Team Preview: Norman North (6A)

<p>The TimberWolves are determined for a trip to the 6A State Tournament this season.</p> <p>Norman North, led by coach Kellen McCoy, return a trio of primary players: [player_tooltip player_id="745363" first="Jaylon" last="White"], [player_tooltip player_id="745379" first="Aiden" last="Walker"] and [player_tooltip player_id="938870" first="Kayden" last="Carter"].</p> <p>White, who led the T-Wolves in scoring as a junior, returns for his third season as a starter.</p> <p>"JJ brings a lot of play-making ability," McCoy said. "He can score it, he can get other guys involved, and he’s gonna be really important part of what we do."</p> [caption id="attachment_1085275" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/JJ-White.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1085275" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/JJ-White-300x192.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="192" /></a> Jaylon "JJ White (Joshua Cleary/Prep Hoops).[/caption] <p>Walker, a counterpart to White as a three-year starter, will help him bear the load as a senior leader.</p> <p>"[Walker] is high-energy, does a lot of the dirty work down-low," McCoy said, "and gets a lot of rebounds and scores it."</p> <p>Carter, who was a staple in the T-Wolvles’ starting lineup before an early-season injury that sidelined him until the summer, will return as a paint-enforcer. McCoy expects high production from the athletic senior forward.</p> <p>"Coming off of his leg injury, [Carter] will be a big factor coming back for us," McCoy said. </p> <p>A trio of football players; [player_tooltip player_id="745372" first="Caelin" last="Hearne"], [player_tooltip player_id="1049315" first="Gavin" last="Frakes"] and [player_tooltip player_id="967401" first="Duncan" last="Parham"] each saw significant minutes or started in 2019. McCoy said all three will be reprising their roles for North.</p> <p>"Duncan started all last year for Kayden, Caelin started a year-and-a-half. . . came on for us towards the end of the year, and then Gavin also came on at the end of the year," McCoy said.</p> <p>McCoy cited Frakes’ talents as an important piece to the T-Wolves’ attack.</p> <p>"Gavin has grown a whole bunch," McCoy said, "he’s gotten a lot bigger, a lot stronger, he looked like a different person. . . we’re real hopeful for him this year."</p> <p>The T-Wolves also have a few newcomers taking over pivotal roles, McCoy said. Joel Adkinson is one of those players.</p> <p>"Adkinson, he’s got some good scoring abilities, smooth lefty," McCoy said.</p> <p>Three guards, Nate Lancaster, Nasir Williams and Malachi Evans, were all mentioned as quick guards with ball-handling capabilities looking to play expanded roles in North’s lineup.</p> <p>"They’re all small guard that we can get up and pressure with," McCoy said, "we’re gonna be able to play some different ways with some different personnel."</p> <p>McCoy said defensive rebounding would be among the T-Wolves’ keys to success.</p> <p>"We’ve got more than enough size and ability to do it," McCoy said, "we’ve just gotta get the determination to do it."</p> <p>McCoy also said that if North could score in transition, it could put itself in the positive margin and help its chances for success.</p> <p>"These guys, they’re always going to play hard, they’re gonna play together," McCoy said, "you’ll be able to watch and see the energy that they’re playing with, and they’ll be fun to watch. . . hopefully force a lot of turnovers and get back to score in transition."</p>