WS Chronicle

The Walkertown Wolfpack are off to a good start at 3-0 early on in this JV basketball season.  Last week they faced off against the Vikings of North Forsyth and walked away with a 54-48 victory in a closely contested game.

Wolfpack head coach Rodney White is in his first year leading the JV team.  He was an assistant for the varsity team last year and takes over for Charles Thomas as head coach.  He says their win against High Point Andrews in their previous game gave them confidence going into the game against the Vikings.

“The game was great and both teams played very hard in my opinion,” said White.  We just got some key stops in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.  I will say North Forsyth is well coached and they are a really great team.”

Sitting at 3-0, White says he feels that the kids are playing harder than he initially anticipated to start the season.  He says they really are trying to rebuild the program at the school but knows it starts with the freshman and JV level.

“I think the kids are really buying in to what I believe in to get better as a team and a program,” said White. 

Walkertown returns five sophomores from last year’s team that have become starters this year. He thinks that experience of playing last year coupled with playing AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball over the summer has given them a leg up.

White says he sat down with his team and they came up with three goals for the year.  One was to go undefeated which he says is a reach but they still want to strive for it.  The second was to win the Lash/Chronicle Tournament at the end of the month.  The final goal for them is to win the conference, especially since they have stepped up to the 2A level.

Early on, White has been impressed by a few players on the team so far.  Pass first point guard Jalen Douglas has really distributed the ball well; Bobby Grier is a sophomore combo guard who is somewhat of a Swiss Army knife because he is a do it all player that scores, rebounds and defends; big man Noah Leak has totally had a turnaround season so far by rebounding and blocking shots and lastly guard K.J. Grier, who is a captain, plays great defense and does a lot for the team leadership wise.

White thinks this team has the potential to be the start of turning around the basketball program at Walkertown.  He says just as long as his players continue to progress, he will be happy.

“The ultimate goal for any JV team is getting your guys ready for the varsity level, so my goal is for the varsity coach to say we need two or three guys to move up, which means I did my job,” said White.  “If I can just get these guys ready and get Walkertown basketball going in the right direction, my goal as a coach will be fulfilled.”