Payton Croft will field the youngest team in his six-year tenure as coach at Trigg County. While the team is short on experience, they have some raw talent that could be enough to compete in the Fifth District.
The Wildcats lost their top scorer, their big man, their point guard, and their top 3-point shooter from last year’s 11-14 team that lost in the district semifinals for the second straight year.
They return freshman Kendric Adams (8.5 ppg., 5.1 reb.), who was the first Trigg player to earn All-District honors as an eighth grader. Adams has improved his outside game and should be able to face the basket more on the offensive end.
Senior Kyron Grubbs (3.4 ppg.) returns and will take over point guard duties on a full-time basis. His speed and transition game allow Croft to use a press defense more than in recent years.
Junior Jakobe Bridges (3.0 ppg.) saw his scoring average dip last year but should see his numbers increase with more playing time.
After that, the rest of the experienced players either graduated or opted not to play in 2018-19. Croft will rely on senior Trevor Cortner and junior Hayden Cunningham for some additional outside shooting.
6-3 freshman and 6-1 junior Shaun Terrell are undersized but can give the Wildcats some solid rebounding to compliment the 6-foot-2 Adams on the inside.
Croft can also use the quickness of sophomores Tae Thompson and Kion Thompson, freshman Amari Grubbs, and eighth grader Gavin Grubbs to create some offense out of pressure defense and up-tempo play.
The Wildcat roster features ten sophomores and freshmen and no one over 6-foot-3. It’s one of the quickest and most athletic teams Croft has had in his six seasons as head coach. And it’s his least experienced. That’s not a good combination to overcome an 0-13 February record the past two seasons. If the younger players develop and the Wildcats find a productive system, they may reverse their recent late season fortunes.
