• BY MIKE FORMAN - MFORMAN@VICAD.COM
• Originally published November 19, 2009 at 10:45 p.m., updated November 20, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.

• San Antonio Cornerstone at Memorial

  7:30 p.m., Friday, MHS senior campus gym

John Grammer coached the first basketball game Memorial played and he'll coach the last.

Grammer would like to add another highlight to a program that has won two district championships, made eight playoff appearances, and advanced to the state tournament in the 2003-04 season before the school splits into Victoria East and Victoria West next season.

"We want to end on a good note," Grammer said. "I think in 10 years we do have some good tradition. We won a lot of games and did go the Final Four in '04."

Grammer expects to have a talented team, but is cautious about making any predictions.

"This will be one of the top three teams in the history of Memorial," Grammer said. "It just so happens that we're in a district (27-5A) that's so tough. If we'll use it right, that will be to our advantage. If we get through our district and get one of the top spots, we'll be battle tested and be ready to make a run in the playoffs."

Memorial begins its final season Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the senior campus gym against San Antonio Cornerstone Christian.

The Vipers will be a senior-dominated squad with five lettermen returning from last year's team that went 20-13 but missed the playoffs for the first time in school history.

Post Donte McGee was a first-team all-district selection and guard Marcus Salazar earned second-team all-district honors.

"We have a lot of experience and a bunch of great players," senior Powell Keeling said. "We can't do what we did last year and get down and try to climb back up. We've got to go full speed all the time."

Grammer hopes to be more up-tempo this season, but admits the Vipers will have to be selective about when they try to speed up the game.

"We'll be able to play faster than last year because we have more depth and better players because of their having a year of experience," Grammer said. "I wouldn't say we'll be as up-tempo as I'd like to be because we're in the district with Wagner, Judson, East Central and Highlands. We're not going to be able to beat somebody like Wagner at a up-tempo game so we've got to be versatile."

Grammer's biggest concern is finding depth at guard behind seniors Marcus and Mark Salazar.

"We don't have as many guards as I would like to have," Grammer said. "Guards make a team run smoother. We don't have that many proven guys at guards. We have the twins and we have forwards. We need at least another one or two guys to step up and handle the ball."

Memorial will play three home games before traveling to the Edinburg tournament. The Vipers will host the Victoria Classic on Dec. 10-12 and open district play on Dec. 18 at Corpus Christi Carroll.

"We've got a lot of guys returning plus a lot of seniors so that's their main motivation," Grammer said. "They want to go out having the best season that they can."

Notes

Converse Wagner advanced to the state tournament last season and is ranked No. 1 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches' preseason poll.

Wagner's Jordan Clarkson has already signed a letter of intent with Tulsa.

Converse Judson won the district championship last season and is ranked No. 19 in the preseason poll.

• Print
• •
• Share
  • Share this item

    Send this to a friend

    Share on FaceBook

  • Grab the link

    Copy and paste the link:

  • Blog about it

    Blog about this page.

  • Close
• •
• Post a Comment
• •
• Favorite
• •
• Report error
  • Thank you for your submission.
    Error report or correction

    Contact name (optional) Contact phone/e-mail (optional)  

    
  • Close
• •