Grace Christian grew up last season.
Now, the Warriors are ready to see if they can play with the big boys.
Last year, coach Josh Brown's squad set a school record with 26 wins, finished second in District 6-C and advanced to the playoffs before losing to Marion. All that came with a team that featured no seniors and just one junior in the starting lineup. All five starters, led by junior guard Sean Smith, sophomore forward Jeremy Fontenot and junior point guard James Slater, returned as the Warriors have stepped up in classification to Class B.
"Class B is definitely a step up," said Brown, who believes his squad is up to the challenge. "It's not Class C, that's for sure. They like it. They want to play up. They want to get out there and play against good teams."
So far, so good for the Warriors, who were 8-1 entering Tuesday's game at Harrisonburg.
Slater, who Brown says is the most improved of his five starters, said the Warriors are off to a hot start because of what they accomplished last season.
"As much time as we spend with each other, basically we know each other as brothers practically," Slater said. "That makes it easy to play with each other, if you know each other."
"It made us better because all the starters are back, and we've all played together for a whole year," Smith added. "Our scoring is all spread out evenly, even people off the bench. This year, everybody has stepped up."
And the bench is what makes Grace Christian dangerous this year, Brown said. Last season, outside of Smith, Fontenot, Slater, junior forward Alex Hanna and senior guard Stephen Margheim, Brown didn't have much confidence in the rest of his team.
Now, he says, the Warriors can go 10 deep and not lose anything.
"We're not bad," Brown said. "I think we're a lot better than last year. We have a bench now. We had nobody to go to last year."
The emergence of 6-foot-6 junior Zach Preuett at center has helped, especially as the Warriors get into district play and must matchup with Rapides 6-8 center BJ West. Senior Anthony Collins and sophomores Timmy Slater, Chaston Lacaze and Daniel Margheim also provide much-needed depth.
James Slater said having players to come off the bench means the Warriors' starters aren't having to play the whole game and can take a seat on the bench to get rest.
"We don't have to play all 32 minutes," he said.
With their newfound depth, and a balance of being to run with teams or play a slow, grind-it-out style depending on the opponent, the Warriors are looking forward to the challenge that is ahead.
"If everybody brings their 'A' game every night, we can play with anybody," Smith said.
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