After all, the perennially strong Vikings had missed the playoffs the year before.

But as this season opens Monday at Cox Mill, Lewis is hopeful his team can build on last year's success, despite losing leading scorer Carlin Bremner and other key contributors to graduation.

The Vikings are led by senior guard Shivaughn Wiggins, who averaged 12.9 points and 7.3 assists per game last season in his first year at North (see story, page 2), but Lewis is ready to see others emerge in primary roles.

"We lost a lot of minutes and scoring on the perimeter," says Lewis. "We've got to find some people who can do some damage on the wing along with Shivaughn."

The versatile and athletic trio of Rashaun Sifford, Rashaan Brown and Kyle Burton have experience and are essentially interchangeable on the wing, while juniors Kelly Hall and the Arnett twins, Akil and Shakir, will see time at guard. Lewis likes Hall's competitiveness, while the Arnett brothers specialize in opposite skills. Akil played on varsity last year and was known for his defensive play, while Shakir was a top offensive threat on the Vikings' junior varsity team.

Inside, the Vikings return 6-foot-6 junior Tahjai Watt, who averaged 5.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last year.

"He has a lot of talent, and we're expecting a lot of things out of him," says Lewis.

And the Vikings have added 6-10, 275-pound senior Josh Stepoli, who moved to the area from Pennsylvania. Stepoli has potential, says Lewis.

"He's a big ole guy," says Lewis. "We don't know right now how good he's going to be. He's bigger than anybody we've had in a while. But we haven't seen him in a game yet."

— Justin Parker

Hough

The Huskies won just five games in their inaugural season, but by the end of last year, Hough had improved.

That's what is inspiring the Huskies as they enter the new season Monday at home against Independence. Hough showed late last year that it can compete in one of the state's toughest leagues: the I-Meck, and that's something to build on.

"I would have liked to have been on the winning side in a couple of those," says Hough coach Justin Batts. "But it made the guys that were part of it last year know we can compete with anybody we play."

Hough returns with its roster generally intact — minus senior Brandon Mobley, who decided not to play in order to focus on football training — but is dealing with two injuries to key players who also star in other sports. Senior post player Johnny Piedmonte, who has committed to N.C. State's baseball program as a pitcher, had Tommy John surgery in the offseason and is not immediately available. And high-energy junior forward Sanders Poff broke his collarbone at the end of football season, which could keep him sidelined for about another month.

But the Huskies, who have 14 players from nine different previous schools, return starters in sophomore guard Jaqueaz Jackson, junior guard Drexler Clark and senior forward Nick Daddio. Clark was Hough's leading scorer a year ago with an average of 9.2 points, followed by senior Ty Decker (8.9) and Jackson (8.3).

Sophomore guard Tylan Murrell joins the team after playing at Community School of Davidson last year, and the Huskies are excited about skilled freshman Luke Maye, a 6-foot-6 center, who previously attended Bailey Middle School next door to Hough. Maye will start immediately, and Batts is expecting big things from the son of former University of North Carolina quarterback Mark Maye.

"He's somebody that you model and build your program around," says Batts.

— Justin Parker

Hopewell

In a conference that has produced the past two state champions and once again promises to be among the best, it would make sense for people to overlook the talented but inexperienced Hopewell Titans.

Three players who started at times last season — Chris Strickland, Darius Smalls and Tyrone Curry — return, as does senior Cameron Moore, who connected on 49 percent of his three-point attempts, but the rest of the lineup will be dotted with younger players, including three freshmen who will see considerable action for coach Damon Bost.

Curry, in particular, will be expected to be the leader this season, not only on the court but off the court as well.

"He has to say 'it's time for me to step up and be the guy.' Our team will only be as good as he is," says Bost.

Replacing graduated all-conference players Elliott Pope and Michael Russell will be the biggest challenge for Bost, whose team opens Monday with a non-conference game against Providence.

But there's plenty of options for the second-year head coach, including C.J. Brice, a 6-foot-3 freshman forward who played at Bradley Middle last year and has led the Titans in scoring and rebounding in each of their three scrimmages this month.

Strickland, Curry and Brice will be joined by wing player Jordan Brice, a 6-1 junior, on the perimeter, with the 6-5 Smalls providing the low post presence.

