HURRICANE, W.Va. — Hurricane’s boys basketball team entered the weekend having won 12 of its last 13 games following a 2-4 start.
The Redskins a season ago also got rolling at the midpoint of the season, riding that momentum all the way to the Class AAA state championship game.
This year, Hurricane returned a couple of key veteran pieces from that runner-up team to lead the way in seniors Trey Dawson and J.T. Rogoszewski.
“It’s taken us some time to get all of the pieces together,” said Hurricane coach Lance Sutherland. “Other than Trey (Dawson), who was our only starter coming back and J.T. (Rogoszewski), our sixth man, it was pretty much a brand new team. But having said that, we are still starting five seniors.
“The team chemistry is coming through and people are getting used to playing with each other,” Sutherland said. “Everything is getting there — we’re still not where we need to be yet — but it’s getting better.”
One of those early losses for Hurricane came to South Charleston 76-50, but the Redskins later handed the Black Eagles their first loss of the year 52-50 in late January.
“We were much more patient the second time around,” Sutherland said. “These kids just had the determination to do whatever it took to win — and they did. We were patient and played our game, forcing South Charleston to play at our pace.”
The complete interview with Sutherland is posted at the top of the page.
Follow MetroNews High School Sports on Twitter and on Facebook.