The North Callaway boys basketball team expects several new players to step up next season.

North Callaway at Higbee Photo Gallery

After finishing with about a .500 record in about 19 scrimmages this summer, North Callaway is becoming more accustomed to what its roster will look like in the winter. The Thunderbirds finished its summer schedule by winning two of three games on Friday at the Higbee Shootout, defeating Vienna and Higbee.

Head coach Matt Miller said the physicality from Centralia in North Callaway’s only loss of the day widened the gap from the two-possession halftime deficit for the Thunderbirds. Overall, though, Miller said his team looked how he wanted it to at the end of summer.

“We got really good looks, but the ball didn’t go in the hole sometimes,” Miller said. “I told the boys all summer, ‘You’re playing the right way, you’re looking for the right things and you’re taking the right shots.’ Just because they aren’t falling in June, those are the shots we want to take that are going to fall in December and January.”

Miller said summer is about figuring out the new roster and playing basketball the right way. He said he has been trying new things with this new roster that will be without four seniors who graduated a year ago.

“We’re tweaking some things on defense with this group that we have,” Miller said. “They really bought into it and have been flying around, being aggressive and getting a lot of deflections. It wasn’t great every game, obviously, but it came together quicker than I thought it would this summer.”

Offensively, Miller said North Callaway has kids spending more time in starting roles, at point guard and taking the ball out of bounds. Seeing how each player responds to those roles gives him an early idea of what the winter will look like.

Austin Brown and Zac Craghead will be upcoming seniors who Miller expects much from in expanded roles. Miller said Jamarion Glover was a rebounding machine a season ago and doesn’t know “who’s going to roll through him” based on how much of a force he has proven to be. He said Jake Blevins has been handing the ball more in the summer, calling him “phenomenal” in making the right plays against Higbee.

“I’m ready for the first week of practice,” Miller said with a chuckle.