Freshmen Taj Middleton and Jermaine Blackman and junior Ronnie Vasser, who played at Davidson Day last year, will likely see plenty of playing time.

"We have the pieces," says Bost. "We will be able to play different styles, different tempos."

The ability to control tempo might be the Titans' biggest weapon this season. A year ago, Hopewell was a half-court oriented team, but this year, with the youth and depth Bost expects to have, the team should be able to run more and defend more at full court.

"We have to mature quickly," Bost said. "We have to get our guys battle-tested in a hurry because we start conference play Dec. 5 with (defending state champion) West Charlotte."

— Denny Seitz

Davidson Day

Coming off a 22-10 record last season, Davidson Day is hoping to build on an NCISAA 1A second-round playoff appearance that saw the Patriots lose to eventual champion Trinity Christian.

The big question will be how the Patriots will fare without their top man from last season, Bernard Sullivan, who is now at Clemson. But coach Ron Johnson is excited about the returning core of experienced players who will help fill the gap.

"I think our guys are really committed to staying close together as a team," he says. "I've never felt like one or even two players make a team, I feel it's a collective effort and I really like the group we have returning."

The Patriots return the senior trio of Rashun Brown, Dorian Albritton and Richard Brown, all of whom have signed on to play at Division I colleges next year (see story, page 5). While the Patriots' success will rest heavily on the shoulders of those three, Johnson is also looking forward to the return of several other players who will round out the Davidson Day side.

Power forward Philip Anglade returns to the Patriots after missing the majority of last season with an ACL injury.

"We're excited to have him back," says Johnson. "He's really worked himself back into game form."

In addition, the Patriots welcome back guard D.J. Carnegie and forward Andrew Howard.

With possibly the most experienced team in Patriots history returning, Johnson is setting high goals for this season.

"We've never won an in-season tournament or our conference, so those are definitely some things we want to do well in," he says. "But for now, we're just trying to take it one game at a time."

— Ian Richardson

Lake Norman Charter

Aaron Reeves takes the reins of a Lake Norman Charter program that enters a state-sanctioned league for the first time. The Knights have moved to the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference in all sports, and Reeves says the move will benefit the program.

"It's definitely going to be an adjustment because the competition level is going to be a lot tougher," says Reeves, an assistant at LNC for the past four years. "If we have any deficiencies, it'll show."

Alex Scearce, fresh off a strong season on the football field, is the lone returning starter, but the Knights return other varsity contributors such as Michael Dorsainvil, Jake Williams, Brandon Jackson, Jamon Cunningham, Davis Elkins and Devon Tabor. Reeves says the team has nine guards it can count on.

"We're going to have to win as a team," says Reeves. "There's not really going to be a main guy."

Reeves wants his LNC teams, present and future, to be defensively minded.

"It's gotta be defense," says Reeves. "Just because in the past when Lake Norman Charter has been most successful ... defense is what does it."

LNC was 11-11 last year and lost to Rocky Mount in a 1A state playoff play-in game for independent schools. The Knights open this season Nov. 30 at home against Hough.

— Justin Parker

SouthLake Christian

While playing for Jim Valvano at N.C. State, Rodney Monroe was known primarily as a scorer, where he set the program's career scoring mark and earned the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year award in 1991.

So as Monroe opens his tenure as SouthLake Christian's coach, the Eagles will have an offensive focus, right? Well, not exactly.

"We're going to play aggressive defense," says Monroe, who formerly coached in and led Lake Norman Christian's athletic program. "We're going to get out and run and press."

Monroe says he knows what style of defense most annoys scorers and wants his first Eagles team to drive opposing players crazy with their intensity.

Eagles Connor Duncan, Demetri Allison, Austin McEntire and Andrew Weber all have starting experience, and the Eagles have added transfers in Cody Cox, Jalen Sanders, Ben McCrickard, Andrew Green and 6-foot-8 Ralph McCollum.

Monroe says a key to this year's success is just getting all the players on the same page.

SouthLake won just once last year, but ironically, it was against Monroe's former team.

"They haven't said anything about it," says Monroe. "But I'm aware of that, and they're aware of that."

The Eagles are 1-1 after a 64-51 win over Ulbal-France Monday and an 87-71 loss to Gaston Day Tuesday. Six Eagles have scored in double figures once so far, including Cox, Allison, Green, Sanders, Weber and Duncan.

— Justin Parker