HOWARD – East Knox coach Ryan Powell starts his fourth season with a Bulldogs boys basketball program that is loaded with talent from top to bottom.
The Bulldogs were 15-7 last season, finishing third in the KMAC with a 9-4 record. This season, they are bringing most of that talent back.
“We've got five guys coming back who have played a lot over the last two years,” Powell told the Mount Vernon News. “Some of them, three years.
“Weston Melick (6-foot-2), Shane Knepp (5-11) and Peyton Lester (6-2) are team captains. Weston's a senior. Shane and Peyton are both juniors, but they've played since they were freshmen. They're pretty reliable guys and leaders in all the sports that they've played.”
The Bulldogs also have Terry Jacobs (6-0) and Sam Whitney (6-1, junior), who have played quite a bit. Jacobs is a senior who will start for the first time this year. He is one of the Bulldogs’ biggest threats from 3-point range.
“Both of those guys have a lot of experience; they've been with the program for three years and they both know what we expect,” Powell said. “From there, we're pretty unproven. We're kind of looking to see who our bench guys are going to be, but we feel really good about our starting five.”
The Bulldogs’ trio of captains have all played a part in the rise of the football team in the last few years. Powell knows that their success carries over from the gridiron.
“Yes, these guys know about hard work and they know what working together means,” Powell said. “Things are going pretty well here with sports at East Knox, and I'm sure it's because of that same group of kids. When one sport is done they're just ready to move on to the next sport.”
Melick has been the Bulldogs’ leading scorer and rebounder for the last three years, but he continues to expand his game.
“Weston is a very good offensive player, but he has improved on defense each year,” Powell said. “Now, if he's not our best defensive player, then he's right up there with the other guys. That's just him. He's a competitor. He's going to do whatever he has to do. Shane and Peyton are the same way.”
Nobody is looking forward to the start of this season more than Melick.
“Our offense has gotten better this season from last year,” Melick said. “We got a lot of guys back and we got some size to us. We've got a lot of experience too. Hopefully, that will carry us through some close games and some big wins.”
Knepp along with Lester are probably the Bulldogs’ best threats to steal the ball. They’ll help give the Bulldogs a formidable defense.
“We're just trying to work on the little things like rebounding, boxing out and defense,” Melick said. “None of those things are scoring, but if you do those three things, the offense will come. So (Coach Powell) always tries to have us perfect those three.”
Seniors Scott Bates (6-3) and Judah Keith (6-6); juniors Blake Bonham (5-11), Eli Carter (5-11), Dillon Moreland (5-9) and Michael Smith (5-10) and sophomore Carson Steinmetz (5-8) round out the varsity roster. Bates, Bonham and Moreland return off last year's varsity roster.
