Photo by Frank Couch.
March 5, 2016 will be remembered as the day the boys basketball program at Homewood High School brought home its first blue trophy, as Class 6A state champions.
But as all coaches do, the next basketball season is already rising to the forefront of coach Tim Shepler’s mind.
He said, “Like any coach, you get a little paranoia. You kind of go, ‘Look, can we stay hungry after this?’”
Shepler is already dissecting his roster for next season, which will include leading scorer Luke Touliatos and post player Trey Jemison as the cornerstones.
“Not a bad place to start,” he said.
Nine seniors are graduating and moving on, taking with them a wealth of talent and knowledge. To see the fruits of their labor pay off in their final game is why guys like Shepler get into coaching.
“It’s the culmination for those guys of four years of having a bunch of guys that loved each other and played hard for each other. That was a great group. To see those guys walking out on top after all they’ve been through, was very gratifying,” he said.
The Patriots knocked off Muscle Shoals, 54-51, in the State Final behind 13 straight points to begin the game and the resilience to hang on in the end.
Concluding the season with a win is a new feeling for the Patriots, whether it is the coaching staff or the players.
“It feels good,” Touliatos said. “A little different, because you get more praise once you’ve won state and everything.”
The postgame celebration told the story in many different ways. The Red Caboose, which gained notoriety at the Steel City Invitational in December as one of the most entertaining bench crews in the state, had a blast. While the team sat and waited on the trophy presentation, the Caboose was posing for pictures with a shoe, a play on Cinderella’s slipper not fitting for the opponent.
One of the members of the Caboose is trainer Myles Butler. He couldn’t contain his emotions either, spending upwards of 30 seconds simply yelling as loud as his lungs would allow.
Touliatos jumped into the arms of a teammate at the end of the game. Assistant coach Rick Baguley needed a few minutes to himself to soak in the moment.
To top it off, just like at the Central Regional, the Patriots sent injured senior Tobbie Taylor to midcourt to receive the trophy.
The Patriots reached the Final Four a season ago, but came up short in the State Semifinals. This year, the objective was to get further.
“Near misses like getting to the Final Four the year before, that really motivated our kids to say we want to take it a step further,” Shepler said.
Now that Shepler has won his first state title in 21 years at Homewood, it has taken a little time to fully hit him.
“It kind of sinks in in waves,” he said. “I guess it’s probably going to keep doing that for the next five or six months.”
Time will tell
Will the Patriots be able to get back to the Big Dance next season? Only time will tell, but Touliatos is confident.
“Going back-to-back would be awesome,” he said.
The Patriots’ roster will likely not be as deep next season, but Touliatos believes they have the potential to be as talented, singling out Logan Padgett as a young player who could step up and surprise some people.
“I have confidence in the guys that will step up, but I honestly couldn’t tell you who at the moment. It’ll be interesting to see,” Touliatos said.
Shepler will look for one key ingredient once the time rolls around.
“Leadership. Luke did a lot of great things scoring this year,” he said. “Next year, I want to see his leadership, and how hard he works in practice.”
Touliatos heard his coach say that and also showed no reservations about his ability to do so.
“It’s definitely going to be different because we had a lot of good seniors this year,” he said. “I like trying to lead a team. I was kind of one of the leaders (this year), but we had so many seniors, it was kind of a combined effort,” he said.
Touliatos will make an effort to put on 10-15 pounds in the offseason, along with continuing to improve his defense. Shepler agreed with his analysis that his defense has improved steadily throughout the last few months.
Next season will present a new dynamic from the coach’s seat, as Homewood transitions from the hunter to the hunted.
“Once you’ve gotten there and you’ve achieved that, now you realize a little bit more, you’re the one getting shot at up there,” Shepler said. “To stay up there, it’s going to take something a little extra for kids to understand and have some maturity about them.”
The Patriots may not be the favorites to repeat as Class 6A champs next season, but it would be foolish to write them off.
