It’s an odd time in the world of sports at Reeltown High School.
After being dismissed from the AHSAA football playoffs in the first round, the Fightin’ Rebels were left without an opponent for the better part of three weeks.
“The break has helped,” said Irvin Cox, coach of the Rebels. “After we lost, we were able to give the young men two weeks to get their legs back under them and to heal with some nagging injuries throughout the year. Once we got started the last week of November we were able to get on the floor and these guys were at 100 percent.”
The Rebels will be led by returners Ariko Stewart (point) and DeAngelo Dancey (guard/small forward).
William Vale (guard / three-point specialist), Brandon Williams (6-foot-2, 245 pound center) and Cameron Brash (a 5-foot-9 transplant from Kansas) will fill out the starting five.
“This is the first time we’ve have the luxury of days off,” said Cox. “The young men here are used to having a tough day-to-day game schedule in January. The waiting and the balance of time off is not what we are used to.”
Reeltown took the floor for the first time Tuesday night against Horseshoe Bend.
“They haven’t stopped talking about that game since the first day, when we first tried out,” said Cox. “I think it’s going to be a good competitive ballgame.
“I’m looking for a good start to the season.”
From there, the Fightin’ Rebels storm into Clay County to take part in the Central-Clay Christmas Tournament (Dec. 19-20).
The girls play Horseshoe Bend at 3:30 p.m. while the boys play Randolph County later that evening at 6.
“The biggest thing I’m looking for in the month of December is for this team to gel,” said Cox.
“These kids are all juniors and seniors so they are in the same grade and have grown up playing together.”
Reeltown will cap 2013 by hosting the The Boys & Girls Christmas Invitational Dec. 27-28.
“It’s been a while since Reeltown hosted a tournament,” said Cox. “We decided to do one this year after we played in the Trinity Holiday Tournament, some of the guys were talking about wanting us to have one.”
The tournament will feature Elmore County, Holtville, Loachapoka and Lanett.
A junior high tournament, also hosted by Reeltown, is scheduled for Dec. 28.
Once January rolls around, the schedule is an all-out sprint beginning with a road trip to New Site (Horsehoe Bend on Jan. 3) and ending with back-to-back home tilts against Loachapoka (Jan. 29) and Elmore County (Feb. 1).
In that span, Reeltown will play 13 games including home-and-home area battles with Prattville Christian, the Montgomery Academy and Isabella.
“This area is great,” said Cox. “Every area game we play is a hard-fought ballgame. Either team will win by less than 10 points. They are very physical and you can tell that these kids want to win and host that area tournament.”
Last season, Reeltown led Montgomery Academy in their first-round game by as much as 10, before the Eagles came screaming back to knot the game in the final three minutes and send it to overtime.
“They eeked it out by four and sent us home,” said Cox.
In the past two years, Reeltown has had to play area tournaments at Lanett and PCA.
Given the athleticism found in the Rebels’ line-up, and the break before the season, Cox smiled when talking about the Rebels abilities.
“We are going to push the pace,” said Cox. “We’ve got some guards that are in tip-top shape and can shoot the ball. At the same time, if we need to slow things down we can because we have the size to ground and pound and work the inside. I’m glad we had the luxury of the break.”
On the other side of the coin, Cox said his defense was going to be just as aggressive.
“You’re going to see the press and the trap and the match-up zone.”