The West Marion Trojans have had to deal with more adversity than any high school team should, and it has led to a five-game skid to open the season.
The Trojans (0-5) are without Qavonte Swanigan and Daqwan Jones due to injuries suffered in football, and the program suffered a loss with the death of Jamyre’un Hammond.
The Trojans lost to Seminary by double digits at home Dec. 4 despite getting off to a fast start.
“We played them well early on, but they’re just really big and really fast,” head coach Mark Stringer said. “They just got their football players back, so you can’t judge their record. They had won just one game, but the football players just got back from playing in the state championship. They had some D1 signees in football. One of their guys was about 6-foot-4, 230 and another was 6-foot-5 and 290. Then their guards were real athletic.”
On Friday West Marion traveled to Tylertown to take on Salem, but the Trojans once again couldn’t close in a 55-44 loss.
“It was really close the whole game, but toward the end we couldn’t make anything. Right now when we play anybody with any kind of size, it kills us,” Stringer said. “When I say size, I mean 6-foot-2 and up. We have a total brand new team, and we’re missing our two remaining starters I was depending on for half of our scoring or more. All of the other guys either haven’t played or are freshman.”
Stringer added he believes the future is bright for the Trojans, though. Several West Marion players are also seeing time in junior varsity games and have been performing well in both JV and varsity.
“There are a few starting to (step up). Jatavius (Brooks) is a 10th-grader that came over from East Marion and is going to help us. He’s played well. Brandon (Peavy), too,” he said. “They’re getting better, but they just haven’t played. All of the ninth and 10th-graders are playing JV, too, and the JV has been beating everybody bad. They just aren’t ready to win in high school.”
The Trojans played host to Enterprise Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. They will take on rival East Marion Friday night on the road.
Pictured Above: West Marion senior guard Dustin Thornhill tries to escape a double team. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
