The sights and sounds of thousands of fans packed into the Peoria Civic Center linger ominously in the memories of all the Tiger fans lucky enough to make the trip to the state tournament last season.
With the 2013 team finishing third in the state last season, it leaves many to question just how good will this year’s team be?
The goal for this season is put into simple terms by two of the team’s star senior players, Shawn Roundtree and Armon Fletcher: “A state championship.”
“I’m predicting some really big things this year,” Roundtree said. “We’re all ready to get after it.”
After losing three starters from last season in Tre’ Harris, Garret Covington, and Drew Curtis, this task is definitely going to be easier said than done. However, after bringing in a star point guard Trevor Clay from Crossroads College Prep School in St. Louis, this team definitely has many of the holes left after last season filled by more than capable candidates.
“I came to Edwardsville for two reasons,” Clay said, “better academics and better basketball, so I plan on taking full advantage of both of those.”
It’s still too early to tell who exactly will be in the starting lineup for the Tiger’s this year, but you can definitely count on Clay, Fletcher, and Roundtree all being there.
Senior football star Darius Crochrell and junior star Dan Marinko are both “still on the fence” as to whether or not they’ll be hooping this season, but there are most likely two starting roles reserved for them should they decide to play.
There is still some strong support coming from the bench in senior Marcus Spiller and multiple other Tiger stars are sure to emerge throughout the season.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunities for some of us bench players this year,” Spiller said. ”Everybody’s going to have to take practice this year very seriously.”
That won’t be difficult considering Coach Mike Waldo is returning for yet another chapter of his storied legacy as head basketball coach at EHS.
One thing is for sure, the Tiger’s are determined to do great things this season, and turn the question marks of last season into an exclamation point, hopefully in the form of a state championship.
