HOWARD COUNTY, MD — 2016-17 record: 5-8 MIAA B, 14-17
Coach: Frick Frierson
Top players: Seniors Blake Hatcher (G), Jalen Morant (G), Brandon Wise (G), Bo Wesley (C); juniors Odell Dickerson (F), Cameron Heard (G).
What you need to know: Chapelgate will look to push the pace a lot more this year after losing two frontcourt players and welcoming back two guards who missed last season because of injuries.
A year ago, the Yellowjackets relied heavily on 6-foot-8 sophomore center Jason Murphy, an all-conference and first-team All-County player who led the team with 15.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game en route to tallying 17 double-doubles. He also averaged a county-best 3.5 blocks per contests.
Murphy is gone now, having transferred to St. Frances in the offseason. Chapelgate (2-3, 0-1 MIAA B) also graduated forward Cliff McEachin, another quality post presence and the team’s second-leading scorer at 10.1 points per game.
In their absence, senior Blake Hatcher expects seniors Bo Wesley and senior Paris Young to make contributions to what has become a guard-oriented squad.
“Jason was a great player. He complimented our team a lot,” Hatcher said. “But I think we’re going to be a lot better team this year because we can speed up the game.”
Hatcher, after missing last season with a torn ACL and meniscus, has joined seniors Brandon Wise and Jalen Morant in the starting backcourt. Junior Cameron Heard is also back after a season-long broken wrist injury.
Frierson said these additions give the Yellowjackets several capable options to make up for losing last year’s top player.
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“We’re feeling really good about the team,” Frierson said. “Last year we played with Jason, but we were missing [Hatcher and Heard], so it’s the same. It just looks a little different.”