One quick glance at the leaderboard is all it takes to determine that next season could be a really, really good one for boys basketball in Franklin County.
Of the county’s top ten scorers from this past season, eight were juniors and two were sophomores. Barring something unforeseen, all ten will be back next season to continue filling up the stat sheet.
Among those returning stars are two players who have already surpassed the 1,000-point mark for their varsity careers. Tharptown’s Winston Nolen, who averaged 16.8 points per game this season as a junior, is the county’s active scoring leader with 1,081 career points. Red Bay’s Braden Ray averaged 16.5 points per game this season and will head into his senior year with 1,041 career points.
As many as four other players are in position to join Nolen and Ray in the 1,000-point club next season. Belgreen point guard Will Bonner poured in 655 points (an average of 19.3 per game) as a sophomore this season, giving him 953 in his varsity career. He should hit the 1,000-point mark within the first two or three games next season, and—at his current pace—he’s on track to blow by the 2,000-point mark just past the midway point of his senior season.
Bonner’s Belgreen teammate, Scout Bragwell, should also join the 1,000-point club next season. Bragwell has totaled 798 points over the past two years and will enter his senior season with 818 points scored at the varsity level. [Odds are good he’ll hit the milestone on a three-point shot; he led the county with 97 made threes this season and has hit 165 in his career.]
Two other prolific perimeter shooters are also poised to become members of the 1,000-point club next season. Russellville’s Chandler Dyas, who as a junior ranked second in Franklin County in both threes made (78) and points per game (17.3), will enter his senior season with 896 career points. He should reach the milestone by mid-December, if not sooner.
It will take Phil Campbell’s Luke Garrison a little longer, but he’s on track to get there, too. Garrison hit 44 threes this past season and scored a career-high 406 points (16.9 per game), giving him 781 points in his varsity career. At his current pace, he should be knocking on the door of the 1,000-point club before the calendar flips to 2021.
Assuming Bonner, Bragwell, Dyas and Garrison all stay healthy and hit the mark next year, Franklin County boys basketball will have six active 1,000-point scorers—not to mention some really talented teams with a chance to make postseason noise.
Red Bay reached the Class 2A Final Four last month and will bring back Ray (the Northwest Regional MVP), big man Lane Shewbart (an All-Regional Tournament selection) and starting guard Jalen Vinson. Coach John Torisky’s Tigers (who got realigned into Area 10 with Sulligent, Lamar County and Aliceville) will be well equipped to pursue a fourth straight regional berth and a third straight 20-win season.
Belgreen proved it could go toe-to-toe with the other Class 1A heavyweights in a loaded Northwest region, and the Bulldogs—who won 27 games—could be even better in year number two under head coach Marty Cooper.
Will Bonner (19.3 points per game), Bragwell (12.0) and Collin Bonner (11.5) all shot better than 50 percent from the floor while averaging a combined 42.8 points per game this past season. All return next year, along with versatile forward Isac Willingham (5.4 points on 52 percent shooting to go along with 6.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game).
The path to the Final Four won’t get any easier, but it’ll be Birmingham or bust for the Bulldogs next season.
Meanwhile, at Russellville, the Golden Tigers return a high-scoring trio of their own in Dyas (17.3 points per game) and fellow rising seniors Brooks Scott (13.9 points per game) and Jeb Bishop (9.1 points, plus a team-high 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game).
Players like Boots McCulloch, Sam Pace, Nathan Brockway and Eli Gipson all got varying degrees of varsity experience as sophomores this season, and a step forward by that collective group should make Russellville the favorite to win a three-team Area 15 that also includes long-standing rivals Lawrence County and West Point. [The Golden Tigers were fortunate not to land in Area 16, where Mae Jemison, Lee-Huntsville and East Limestone will battle it out.]
Crossing with Area 16 in sub-regional play won’t make that elusive trip to Hanceville any easier to come by, but a fourth area title in six seasons under head coach Patrick Odom will be well within reach.
