Hurricane Basketball Tips Off 2022-23 Season On Saturday
The varsity Hurricane basketball squads will begin their new season Saturday, Dec. 3 as they host GMC in a home contest beginning at noon with the junior varsity boys.
The varsity Lady Canes have a new coach at the helm, Christopher Owens. While the Canes remain under the leadership of native son and Head Coach Chris Pennamon, who will be assisted by Josh Stone and Kenny Moore.
The middle school squads led by Traci Glawson and Keldrick Davis, began their season two weeks ago.
The boy’s junior varsity squad roster includes:
Marvion Clowers – Junior
Dylon Connor – Sophomore
Kenyan Davis – Freshman
Bryan Ridley – Freshman
Cameron Lawrence – Sophomore
Aidon King – Freshman
Deniland Head – Sophomore
Denoyren Head – Freshman
Zychez Nolley – Junior
Corben Bostic – Junior
Jay Vinson – Sophomore
Travers Epps – Freshman
Jordan Goolsby – Sophomore
Asher McQueen – Freshman
Ramiret Davis – Freshman
The boy’s varsity squad includes:
Malyle Thurman – Senior
Jamarkus Thomas – Freshman
Kemarion Thomas – Junior
Elijah Terrell – Junior
Randy Williams – Junior
Jacarian Grier – Senior
Geralynn Benton – Senior
Tayshawn Reeves – Freshman
Malik Epps – Sophomore
Jay Vinson – Sophomore
Kenyan Davis – Freshman
Corben Bostic – Junior
Canes Coach Pennamon is looking forward to this season with the school being classified in a new region with familiar foes such as Social Circle and Oglethorpe County.
“This will be interesting. We have played those two teams every year I’ve been at JCHS, so we are very familiar with each other. Social Circle has brought back a very talented group of guys that have vast playoff experience from last year. They are definitely the team to beat in our region this year. Oglethorpe will be playing their second season under their new head coach and they are looking very good so far this season.”
He noted that Prince Avenue Christian will be the sleeper team this year with their hiring of UGA Men’s Basketball recruiting coordinator as head coach.
“We have a team that consists of four returning starters from the beginning of last season. Those players are point guard Geralynn Benton, shooting guard Kemarion Thomas, small forward Randy Williams and power forward Jacarian Grier. Then we have junior Elijah Terrell that saw significant minutes for us last year. We also return sophomores Malik Epps and Jay Vinson.”
“So we have some experience to lean on to help our newcomers to the varsity level. And if one of these freshmen steps up and becomes a scoring threat and in turn a defensive threat we can definitely contend for a region championship in our region. We will be the smallest in our region height wise, but we will try to make up for the 5-8 inch height differences in our toughness, speed and execution. The goal is to play defense for 32 minutes with no let downs and to knock down at least 45 percent of our shots as we look to get up at least 60-65+ shots per game.”
The coach noted that his team will try to get some stops and then also create some turnovers that they can turn into points along with making half of the normal shots in the offense.
“Our schedule has some schools on there that we haven’t ever played (Arabia Mountain and McNair) and some that we haven’t played in a few years. We will travel a lot on the road as not being able to get teams to want to come to play us at home, so we will be road warriors this season. We are optimistic yet confident that we can have a good season if we are disciplined and do the things correctly that we are supposed to do each and every day on and off the court!”
Coach Pennamon has instituted a “Dress for Success” mantra for the team on Mondays when the players dress up in long sleeve button down shirts, ties, and dress pants.