GOOD HOPE, Ala. — Last season was another one for the Good Hope Raiders. They finished with a 20-11 record, finished as area runner ups and made another trip to the Sub-Regionals. Sophomore Tyler Cone talked about his first year on varsity and how much he has learned from his teammates and coaches.
“The season started out very slow for me, especially playing on varsity for the first time, but my teammates helped me progress through the year a lot. It’s a fun time on varsity when you have coaches and players who care for you like family,” Cone said. “I learned a lot from last year. When things aren’t going your way, there’s always a way back up. We’re going to be very young this year. We all learned that if we play as one, it doesn’t matter how young we are.”
Tyler feels like the team learned a lot during the summer play-day games and has tried to learn as much as he can from coaches Drew and Scott Adams.
“I feel like the summer games went well. We competed very well with some teams that no one gave us a chance against. As a team, we learned that if we played like us and defend well, we can compete with very good teams,” Cone said. “They are not just great coaches, but they are great people. They preach the word of God to all of us. They make sure we’re prepared to be young men, no matter the circumstances in life. The biggest thing I’ve learned from them is always be coachable, because you don’t know what can come from it.”
Tyler had a blast playing with last year’s seniors, Tanner Malin, Noah Barnette and Canaan Jones, and learned as much as he could from them in the process.
“They were amazing. They never made it a dull day, even off the court. Having them around was nice. They always made everyone feel as if we were all brothers regardless, on and off the court. From Tanner, I learned to always play, no matter the score, because you never know what could happen. From Noah, I learned to still love the game through hardships, even when you’re hurt. From Canaan, I learned to always keep a positive outlook and attitude. It’s the best thing you can have in life.”
Tyler worked on his overall game in the summer and has set some goals for himself and the team this season. He also talked about what will make this year’s team special to watch.
“I definitely worked on my shot and my pull-up jumper. I feel like once I develop a solid pull-up game, that makes it hard for defenders to guard me,” he said. “My personal goals are to prove that I’m a top player in my class for the state of Alabama and to get my name out there more. My team goals for us are to be a top team in Class 4A and in the state, prove that we can hang with the tough teams, and make it to Birmingham.”
He added,
“What will make us very special to watch this season is our depth and our ability to go up and down. We love to turn the court. We love to go fast. We want to be fast and be a team no one wants to play because we defend our tails off.”
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