Midland Trail Boys
Midland Trail Boys
Patriots reload on heels of solid campaign
By Steve Keenan the fayette tribune
Curtis Miller saw six seniors graduate from last year ’ s successful Midland Trail boys team , but he hasn ’ t pushed the panic button yet .
“ We lost , what , six seniors last year ?” Miller asked on the second day of practice . That included Bryar Bailes , Eli Campbell , Jaden Gladwell , Justin Cooper , Landon Syner and Avery Rosencrance , and most played starting roles or were main reserves . “ It ’ s rough , but we have a good , young nucleus back ,” Miller said .
The Patriots finished 18-5 last season , getting upset by PikeView 53-48 at Hico in a Class AAA section tournament opener . “ I thought last year was the best chance to get down there ( state tourney ), even in triple-A ,” Miller said . “ That night at sectionals , we just couldn ’ t make shots , and that hadn ’ t been a problem all year .” Prior to the PikeView setback , Trail was unbeaten at home in 2023-24 . But , that was then . “ We ’ ll be pretty young this year ,” Miller said . “ I ’ m excited , and they seem to be excited . We ’ ve went from 14-8 two years ago to 18-5 last year . The excitement ’ s there . They ’ ve tasted winning . They ’ ve worked , and I haven ’ t had to beg them to get in the gym .”
“ Usually , when that ( losing that many seniors ) happens , we ’ re rebuilding , but this young group is pretty solid ,” he added . “ They played all summer together , so they know how to play with each other .
“ I think we ’ ll be all right . I think we ’ re set up to be pretty good the next three or four years .”
With the big personnel changes , Miller said the style of play must adjust .
26 • WV SOUTH BASKETBALL
Steve Keenan / The Fayette Tribune
Midland Trail ’ s Thad Brown goes up for a layup .
“ We have to change completely . Last year , we were all about full-court , runand-gun , man-to-man . We ’ re a lot slower this year , so we ’ re going to have to slow it down . I ’ m looking at playing multiple defenses . We ’ re big and we utilize the zone some .”
Junior guard Payton Bailes and senior utility man Thad Brown are the team ’ s two returning starters . “ Payton went from coming off the bench until
Bryar got hurt , then he got thrown in and pretty much had to be one of the main guys after that , so last year helped him . Payton ’ s going to be a stud . He ’ s good . I hope I can move him off the ball ; that ’ s the plan .”
“ Thad will be back ,” Miller said . “ He can play any position , all five . Last year , he played center out of necessity , and in the summer he played point guard a lot , because I needed him to get the ball up the floor . He can go wherever we need .” Last year ’ s eighth man , Levi Skaggs , is now a senior and is expected to crack the starting lineup .
“ We ’ ll have Ben ( Harrison ) at center ,” said Miller . Harrison , a sophomore who stands around 6-feet-5 , played on the jayvee team as a freshman . “ He put work in ; he ’ s been in the gym every day since basketball season ended ,” his coach noted . “ He ’ ll have a big year , I think . Not too many people know about him .”
Junior Jake Ewing is also expected to enter the starting rotation and make solid contributions .
Sophomore Cam Thomas will come off the bench , as will fellow sophomores Brody Jones and Isaiah Harper .
A promising post player , Gage Johnson , is out for the year due to injuries . “ That took a big hit to our depth not having him .”
Midland Trail dropped down to Class AA for the coming season . The Patriots are in Region 3 with James Monroe , Summers County , Liberty , Westside , Wyoming East , Bluefield and Mingo Central . Section tournaments were discontinued in the offseason , and region tourney events are single-elimination .
“ Seeding ’ s even more important ,” said Miller . “ Not everyone in our region is playing each other , because they waited so long to release the sections and regions , everybody ’ s schedule was done . You were just kind of guessing where you were going to go , and it ’ s probably going to change again next year .”
The Patriots no longer have schools such as Sissonville and Herbert Hoover on the slate , and they ’ ve added foes such as Scott , Liberty and James Monroe . They will play in the Summersville Winter Classic and the New River CTC Invitational .