By Michael Butler

The Tallassee varsity boys and girls basketball teams are ready for the season ahead with some new faces at the helm.

D’Angelo Parker is the new head coach of the boys. Richard Taylor is taking over the girls program.

Keiven Mixson went 111-83 in eight seasons with the varsity boys. Two of those were 20-win seasons. And last year was the first in his tenure not reaching double-digit wins. The Tigers went 2-18.

“The biggest thing is getting the program back on its feet,” said Parker. “Hard work is what I’m looking for in the guys. Skill development is a big thing. This team can capitalize on being aggressive. We’re going to play fast this year and full-court press to create turnovers.”

The Tigers graduated a 1,000-point career scorer in Rowen Thornton but return sophomore point guard Jaiden “J-Man” Gordon.

“Having J-Man helps,” Parker added. “It’s getting the other guys to step up too. If we play defense, we’ll make it to the post-season. I expressed that to our guys.”

Parker is a local product and 2015 THS graduate.

“I was born and raised here and played at the high school,” he said. “Coming back home feels good.”

Alfonzo Johnson has moved to the middle school level after two years with the varsity girls. The girls were 8-12 last season after a 16-11 campaign the year prior, the best season over the past 20 years for the program.

“We have seven returners with six playing significant minutes (last year),” Taylor said. “Our goal for this year is to bring an area championship back to Tallassee and then make a deep push in the playoffs. Of course, the ultimate goal is to win the state championship.”

Like Parker’s roster now coming together after football season, the same is true for Taylor’s group with the completion of flag football, which wrapped up this week.

“London O’Neal led the team in rebounds last year as a freshman. (We’re) looking for a big year out of London, whose gotten stronger,” Taylor noted. “We’ve kind of changed Kam Tate’s position, which I think it will give her an advantage. Reese Gough has improved a lot over the summer and showed that she’s ready.

“Sha’Niya Gray has really improved on her ball handling and understanding the difference between good and bad shots. Also, looking for a big contribution from Jaaliyah Williams, Mykah McKeithen and Cheyann Easterling. All can play any guard position that will give us the depth we need. We do have other players that will definitely contribute significant minutes, but right now we’re still figuring out the rotation.”

Schedule