The Cedarville Pirates aren't exactly in uncharted waters heading into this week's 3A-1 regional tournament at Elkins. Actually they're in the same spot as they were last season.
Cedarville didn't finish the regular season strong but they were able to bounce back last week and win the district title.
"We were just a lot more aggressive, not turning the ball over as much," junior Corey Fincher said. "We’re just taking better shots and not trying to force things."
"Hadn’t been playing real well but came out against Elkins and gave a lot better effort and competed as hard as we competed in several weeks," Cedarville coach Andrew Tencleve said. "One of our goals at the start of the year was to win a district championship and we were able to do that."
Cedarville came as close to winning the regional title last season but a missed free throw after time had expired allowed Charleston to claim the crown. The Tigers are the favorite again this season but the Pirates are worried about who they could face.
"We don’t need to be intimidated by the name and then we need to go out there and play our game and not let them dictate what we do," senior Garrett Parson said.
"We just have to play through Garrett. Play our game," junior Beau Miller said. "Do what coach tells us to do. Hit the game plan. If the game plan is to give Garrett the ball, we’re going to give Garrett the ball then he’s going to do what he needs to and get us open."
Parson has carried the Pirates over the past two seasons and is averaging 22.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Parson has scored more than 1,300 points in his career with more than 1,100 coming over the past two seasons.
"It starts with Garrett scoring the basketball for us and he draws a lot of attention," Tencleve said. "Our guys play real well off him. He’s a great passer and when we’re making shots, which we normally do, we’re pretty successful offensively."