Just 30 minutes south of Hattiesburg sits Lumberton. Most of the talk in the town of 2,228 is surrounding the football team, who is fresh off a state championship appearance.
With small school programs like Lumberton, most of their teams are made up of football players. The Panthers had to cancel the first seven games of the season due to the Panthers’ state championship appearance. This is a tough task, especially when most schools are 7 to 10 games deep into the season. With Lumberton, all but a couple of players made that transition.
“That’s the downfall of coaching a small school,” head coach Jonathon Edwards said. “We had to wait on pretty much all of our kids to finish football. Having to share athletes with the football team led us to cancel most of our games in early December. It gets hard at times, but we just have to get going a little bit later than others.”
Even though there are a lot of disadvantages with this, there are some advantages. Edwards looks to bring some of that tough, physical play out from the football team to carry that intensity out on the hardwood.
“We are a very physical team,” Edwards said. “It just takes about a month to get the football out of them.”
With most of the players playing football, there is one player that stands out above the rest. Tyler Bush is the Panthers’ point guard and one of the few players who has started basketball well ahead of the others. He is a smooth player who can pretty much score anywhere on the court. Although he is not big in size, he has a high basketball IQ and is one of the best shooters/scorers in the Pine Belt.
“We are counting on Bush to lead us this year,” Edwards said. “He is a very good point guard and is a very consistent shooter. He has done an incredible job in the offseason, so we are looking to him to set the tone for our team. He leads by example and is our go-to guy.”
Lumberton’s starting five are not as tall as most area teams but are a scrappy bunch that has the stamina to set an aggressive defensive tone for the better part of the game.
Robert Henry, Trevion Jessie, and Roland Obanner are key football players who will have a large roll in the success the Panthers hope to have this year. All three are incredible defensive players and can shoot around the perimeter as well as run the court for fast-break opportunities. For the Panthers to have any success, they will have to do it with transitional buckets as well as a strong defensive game.
Just like football, the coach is looking to Henry to be a presence on the court with his play and also his leadership.
“We are looking for Robert, Trevion, and Roland to be our leaders on the team,” Edwards said. “They are one of the quickest bunch we have had here. Their athleticism makes them a tough bunch when we are hitting our shots. At times they are a little too aggressive. A large reason for that is their football mentality.”
With the team small and physical, the Panthers will utilize that to their favor. There is no lack of stamina, so Edwards plans on using that for the better part of the game.
“With that level of play, we are able to be aggressive and run full court presses,” he said. “That’s my style. Up-tempo, being aggressive, and running the ball up the court are some things we are going to do a lot of. Once we get the ball up the court, we are going to try and get as many shots up as possible, block out and key in on second- chance opportunities.”
This is Edwards’ third year at Lumberton. He also played basketball with the Panthers before going to Pearl River for two years and two years at West Georgia.
