KENTWOOD – The East Kentwood girls basketball team has something that very few other teams have this year.
No. 1, the Falcons are ranked No. 1 in the state in Class A. In most polls, they are considered the consensus No. 1 overall team in the state in any division.
Secondly, they have five – count 'em, five – designated captains that represent the Falcons during pregame, mid-court discussions and with team leadership duties.
Some teams have captains. Some have co-captains. And even some have tri-captains.
But having quintuple captains is a concept distinctly East Kentwood.
“We're not just any other team,” East Kentwood coach Jimmy Carter said. “We don't do things just like everybody else. We want to be unique.”
The five Falcon captains include seniors Lazurea Sanders, Taia Smith and Corinne Jemison, and juniors Mauriya Barnes and Alona Blackwell. That also happens to be the Falcons' starting lineup for most games. All five were key contributors during the Falcons' run to their first-ever Class A championship game one year ago.
“Basically, all five go out there before games,” Carter said. “The experienced players do a great job of helping each other and talking to each other. I really like that.
“All of them hold each other accountable and accept constructive criticism from each other.”
The returning players from the Class A runner-up team are helping the younger Falcons – including freshmen Alexis McCully and Keliese Christopher and sophomore Raven Jemison, along with senior transfer Shaylynn Ewing – transition to the speed and pace of varsity basketball, and helping them with insights and directions to the East Kentwood's style of play.
“We're a good eight or nine players deep,” Carter said. “When we sub, we don't see too much of a drop off.
“The kids complement each other real well. All of them work hard and play defense, because there's never an excuse for not doing that.”
It all adds up to an unbeaten record through the first 13 games. Only two teams – Grand Haven and Caledonia – have kept the margin to single digits in their losses to the Falcons.
“Most people judge players by the points they score,” Carter said. “I judge all around play-making.
“So far, we're doing pretty decent.”
