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The Charles Henderson Trojans boys’ basketball team is as young as it’s been since head coach Tim Fayson took over the program and he’s focused on improving as the 2024-2025 season gets started.

The Trojans saw improvement from the beginning of the summer throughout offseason workouts.

“I thought we made a lot of strides in the offseason,” said Fayson. “At the beginning of the summer, when we played in June, I thought we looked really disjointed. We had some new pieces, guys that didn’t have a lot of varsity experience, playing at that level of competition for the first time.

“We were really disjointed but the more we played, the more we saw signs of growth. In July, we focused on getting in the weight room and working on individual skill stuff. I saw a lot of growth and improvement in the last three months or so.”

Senior Cody Cross and Meldrick Rodgers are the veterans that Fayson is looking to lead the way.

“Cody has been playing for the last two years and has started a lot of games for us,” Fayson said. “Meldrick had some health issues and had a slow start to (last season) but came on during area play and I thought he really played well in the regionals in Montgomery. He started to grow. Those are the two guys we’re really leaning on for leadership.”

There’s also plenty of young talent that the Trojans are eager to see on the court.

“Tyler Cross, Damien Williams, Carter Ford, Jamari Jackson and Deep Patel are our (junior varsity) guys coming up to varsity. I’m really expecting them to step up this year,” Fayson said. “I saw a lot of growth from those guys coming up from varsity. I’ve been really pleased with what I’ve seen from them so far.”

As it has for the past two seasons, Charles Henderson will start the season off without any of its football players in the early part of the season. CHHS starts off the year on Thursday, Nov. 7, on the road at Pike Road.

As the season progresses, Fayson said that he’s just focusing on making sure his squad continues to improve as it gains more experience.

“Our focus is just about getting better; getting better each and every day,” Fayson emphasized. “The overall goal is always going to be winning a state championship, but in order to do that – because we have such a young group – we have to be focused on getting better every day. Get a little better each day.

“I want to let this group have fun, let them find their way by making mistakes in practice and just keep growing as a team. It’s a good group, a fun group and a hard-working group. I’ve been really pleased with the work they put in and how they embrace the hard work. I’m interested to see how that translates into the games.”

Charles Henderson opens the season with four straight road games and an away tournament before finally playing at home. The Trojans travel to Pike Road on Nov. 7, Dothan on Nov. 15, Luverne on Nov. 19, Auburn on Nov. 21 and then head to Pelham for the 46th Annual Sneaky Pete’s Rebel Classic. The first game played on the freshly christened Carl Hollis Court at Betty Wagner Gymnasium on the campus of CHHS will be against Highland Home on Dec. 2. CHHS will host the floor dedication for Carl Hollis Court on Jan. 11 against Pike County and Senior Night on Jan. 21 against Andalusia.