By By James Crawford
News Editor
Escambia County High School's varsity basketball teams are looking forward to the start of the 2002-2003 season.
With a first-year coach leading the boys squad and a 15-year veteran directing the girls, the ECHS gym should provide plenty of excitement this season.
The following is a look at the two varsity squads representing the Blue Devils:
ECHS Boys
Brent Orso, in his first year with the Escambia High School Blue Devils, is looking forward to getting his young team off the bench and on the courts.
The Blue Devils won their season opener against UMS Wright, 39-22, but need to improve to keep winning. Senior Kenneth Clarke and sophmore Jeremy McCants both posted nine points each while junior Phillip Sharp and senior Katral Johnson grabbed seven rebounds each.
"We're not as tall as we need to be," Orso said. "We have some talent but we need to do some work. We're basically looking at a rebuilding year this year, but we plan to do some things."
Orso, joins the ECHS staff from McIntosh High School.
ECHS Girls
The Escambia Women Blue Devils didn't fare as well as they hoped in their debut game of the season, losing by a large margin to USM-Wright of Mobile. Coach Theodore White, returning for his 15th year, is staring at a rebuilding year for his young team.
"We are a young group at a complete rebuilding stage," he said. "Right now, we're just going to keep working hard until we find the right combinations.
"It's difficult when your team has never played together, but we're going to keep working hard until we get it right."
White took his team to the playoffs from 1996 to 2001. They were area champs in 1998 and 2000 and were continuously ranked from 1998 to 2000.
"Our starting lineup has one senior, one junior, two sophomores and one freshman. The senior, Ashley Kid, is our only returning player," said White.