by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
In his five-year tenure as the Lancaster High School varsity boys basketball coach, Dwayne Pinn has set the bar pretty high, winning two state championships and finishing as a Class 1 semifinalist in 2024-25.
This year, the team will look a little different, he said. Fans can still expect competitive, up-tempo play from his young and talented team of 14, including four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen.
His starting line-up will likely include two freshmen. The four returners with senior 6’6” center Antonio Tomlin and senior 6’1” forward Jamarcus Russell, will anchor the line-up. Tomlin and Russell are three-year veterans and Russell was first-team all state last year. Junior Carlmone Noel took over the starting point guard duty just before the Region 1A tournament last year. Freshmen guards Jhamar Davis and De’Avion Lucas will also be in the starting five. Lucas is a new Lancaster student who “shot the ball well at our scrimmages,” said Pinn.
Senior guard Xavier Sutton will be the sixth man off the bench. “He’s my high energy guy,” said Pinn. “He’ll get starter minutes. When he comes in, he’ll be in for the whole half. That sixth man is like a starter. What I’m trying to do is get some energy off the bench.”
As for depth, Pinn is still sorting through his seven, eight and nine men.
“We’re really young and I’m counting on my seniors to be my leaders,” he said. “Some of my juniors are first-year players and I even have one senior new player.
“I’m counting on Jamarcus and Antonio to be my leaders. They were a part of that state championship team [in 2023-24]. And I’m expecting a big year from Jamarcus, both in a leadership role and a scoring role.”
Pinn says he “put a lot of weight on Carlmone last year when we put him in that starting role and we went on a seven-game winning streak with him as a starter.”
Lucas and Davis are young and inexperienced, but are “good basketball players,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of expectations.”
Also seeing playing time at guard will be sophomore Jamarius Monroe and freshman Ke’Nique Bunns, who Pinn recently pulled up from the junior varsity team. Getting time at forward will be sophomore Kemari Sayles, juniors Brooks Parker and Andre Canada and senior Trevor Pittman. Freshman Antonio Tiggle and junior Devontrey Wright will go in at center.
“We’re gonna be a fast team, play a lot of pressure defense and get a lot of buckets in transitions,” said Pinn.
“I know what people are used to. We know the standard, but we’re a lot of younger than we’ve ever been,” he added. “But we still think we’ll be competing for a region championship.”
The Red Devils are scheduled for two overnight tournament trips in December and another game at Rappahannock County High School.
“Our December is tough but we think that will prepare us for the rest of January,” said Pinn.
Junior varsity
Coach Eddie Hall’s junior varsity team is also young and athletic.
He’ll have three eighth graders in his starting five including point guard Aayden Hebbons, shooting guard Kamerun Davis and forward Jaheir Betts.
Starting freshmen center Zeric Jones and guard Syn’cere Taylor are the team’s only returners.
“Most of these kids have come up in organization, playing at the middle school or in our travel ball teams, so they play a lot together,” said Hall. “We do have a group of newcomers that haven’t played basketball before.
“We don’t have the numbers we usually have on the JV team,” he said. “I usually have 14 or 15 and I only have 10.”
It’ll also be “difficult getting the players who haven’t played before, accustomed to playing with the ones that have,” said Hall.
Despite the inexperience and lower participation, Hall still has high hopes. “This team is capable of winning the district,” he said. “With the line-up we have, we can make some noise.”
His three eighth grade starters—Hebbons, Davis and Betts—were part of a middle school team that didn’t lose a game last year. “So those three bring a winning mentality to the team,” said Hall.
The team showed promise in its pre-season scrimmages last week. “The guys played pretty hard,” he said.
Also seeing playing time will be sophomores Joseph Harcum at center and Khalian Howard at forward, along with freshman center Jayden Rich and eighth grade guards Jordin Brooks and Travis Hudnall.
One player is already dealing with an injury and Hall lost Bunns, who was pulled up to varsity.
“We’re already trying to juggle injuries and make a squad, but varsity is our top priority. We need to get healthy and stay healthy,” said Hall.
SCHEDULE
December 9 Middlesex
December 12 at George Wythe (varsity only)
December 13 at Fort Chiswell (varsity only)
December 17 at Caroline
December 27 Rappahannock
December 29-30 Nelson County and Buckhannon-Upshur at Strasburg Invitational
January 6 at Colonial Beach
January 9 Northumberland
January 12 Mathews
January 13 Westmoreland
January 16 Rappahannock
January 20 at Essex
January 23 Colonial Beach
January 24 Laurie
January 27 at Northumberland
January 30 at Westmoreland
February 3 at Rappahannock
February 6 Essex
