Greetings HS hoops junkies from across the conference playoff watching Piedmont! The Great One is here to discuss his visit with the West Mecklenburg Hawks. The Hawks have made one of the best turnarounds in recent memory. They have gone from 0-25 last season to a final regular season mark of 16-8 and 8-2 in the conference during this campaign. This has proved to be good enough for 1st place and top seed in the conference tournament. The Sadster decided to pay a visit and chat with first year Head Coach Chris Ewell and his Seniors about their journey so far this year. When Coach Ewell first arrived on campus, he knew he had some pieces but didn’t realize the extent of rehab this program needed. The fact the previous regime has gone 0-25 was an obvious indicator that a massive overhaul was needed. He knew the whole mentality needed changing as coaches know that winning begins with confidence and believing that it can be done. This was a huge hill to climb as the former Hawks team had folded when a team made a run on them. When asked what he thought about when he took the reins of the program, Coach Ewell said that he did it because it was a coaching challenge. “I wanted to show I can coach so this was an opportunity to do that and resurrect a program that used to be a winner. Going .500 was my goal”. West Meck did win before but none of the current Hawk players were born when the 2008 squad won their conference regular season title. The Hawk seniors take pride in their accomplishment and are still a little shocked at their rapid progress. They all agreed that the biggest change was the structure that Coach Ewell has brought to the program. “It made a difference in knowing what to do and why we were doing it”, stated 6’6 senior Josiah Pratt who is a 4 year member of the program. Pratt and the other seniors have barely even won a game in previous seasons. They site the fact that they play much harder under Coach Ewell and further explain that a coach that cares has made the biggest difference. According to the seniors, last year’s practices were extremely lax and some players did what they wanted and sat around. Not this season, as Coach Ewell has raised the bar to a high level which has produced success on the floor. The players were just wanting to win a game but summer success in events proved to be a sign of things to come. Since they have turned things around, the community has began to support the team with pregame meals and the school is also supporting the team with an active student section both at home and on the road. When asked about the legacy of this senior class, they all agreed that the juniors need to take the baton and build upon the success of this season. With the regular season behind them, they know look to the unfamiliar waters of States coming up after the conference tournament. Coach Ewell’s goal is to take it a game at a time and hopefully win the tournament. He thinks the Hawks have the potential to make the 7A regionals. That is definitely a big task with that bracket being loaded with traditional winners like North Meck, Mooresville, Independence and Weddington. Make no mistake, the Hawks have earned their accolades and will do everything possible to make the state Final 4, one game at a time. Regardless of the postseason outcome, these Hawks have had a season that has been one for the books and will be remembered as the team that went from the basement to the gym wall and will forever be a championship team.
SAD SAM – HS HOOPS GENIUS