Cape Central students start own basketball team

The Mavericks' Cartez Hopkins walks down the floor during a Summer League game against New Madrid County Central on June 11.

Photo Courtesy of Carrie Trovillion - Freelance Photographer

The Mavericks, a basketball team playing in the 2024 Summer Boys High School Basketball League at the Cape Girardeau Sportsplex, are a group of friends who decided to create their own team. A few of the boys have played for the Cape Central Tigers while others have not made the team for one reason or another.

Cartez Hopkins, who will be a senior this school year, came up with the idea to start their team, Hopkins played for the school team as a freshman but quit due to wanting to focus on playing football.

“We were all friends playing in open gyms and stuff like that,” Hopkins said. “We just decided ‘Why don’t we make an AAU team or something?’ and we all came together after that.”

In week three of the Sportsplex League, the team took on reigning Class 3 State Champions New Madrid County Central, who although have lost Jadis Jones and BJ Williamson are still a very good team. The Eagles came out on top but only by six points so the Mavericks' talent is undeniable.

“We have good chemistry together, like I said we’ve been to multiple open gyms together,” Hopkins said. “We all have been playing on this team and we’ve played on previous teams together, so our chemistry has grown a lot.”

The Mavericks' Sawyer Koch (left) helps defend a New Madrid player during their summer league game on June 11.

For some of the boys who haven’t made the team or have decided to quit the team, there were varying reasons. Whether it be football-related in Hopkins’ case or just wanting to play for fun such is the case for Sawyer Koch.

“I think the school team is just a little too serious for me because I like to play basketball for fun,” Koch said. “I’m more free to play my game and I play more comfortably with this team than I did at school.”

“For me, and this is just my opinion, but I think the coaches at Cape Central could sometimes play favorites,” Hopkins said. “But at the same time they see something that we don’t so it’s not really fair for us to argue with that.”

The coach of the Mavericks, Jeff Koch, knew a lot of the boys beforehand so when he heard they needed a coach, he was happy to volunteer for the job. Koch said some basketball players develop faster than others so while some of his guys have not made the school team, it is not because they are not good enough right now.

“I think it’s developing in different time periods. I think a lot of these guys have talents, developmentally there has always been a consistent team for them to play on but they hadn’t sharpened their skills in the same timeline,” Koch said. “A lot of them are just now starting to develop the skills they need to play on the high school team. I think there’s a lot of ability they can use and it’s just a matter of good chemistry and sharpening their skills.”

While none of the kids blamed former head coach Drew Church for some them not making the team, they all agreed they would try out under new head coach Lamont Frazier simply for a fresh start. They also all know, no matter what happens they will have a great group of friends to play basketball with.