By By James Crawford
News Editor
With a pair of winning seasons under their belts, Northview's Chiefs are looking to build upon recent success while the Lady Chiefs are searching for some unity and continuity.
The following are a look at the two teams for the 2002-2003 campaign:
NHS Boys
Northview High School Men's Coach Cliff Gillies, in his fourth year with the Chiefs, is looking forward to setting new records. He has a star athlete ready to shine and a good foundation for a solid team this year.
"We have two starters back and one top reserve. One of those starters, Daryl Cohen, is close to having 1,000 points, so I'm depending on him and John Madison. They have to lead this group," says Gillies.
Cohen, a shooting guard who also plays football for the Chiefs, has accumulated 954 points in his basketball career and averaged 21.6 points per game last year.
The Chiefs posted an 18-11 record last year. They were district champs and made it to the third round of the playoffs, where they lost by one point. The last two years have brought winning seasons, a new record for the school.
"Our schedule is really tough this year," Gillies said. "We have had a lot of changes in terms of who we're going to play.
"Atmore dropped us this year. We beat them the last two years for the first time in this school's history and several others have changed too."
NHS Girls
Northview's Lady Chiefs are on a bit more of a mission to find their core unit this year. With just three returning players, the team is still looking to find its unity.
"We have some good freshmen and sophomores but its more of a team for next year, a good feeder program," said head coach Lorenzo Jones. "But, we'll still have a good year. Our goal is to win more games than in the past and be more aggressive on defense.
"We're young and looking for improvement. We'll keep hoping to improve and try to improve while winning."