KINGWOOD — First-year head coach Leroy “Bucky”‘ Forbes is hitting the ground running with the Preston High School boys’ basketball team.
“We used all of our flex days and the beginning of the practice season and we implemented a new system,” Forbes said. “We’ve been going at it for a while and you play against each other for so long, it’s nice to get out and play somebody different for a change.”
The Knights have scrimmaged Keyser and Grafton and are using the preseason to get their younger players caught up to the speed of varsity basketball.
Ryan Rosenberger is the lone senior for Preston.
“We’re pretty young,” Forbes said. “The freshmen and JV have played really well and varsity has done some good things, but we’re still in a learning process. It’s a little different system than what they’re used to.”
Forbes is no stranger to PHS, having coached as an assistant under the legendary Barry Sanders for 14 years. Sanders retired in 2015 after 34 years of coaching basketball in Preston County. Between East Preston and Preston high schools, Sanders tallied 459 wins with regular appearances in regional finals. In 2010-11, the Knights tallied 22 victories, so Forbes has a taste of winning at a high level.
More so, in four recent seasons, he was an assistant at University High School, experiencing deep playoff runs and state championship appearances.
He has also been an assistant coach for the Preston football program.
“The transition has been really great,” Forbes said. “I’m finally back and I feel at home. The kids have been really great and welcoming. I’ve coached some of them in football so there’s some familiarity there.”
The focus for the Knights has been on several aspects, including ball control and limiting turnovers on offense and applying pressure on defense.
“We have to make sure that we’re in the right spots at the right time and shoot the ball pretty well,” Forbes said. We’ll want to get up and down the floor on defense.”
Rosenberger has emerged as the team’s go-to scorer, while junior Brier Rugg is also experienced and developing a soft shooting touch.
“He has great potential,” Forbes said. “He’s a scorer. We just need to get him in good positions to shoot the ball.”
Other early standouts include junior point guard Cordell Ayres and 6-foot-5 junior Brady McNew, who is a solid rebounder.
“Cordell is very talented and has good ball skills,” Forbes said. “McNew is a good rebounder and learning how to play underneath the basket, and he’s doing a good job at it.”
Other players looking to make an impact are Dillon Taylor, Zach Farrell Jesse Desantis, Kaden Buchtel, Bryson Wagner, Tristian Smith, Slaton Manko, Easton Hayes and Aidan Schmidl.
Forbes replaces Paul Koontz as head coach. PHS is looking to turn things around after totaling just 16 wins over the past four seasons.
By Matthew Peaslee
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