By Travis Hubbard
The Herald-Dispatch
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HUNTINGTON -- O.J. Mayo and Patrick Patterson are a difficult act to follow, but the 2008 Huntington High boys' basketball team might be better than expected.
Huntington High's record-setting set of six Class of 2007 seniors leaves with three consecutive Class AAA titles, a 96-10 record, two Mountain State Athletic Conference titles and cruised through through their final year with an undefeated in-state run by an average margin of 41 points per game.
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Nobody will be happier to see Mayo, Patterson, Chris Early, Bruce Senior, Mike Taylor and Jamaal Williams graduate high school than Huntington High's regional basketball rivals. Huntington loses its top six players who accounted for 93 percent of the Highlanders offense, 88 percent of the rebounding, 91 percent of the assists and 97 percent of the blocked shots this past season.
And that has MSAC rivals saying "wait until next year."
"That just makes you want to work and play harder," said Lambros Svingos, a 6-foot-6 junior for Huntington.
But, what's left?
Plenty, according to the Highlanders.
"We have a lot of great athletes coming up, and a lot of people don't know how good of athletes these guys are," said returning back-up point guard Brandon Hutchison. "We've played against O.J. and Patrick every day in practice, and that has made them so much better skill-wise.
"Automatically, C.J. (Crawford) comes to mind because he's already coming in and getting dunks at the end of games. Another guy who is super athletic is Lindsey Johnson. I don't think anybody should sell us short."
There won't be much varsity experience back. There's no Mayo or Patterson in the group, maybe not even a Williams or Taylor, but enough talent returns next season that Huntington High won't go from first to last.
There are players like Hutchison, a 5-11 point guard, who accepted a lesser role this season and might have been the best player on a lot of other area teams. Hutchison is the returning leader in points (2.0 ppg.) and assists (1.6 apg.), has lettered two years on the Huntington varsity and appeared in 24 of the 27 games this season. He was penciled in as the top reserve before Mayo transferred home from Cincinnati's North College Hill.
"With these guys, you just had to get the ball up the court and get it to your superstars to make the plays," Hutchison said of the 2007 Highlanders. "Next year, I have to be a little more creative and shoot more myself. I think a lot of people are selling us short for next year, but I think we'll be more of a blue collar team. There won't be any fancy acrobatics, or anything like that, but we'll work hard.
"This year, we've been able to turn it on and turn it off against teams. We'd come out and have a great first quarter but not do well in the second quarter because the intensity wasn't there or we'd get complacent. But next year we have to work hard all the time."
Combo guard Michael Morton (1.7 ppg.), 6-6 postman Lambros Svingos (1.9 ppg., 2.1 rpg.) and Crawford, a 6-3 sophomore and youngest member of the 2007 Highlanders, follow Hutchison on the depth chart.
"There won't be any more Field House, we'll be right back here (Huntington High's gymnasium)," Crawford said. "It will be fun playing with these guys. It's not like we'll be sorry, because it's not like anybody else in the state of West Virginia is an elite team."
Colin Oakley, a developing 6-6 junior center, and D.R. Savage, a sharp-shooting 5-10 junior, rounded out the 12-man Huntington High varsity roster this season. Oakley battled injuries and only appeared in 13 games, while Savage didn't join the varsity until the second month of the season and appeared in 10 games.
The six Huntington reserves also had a stellar junior varsity season with guys like Mason Hess, Johnson, Beckett Ward and Chase Woodson. They won their first 13 games before losing their final three to George Washington, Parkersburg and Scott County (Ky.).
"We beat up on everybody just like varsity," Svingos said. "We're just going to try our best. We expect to go to the state tournament.
"I've been looking forward to it. It will finally be our team."
The Highlanders might even get some help from a freshman squad led by 6-0 guard Larry West and 6-3 postman Ross Evans. The Huntington freshmen were 16-4.
And the Cammack Middle School team finished 18-0.
"You never know what can happen from one year to the next," Hutchison said. "Who would have thought this time last year that O.J. would be here? You never know who might show up or leave, or who might improve and step up.
"The goal is to come back next year and win state."
Huntington’s Lambros Svingos battles in the lane after a rebound in the opening round of the WVSSAC Class AAA boys State Tournament. Svingos and his Highlander teammates will have big shoes to fill after the class of 2007 featuring O.J. Mayo and Patrick Patterson graduate this spring.
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Highlander FeverHHS places four on first team all MSAC teamMayo still in spotlightLeaving a lasting legacyMayo relishes title runHuntington wins state2008 Highlanders
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