High Expectations Await KP Boys Basketball

With local media outlets around Boston ranking the King Philip boys' basketball team as high as fifth in the state, there is no denying that the stakes are high for coach Sean McInnis and his team.

After last year’s runner-up finish in the MIAA Division 2 South Sectional Tournament, the KP boys are ready to make another run but are making sure to take the season step by step.

“We got a lot of work to do, which is like any other school in the MIAA, and I think we’ll be alright. We just gotta focus in and make sure we that don’t get caught up in the expectations and last year,” McInnis said. “It's a new area for these guys. What we’re doing is we’re telling them to make sure we take it one step at a time. “

Off the bat the Warriors will be facing two of the toughest teams inside the Hockomock League. They open up against Franklin and will face the Division 1 South Sectional Champion Mansfield Hornets only 4 days later. For KP, taking it one step at a time means worrying about surviving the Hockomock League before being concerned about potential tournament opponents.

“Those two teams right there are tremendous. We have to remember that we’ve never beaten Mansfield since I’ve been here and we’ve only beaten Franklin once,” said McInnis.

Leading the Warriors will be senior captains Jake Layman and Christian Fair. Since last year, Layman has been the center of attention as one of the top prospects in the country. The senior power forward recently committed to the University of Maryland and is considered to be one of the elite players in Massachusetts.

Fair is expected to return to the backcourt where he has had success. The senior was a valuable part of the Warriors’ defense last year and is looking to continue in that roll this year

“He was a tremendous defender last year for us. We’re going to expect him and ask him to do the same thing again this year,” said McInnis.

Joining the team for the first time this year will be transfer student Tykei Hallman. The Texas transfer student will be at small forward, adding depth to an already strong frontcourt.

The Warriors are going to be looking to run a high tempo transition offense in an attempt to suffocate their opponents. Fair is going to be an important part in helping convert that pressure into turnovers and fast break points.

“We want our offense to come off of our defense,” McInnis said.

To help run the fast pace McInnis is looking for will be Connor Smith, Michael Schmidt, Sam McDonald, and Dever Carrison.

With high profile players on a potentially attention-grabbing team, the Warriors are keeping it simple by reminding their players to just do their rolls. All they need to do is go out and play the game while the coaches are the ones who shoulder most of the expectations.

“There is no pressure on these guys. They just have to go out and play basketball and it’s our job to make sure we put them in the position to win,” said McInnis.

Even with high profile players, the Warriors cannot win without a strong core. As long as KP can be a team threat and not a group of individual threats, then there may be more hardware to put in the trophy case.

“There are no one person teams and even two person teams that can win state titles and can win games consistently,” McInnis said. “We need to all do our job and make sure that we’re there and ready.”