Cooper Williams, shooting, is entering his fourth year as a starter and third season as a captain for the Vermillion Tanagers, who open the season on Dec. 9. Williams is the lone returning starter for the Tanagers, who are looking to qualify for state for the first time since 1989. Williams Leads Way For Tanager Boys BY ELYSE BRIGHTMAN elyse.brightman@plaintalk.net VERMILLION — Point guard Cooper Williams is familiar with being in a leadership role, but this season that role is being taken one step further for the Vermillion High School boys’ basketball team. Williams will be entering his senior season with the Tanagers as a four-year starter, three-year captain and only returning starting player from last season’s squad. That all adds up to some potential added pressures. “We are leaning on him for leadership, both vocal and as a role model by example,” said Tanagers head coach Jay Drake. But, already being in the position of captain for several years gives Drake confidence that Williams will easily step into that role. “Basically, he’s been our starting point guard from day one,” Drake said. “He’s a true point guard. He gets his teammates involved, he’s a solids kid, and he puts in a lot of time. His basketball IQ is very high and he just understands the game. From a coaching staff standpoint, it’s nice when you know you have a point guard that can handle the basketball and he’s like a coach on the floor. This will only be Williams’ fourth season as a Tanager since moving in from out state to begin his freshman year. He earned the starting point guard position as a newcomer and named team captain the very next season, a position typically held by seniors. “(Being a new player) was a little dif- ficult at first,” Williams said. “It was something that I hadn’t really expected, to play and start high school varsity basketball as a freshman, but it was a really welcoming situation.” He admitted it may have been tough for some of the veteran players to see a new freshman come to town and take up a starting spot, but he was obviously doing something right when the next season his teammates and coaches appointed him one of the team captains, but he said he felt proud to be given a leadership role. “Initially I was shocked,” Williams said. “I came in thinking that was only a senior thing, so I was obviously humbled by it. I like to think of myself as a leader and I take pride in that and I’ve enjoyed being a captain.” Williams said he sees the role as mostly leading by example and “getting on guys” only when necessary. “It’s kind of being a coach on the floor,” he said. And being a coach on the floor can also translate into the position of point guard with the responsibility of handling the basketball, bring the ball down the court and distributing it to team mates. “You use the phrase ‘run the show’ a lot,” Williams said. “Having the ball put in your hands to be able to make good decisions all the time, whether that’s facilitator, scoring yourself or anything like that.” During last season, Williams lead Vermillion in scoring and assists with an average of 13.68 points per game and 7.5 assists. He also averaged 5.8 rebounds per game on a team that stresses a strong defense and rebounding. “The thing about him is he understands what needs to be done with what we want as a coaching staff,” Drake said. He may have been the leading scorer, but if you ask him, Williams prefers to see his teammates score. “One of my favorite feelings is hitting a guy and having him hit the shot and pointing at each other and saying good pass, good shot and slapping hands,” he said. Williams is looking to help the Tanagers to the ultimate goal of qualifying for the state tournament. Last season, Vermillion came up just one game shy with a 52-50 Region 4A championship loss to Dakota Valley. “There’s always pressure to get to state for us just because, one, of the drought, and two, just because that’s our goal every year — to be in position to play for a state championship and to be in a state championship,” he said. The drought he referred to is that Vermillion boys’ basketball hasn’t been back to the state tournament since winning back-to-back titles in the 1988 and 1989. Williams will have one last shot at breaking that 26-year goal of playing in the Class A state tournament that will be held March 16-17 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. The Tanagers season begins on Friday, December 9, at home against Bon Homme. “We are more experienced that people will think even though we are young,” Williams said. “Right now, we are trying to figure each other out, but I think by the end of the season we will have fairly good chemistry and we’ll be playing together really well.” New Faces Highlight Vermillion Lineup BY ELYSE BRIGHTMAN Elysebrightman@plaintalk.net The idea that a every new season brings a clean slate is a near reality for Vermillion High School boys’ basketball team. The Tanagers start this season with just two players who received significant playing time last season with starting point guard Cooper Williams, a four-year starter, and post player Riley Peters, who saw significant minutes off the bench the last couple seasons. “It really is a clean slate from last year,” Williams said. “We have guys playing this year that didn’t really think they would see the court last year at all.” Most of the experience the Tanagers are opening with is coming from the junior varsity level and the team is going to have some big shoes to fill to reach the ultimate goal of qualifying for the state tournament. Vermillion boys’ basketball won back-to-back state championships in in 1988 and 1989, but has yet to make a state tournament appearance since. The goal ever since has been to break that drought, and this year is no different. “I think we want to break the streak and make state. I think that is what our goal is every year,” Peters said. Last year, the squad fell one game and three points shy of that goal with a 52-50 loss to Dakota Valley in the Region 4A championship. Two free throws with five second on the clock separated the two teams. VHS BOYS | PAGE 2B