Alexander’s boys basketball team has had what coach Jason Slate calls “an incredible run the past few seasons.” The Cougars won a state title two years ago and lost an overtime thriller in last year’s championship game.
Alexander brings back four guards who will be key to the team getting back to a third-
consecutive championship game in senior Christopher Hutchinson, juniors Gregory Pops Dunson and Torian Greene and sophomore Micah Goodlow.
Dunson was named to the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Metro Atlanta High School Boys Preseason Watchlist.
“These four, they've been through the wars,” Slate said during the recent Winter Sports Media Day. “You know, they know what it's like to face really tough competition. So, you're not going to see them back down from anybody.”
Slate, in his 14th season as coach at Alexander, admits the Cougars’ non-region schedule is “brutal”, with Alexander facing 11 teams that are ranked either in Georgia or another state. But that’s part of the plan to get ready for another big postseason run.
Slate said the strength of the team is those aforementioned guards, who should all be in double figures. He said he plans to use two point guards some this season in Goodlow and Dunson, making it more difficult for opposing teams to press the Cougars.
“I think we have the ability to do a lot of things with our guard play,” he said. “I think we've got guys that can do multiple things. We have multiple guys that can break you down off the dribble. We feel like we have multiple guys that can shoot the ball. I think the big thing that we've got to do collectively is we've got to become a better rebounding team at all five positions.”
Alexander beat McEachern 69-56 in their season-opener on Saturday.
The Cougars will be in a new region this year (5-AAAAA) alongside county rivals New Manchester and Lithia Springs.
Slate likes his team’s chances against anybody they face.
“We feel like we're going to be somebody that's going to get better all year,” he said. “We know what we're going to do. We know how hard we're going to work. You know, we've won the last three region titles, and we ain't planning on giving it up now.”
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