CHHS aims to take down Barbour County

Published 10:42 pm Thursday, December 16, 2010

Earlier this week, Charles Henderson head basketball coach Carl Hollis gathered his team around during a practice with a simple message in mind, ‘You got to want to win.’

Currently, winning has become something of a lost art for the Trojans, who are currently sitting at 0-8, thanks to its most recent loss to Greenville this past Saturday.

“Some of our guys have had a funny look on their face the past couple of weeks,” Hollis said. “Losing has made some of the players doubt what this team can do.

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“But what they don’t understand is that there are still 21 games left for us to play and anything can happen. But it’s up to them. If they guys want to win, it’s all up to them.”

And while CHHS has been searching for its first win, the team’s next opponent, Barbour County, has done nothing but win to begin the season.

The Jaguars have been perfect thus far, entering tonight’s game with a 7-0 record.

In those seven games, Barbour County has outscored its opponents by an average score of 64-43.

Houston County came the closest to beating the Jaguars, with its nine-point loss, while the other six teams have all lost by double-digits.

“We are going to have our hands full (tonight),” the coach said about the visiting Jaguars.

“Barbour County is a team that had a lot of experience coming back. They are a physical team and one that can shoot well. They are a mature group and one that has done some good things already this year.”

Last season when the two teams met at CHHS, it was the Trojans who came away with a big victory.

That is exactly what the team in orange and blue will be hoping for tonight as it will look to avenge an earlier loss to the Jaguars, when the two teams met in one of the opening games of the season.

“(Barbour County) is a group that never gives up,” Hollis said.

“I remember I challenged last season’s team to get that big victory against a good opponent and they rose to the challenge. But with this season’s group, I’m not sure what they want to do just yet. Barbour County is aggressive and physical, but our guys will tend to run away from contact and if they want to get better, they are going to have to player tougher with the good teams.”

Along with the team’s toughness in question, the Trojans have still not been able to put together a complete shooting game.

In the 65-48 loss to Greenville, CHHS shot just 34 percent from the floor, connecting on 15 of its 34 shots.

From beyond the arc, the Trojans were just 33 percent, on 3-of-9 shooting.

While before percentages were low, they were improvements from the team’s game against Enterprise the previous night, where CHHS shot in the mid-20’s in both areas.

To make matter worse against the Tigers, the Trojans committed 21 turnovers, making it the fifth time this season CHHS has given the ball up 20 or more times.

“These guys are responsible for what happens in the games,” Hollis said.

“There are some (players) that are willing to get better and willing to do the work that is necessary to be successful. But some guys are living for the future. I have told the guys a lot that the most important time is now. The future is not a certainty. Now is the time to make a change and show what you are made of. Hopefully, that is what we will start seeing.”

The Trojans will take on the Jaguars tonight at CHHS, with a tip-off set for 7 p.m.