Mullins boys basketball team off to 13-2 start

Mullins – The Mullins High School boys basketball team has been

very successful under head coach Eric Troy the past few seasons. It

looks like this year is going to be more of the same.

The Auctioneers returned four starters from last year’s 20-8 team,

and are 13-2 overall More importantly, MHS is 3-1 in Region 7-AA.

“The team is playing up to my expectations,” Troy said. “We only

had one senior starter last year, so most of the team has experience. The

team has grown accustomed to winning and what it takes to win.”

The returning starters are senior Ernest Ford, juniors Deyon Ford

and Braden Vereen and sophomore Dakarai Worley. Deyon Ford leads

the team in scoring and assists with averages of 17.5 points and 3.5

assists, respectively. He’s also averaging 3.2 steals and 2.8 rebounds.

Worley is averaging 14.2 points and is just missing out on a

double-double, leading the team in rebounding with a 9.5 average. He

also leads in steals at 3.8 and averages 2.7 assists.

Ernest Ford is averaging 6.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists,

while Vereen is averaging 2.1 points and 3.6 rebounds. The fifth starter

is junior Ayntwain Crawford, who is averaging 4.8 points and 4.2

rebounds.

Troy uses his 15-player roster liberally with each player having

played at least five games. Nine have played in all 13 games and two

others have played in double-figure games.

The remainder of the team is made up of sophomore KJ Ford,

sophomore Keith Bridgett, junior Amir Lee, senior Jeremie Page, senior

Mykell Raysor, junior Andre Littlejohn, junior Christian Cornejo-

Garcia, senior Lonnie Alston, junior Jose Sanchez and junior James

Graves.

Lee is the top scorer off the bench with a 4.9 average to go with

4.1 rebounds. Page and Littlejohn are both averaging 3.3 points, while

Cornejo-Garcia is averaging 24 points and 2.3 rebounds.

Troy said the Auctioneers need to concentrate on becoming more

fundamentally sound.

"We need to improve on our free throws, turnovers and

situational awareness,” said Troy, who is in his sixth season as head

coach.

FOUR AUCTIONEERS FOOTBALL ALL-REGION PICKS

Seniors Lonnie Alston and Jamell Crawford and juniors Andre

Littlejohn and KaNazzion Bethea were selected to the All-Region 7

football team.

Alston, selected as a defensive tackle, had 54 tackles and 19

tackles for loss for the Auctioneers, who went 7-4 and reached the state

playoffs after starting the season on a 15-game losing streak. Alston also

had two quarterback sacks.