By: Elizabeth Ruckel

The 2016-2017 Highland Home School varsity boys basketball team’s returning starters are Donnaven Roberson, Terrion Nichols and Daniel Phillips.

Head coach Shawn Sellers is very excited for this season as he says, “The future’s very bright for us at Highland Home. We were out here all summer working for this season. Not only are we a team, but we are a family.”

Highland Home will have their first home game against Luverne on Nov. 29. Sellers also adds, “The first few games on our schedule are tough teams. We haven’t faced JF Shields, LAMP or Kinston before. So, playing teams we’re not familiar with can be a challenge within itself. I did this to help us get ready for our area games.”

The Flying Squadron has their first area game against the McKenzie Tigers on Jan. 3.

“Our team is a young team, but not inexperienced. We have six seniors, one junior and 10 sophomores but they’re all really talented,” Seller said.

“We had two new tenth graders added to our team, Moe Mosley and Art Hebert, and will be able to contribute for us this year.”

Highland Home has already played against LAMP and played in the Kinston tournament to start off their Thanksgiving break. Terrion Nichols led the team with points and Noah Phillips led with rebounds this weekend in the tournament.

“Now that we have an idea of what to work on, we will be at practice during the holidays to get ready for the rest of the season. Many little improvements will add up to great things,” Sellers said.

The returning starters for the 2016-2017 varsity girls basketball team is Allera June, Brittany Kelly, Jala Merriweather and Kaitlyn Castle.

The first game Highland Home will host will be against Luverne on Dec. 29.

Highland Home’s head football coach, Gregg Baker will be assisting head coach Melinda Avant this year.

“The girls are working hard. Coach Baker and I are working together to make Highland Home better,” Avant said.

“We have a tough schedule to help us getting ready for region play.”

HHS will start off region play on Jan. 3 and will face off against the McKenzie Tigers.

“Where we are now, we’re okay. We had a late start due to volleyball but we’ve continued to work hard to get better. We had some games before Thanksgiving break started but have been out here during break practicing several times preparing for the rest of the season,” Avant said.

Coach Baker comments on what he already sees in the girls this season, “As far as the last three games have gone, yes, we have lost. But I’ve seen improvement in each game. These girls are very talented and this will be a good season for us.”

Senior point guard, Allera June lead the team in points while playing in Kinston’s Thanksgiving tournament.

“We have a lot of improvement to do. This is my second year with these girls, and we are still building. It’s going to take time, effort and dedication to get better but we are on the right track,” Avant said.