At Bellefonte High, the boys basketball teams season is beginning this winter and they will look to earn a playoff spot after failing to do so the year prior.
However, this would not be easy as the Raiders lost a big senior class and only returned a few key players from last year, including seniors Liam Halterman, Peyton Vancas, and Ryder Hamilton.
With very few returning players, they would look for some new faces to step up and take a role to help the team out which is where freshman Grayson Coons would show his value to help the team fight for a hopeful playoff spot and more as the season continues.
“My goals for this season are to grow as a player and teammate. I know I can learn a lot from the upperclassmen and Coach Hall. Both have a lot of experience that I don’t, as this is a new style of basketball I haven’t seen or played. As a team, I would say our goal is to put forth as much effort as possible, considering we aren’t the tallest,” Grayson said.
Although Grayson has played basketball for a good amount of his life between middle school basketball and AAU basketball. Playing high school ball is a totally different challenge to learn.
“What I look forward to the most this season is learning this new style of basketball. I’ve noticed multiple differences between high school basketball and AAU already. High school basketball is a lot more organized, meaning there is a lot less isolated play and pretty much everyone touches the ball every possession.”
As Grayson continues to learn and develop under the upperclassmen and Head Coach Rick Hall he will look forward to adding many more memories to the many he already has from playing basketball.
“My favorite memory from playing basketball was a circuit I played in back in seventh grade. The circuit was put on by Marquee Hoops, and it was cool seeing the talent from all over. It was very eye-opening to what else is out there, as well as seeing what I need improvement on. It was my first taste of very talented and competitive basketball.”
Although being a young, up and coming athlete, Grayson has already been getting a good bit of varsity minutes, making a good bit of an impact on the Raiders squad, and learning more about the game and developing his skills to help the younger JV squad.
He believes a big part of his game is his ability to score and other small things but he believes that there is still plenty of room for him to grow and improve his game all around.
“I feel what I bring the most to the team is scoring. Scoring has probably always been the best part of my game, so hopefully I can keep that going. However, there are definitely many things I need to work on, including my scoring. All in all, I’m very excited for this upcoming season, and I’m interested to see how it plays out.”
All of Bellefonte looks forward to watching Grayson and the Raiders grow and develop to become future championship contenders in the near future.
