Gilman basketball coach Owen Daly has set a goal of making the playoffs in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference. The Greyhounds came close last year, finishing tied for seventh in the 10-team league.
That was one spot away from a postseason berth — the same position Gilman occupies this season entering this week.
For the Greyhounds to make their move, they'll have to navigate a stretch of six consecutive league road games that started with a 56-52 upset of Calvert Hall Jan. 5 and will end with Archbishop Spalding on Jan. 26.
In between, Gilman (6-9 overall, 3-5 league) will face Mount Carmel, McDonogh, John Carroll and Glenelg Country.
"We really enjoy playing on the road in the A Conference," Daly said. "I hope we can get a few wins on the road. Any time you play A Conference teams on the road, it's a huge challenge, but we really look forward to it. Some of these environments are wonderful. They are very competitive environments with a tradition and history."
Now that it's the second half of the season, the playoffs will never be far from the minds of Gilman's players.
"When we are playing in our last couple of games, we want to be playing for a chance to get in," Daly said. "You want those games to be meaningful, and it would be really great if we could make the playoffs."
The return of 6-foot-5 senior Kai Locksley for Gilman's string of league games should give the team a boost.
Locksley missed three games — including two in the Sherm Bristow Holiday Tournament early last week and the contest against Boys' Latin on Jan. 3 —because the Florida State University recruit was playing in the 2015 Under Armour All-America game in St. Petersburg, Fla.
He averages 21 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Locksley is shooting 50 percent from the field and 45-percent from three-point range.
"He's had a really good year for us," Daly said. "He's averaging a double-double. This is potentially his last time playing on a team in basketball. We hope this will be a final stretch where (former Gilman and current Alabama football player) kind of like Cyrus Jones did a few years ago. He really embraced the opportunity to lead us down the stretch."
Daly said Locksley's commitment to play football has made him a better basketball player.
"He is playing more freely," Daly explained. "He is not trying to figure out if he is going to be a football player or a basketball player. He now knows he's going to be a football player, so he can play with that real love of the game that really helps kids his age."
Gilman has also missed the presence of 6-foot-3 sophomore swingman Douglas Cooper, who is recovering from a knee injury.
Cooper ranked second on the team in scoring last year, averaging 10 points and five rebounds.
He hasn't played in a game so far this year, but could return late in the season.
"He has been one of our centerpiece guys, so him being out has kind of interrupted our plans," Daly said.
Still, Daly has liked the contributions he's received from junior 6-foot-6 guard Everett Winchester, 6-foot-5 sophomore guard/forward Tyler Foster, sophomore point guard Donald Duncan, senior guard Matt Egan, 6-foot-7 junior forward Devery Hamilton and freshman point guard Brandon Madison.
Winchester has been especially impressive to Daly.
"He's really stepped up his game," Daly said. "He is filling up the stat sheet and having to do a lot of things for us that we need him to do."
Winchester and the Greyhounds have plenty of room for improvement as conference play heats up.
"We need to be more consistent and we are inconsistent at times," Gilman assistant coach Randy Dase said. "We haven't put down four good quarters of basketball. We have a lot of talented guys. We believe in each other and if we stay together as a group, you never know who we could beat or upset in January."