Lamar – The 2023-24 season was a mixed bag for the Lamar High School boys basketball team. The Silver Foxes finished with just a 6-16 overall record in their first season under head coach Brian Scott. They went 4-4 in Region 6-Class A, which was good enough to get the region’s No. 2 seed for the state playoffs and a first-round home game that comes with it.
“I thought the season went well,” said Scott, the former standout wide receiver for the University of South Carolina. “The kids competed and played hard with this being our first year together. I felt like we could have won a few more games but I’m glad we competed and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Lamar had two players selected to the All-Region first team in junior Xavier “Zoom” Jackson and junior Nashaun Quillen.
Jackson was selected as the Region Defensive Player of the Year. Jackson averaged 7.3 points per game to go with 2.8 steals, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Quillen was the Foxes’ leading scorer and rebounder at an even 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, respectively.
Junior Alvion Ward was selected to the second team. He averaged 6.1 points and 4.2 rebounds.
While the Silver Foxes got to host the first-round game, they suffered a 67-31 loss to Whale Branch. Scott hopes that game can be used as a teaching moment for his squad.
"Our region was competitive this year and we were able to finish second to get a home playoff game,” Scott said. “We played Whale Branch, which was a well-balanced team. They were good inside and outside with guard play and size inside, a very well-coached and good team.
“That’s where we want our program to be in the future. It was an eye opener for the program, but we needed to see what it takes to get to that level. It’s going to take some work, but we can get the program there.”
Scott came in late as the head coach last year and didn’t get to do a lot of summer work with the team. He hopes that will make a difference in the program’s development this summer.
“We just need to continue to get better,” Scott said. “We didn’t have a summer to prepare but will look to do camps and scrimmages this time around. That will definitely help us when the season starts.”
All Rights Reserved | The High School Sports Report 1986-2021