The Final Five Conquistadors of 2017
Sophomores Gabriel Steele, Dylan Bailey, Destin Dunton, Charles Isaac and Chris Copeland, are the Final Five Conquistadors for the PHSC Basketball team. PHSC is currently changing their mascot name and the new mascot will be revealed to the public during the college’s Welcome Week for the 2017-18 school year.
PHSC ended the season with 12 wins and 14 losses. Their last game was a power win over Ave Maria 105 – 67, however their five graduating sophomores expressed that their final season playing on the court was a disappointment.
“The season I feel like it let us down. We started off slow but as a team we developed, we grew closer and started to play better together and started to win more but ended up falling short,” Dylan Bailey said.
In the prior season the team had 17 wins and 10 losses and got a spot in the regionals. The team had hoped they’d be able to surpass that victory.
“I know we all wanted to go to regionals, I know it would have been good to go there,” Gabriel Steele said.
The team had been on a winning streak the whole month of January and regionals were not out of reach, but unfortunately the game against Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC (111-98) ended that winning streak. They did recover with a win over Vance-Granville, 109-99, however couldn’t recover over Santa Fe (100-80) and IMG Academy (81-61).
During the 2015/2016 season, three powerhouses, Gabriel Steele, Charles Isaac and Destin Dunton scored over 1100 points combined. Because this is a two year college athletic program, players are crucial for each season, however, the start of their season for 2016 did not go as planned.
“We never had a team with everybody… healthy… We never had a full team where everyone was able to play,” Charles Isaac said. “I feel like we could have beaten any team out there, we didn’t have all the pieces.”
“We got hit by the injury bug, it was kind of unexpected,” Destin Dunton said. “I sat out the first three games, it was hard watching… I give myself a disappointing grade…”
The team’s freshmen players continued to push forward to keep the camaraderie within the team as injured players continued to strengthen. This may have helped groom them for the 2017/2018 season, to adjust on the court and balance any unexpected situations.
“I definitely progressed as a player from last year and I learned a lot from these guys. Last year I didn’t play as much and this year I had to step up especially with the injuries,” Chris Copeland expressed.
For Destin Dunton, starting his first season at PHSC helped him become more comfortable with the transition from freshman to sophomore. “I played a lot my freshmen year… I was prepared going into my sophomore year.”
The upcoming fall season freshmen will be stepping into the sophomore leadership role, and the guys are leaving some advice for the sophomores to help guide them with the newly acquired players.
“You have to be able to coach them. You are older, you have more experience,” Gabriel Steele said. “It’s a whole new game when you play college ball, it’s not like high school, and it’s faster and stronger.”
“Building the leadership role for the freshmen, you been there you have more experience and they want to follow you and you have to lead them to success,” Dylan Bailey added.
“Stay humble, because Coach Jones gave us all an opportunity that he did not have to give us. So always remember that,” Chris Copeland said.
“Work hard; remember if you want to continue to play you have to work. This could be taken away. Tomorrow is not a promise,” remarked Destin Dunton.
The future for the final five Conquistadors is an open door having had the opportunity to showcase their talent and passion for the game while being tested by adversity this season.