. They’ve only had two games, but won them both. “We’ve yet to have a full practice with everyone there, which makes it difficult, but we’re so far ahead of where we were last year.” In Ratcliff’s second year with the boys, they are running off of memorization now and are able to pick things up and not have a play every time they go down the court. There is excitement with this group, with senior Ben Coullard returning as leading scorer, the “motor” as Ratcliff says, and Miller Holt back too for his final year. Ratcliff says that Holt is the quarterback in football and the quarterback on the court as well– “he calms us down, does the right things.” Last year the team had no seniors, and this year has five, all of whom will see court time according to Ratcliff. “They’re a very talented group, and I think they’ll be fun for people to watch.”
All four teams take the court tomorrow at Bobby Holt Gymnasium, beginning with the junior varsity girls at 4 pm.
