Team Preview: Princess Anne

Led by second year coach Tim Sparks, the Princess Anne Cavaliers are heading into the 2015-2016 season with the intention of making an impact in a tough 5A conference.  By having a strong core of experienced and motivated players, they believe they have the potential to do so. Although they finished last season with a 7-15 record, they remained competitive in all of their games. Coach Sparks is quick to point out that they lost many of their games by ten points or less.

The outlook for this year’s season is promising as Princess Anne returns a number of talented players who made significant contributions to last year’s team. The growth and development of players will be key for the Cavaliers, who are looking to make a deep run into the playoffs.

“I challenged my team by telling them we could have the first winning season for Princess Anne in over a decade,” Sparks said. “We have the talent and experience to get it done if we execute and get better every day.”

Junior forward Michael-Barfield Owens, who averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds last season, will be a go-to guy they are expecting another big year from. The active combo forward is an impact on the game in so many different ways, especially on the glass and in their pressure defense. He’s a mismatch offensively, and he’s capable of getting it done both on the perimeter and in the paint, as well as in transition.

The Cavaliers will also need big time minutes from their younger talent including sophomore Antonio Greer, who as a freshman started every game and showed to be competitive young player.  They’re also expecting Timothy Montgomery to make an early impact off the bench, as the freshman point guard is expected to play an important role right out of the gate.

With the team counting on younger players, the senior leadership will be an especially important factor, something guards Nyrel Goodson and Quevon Jackson hope to bring along.  Another important aspect will be this teams ability to continue to develop and cohere as a unit.

Coach Sparks is confident in his team stating, “We have a group of guys that believe in one another and have been working hard all summer and fall.”

With all of this in mind, the road to postseason play in this competitive conference will be a formidable, but certainly not unattainable goal for this team.

“We play in one of the toughest regions the state, Sparks said. “We have been preaching consistency, togetherness, and bringing our best every night. If we do that we know we can compete with anybody” 

If the Cavaliers are able to stick to their team concepts and continue to get impactful performances from young players, we should see an exciting year from Princess Anne. The Cavaliers open their season at Bayside on December 1.