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’Canes win 22 games in 11 days
Published June 24, 2009
MONROE — Monroe Area boys basketball coach Ron Garren’s career at the school began on a dismal note three years ago with two victories in his first season. Since that time the Purple Hurricanes have developed into a respectable program and — judging from this summer’s offseason showing — might be on the verge of contender status.
The ’Canes participated in four camps this summer, logging a 22-6 record during an 11-day stretch.
“I know they don’t count the record this time of year, but it does give us an indication of what we should be able to do when next season rolls around,” said Garren.
Monroe Area went to North Oconee, Northeast Georgia (Garren’s camp at Jackson County), Dacula and Hart County. With the exception of the weekend in Hartwell during which the coach was missing several players who were off at a football camp, success came at an encouraging pace. The Hurricanes were 4-1 at North Oconee, 7-1 at Jackson County, 4-3 at Hart County and 7-1 in Dacula.
“We took these opportunities to look at different combinations of lineups,” Garren said. “A real good example of that is Stephon Tuitt, a 6-feet, 7-inches rising junior who really improved on our junior varsity team last year. He played in all but seven games and really showed us some potential. Stephon was our surprise of the summer.”
Garren’s first Monroe Area team included only two players who had ever performed at the varsity level. The coach said he has finally established some depth and experience up and down the roster. The ‘Canes will finally have a reliable bench and with the continued strong play of Maritea Duke on the inside and the emergence of rising guard Ken Jackson to go with all-around athletes Demond Smith, Trashard Burdette, Canute Williams, Chaz Boyce and A.J. Capers, Garren is looking forward to next winter in Region 8-AAAA. Junior Montevious (Rod) Griffin is a talented newcomer after missing his sophomore season.
“We’ve moved Ken to point guard and he looked good. He sees the floor so well and I think he’ll have a good year for us,” said Garren. “One of the keys to our success next season will be the ability to find someone to give us some backup playing time at point guard. I hope that will be either
Chaz or Rod. I think both of those are capable of giving us some valuable minutes off the bench.”
Devonte Jarrell suffered an injury early in the summer and was lost for the remainder of the offseason. Jarrell could break into the starting lineup when he heals, according to his coach.
“He turned an ankle about 10 minutes into the first game,” Garren said. “He’s undoubtedly our quickest player and we’re looking forward to having him available.”
This marks the second consecutive summer Monroe Area has enjoyed success at summer camp. The Hurricanes finished last year with an 18-8 record in June and went on to have an encouraging season in 8-AAAA, finishing with double digit victories.
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