Ben Prescott, reporter
Women’s Basketball
The Berry Vikings women’s basketball team looks to build on the momentum from its first two games of the season.
After losing to Piedmont College by a score of 70-61 in the season opener, the Vikings came back the next day to defeat LaGrange College 50-41. Head Coach Thomas Johnson attributes the win to better defensive play in the second game, something he hopes continues to improve.
“I think that Sunday’s game was one of those games where defensively, we did a few more things better,” Johnson said.
Going into the season, Johnson knew that the team would have a good defense. After having one of the top defenses in the conference the last few seasons, he does not expect that to change.
“Defensively, I think we’ll be a really good team,” Johnson said. “The last two years, we’ve been one of the top defensive teams in the conference and I don’t see that changing. That’s sort of our mantra. We take pride in that.”
As far as goals for the upcoming season, Johnson wants the team to win a conference championship and be in post-season play. This is something that senior guard Raven Washington also expressed after the first two games.
“I think that we’re going to build off of this weekend and get stronger and improve as a team,” Washington said. “We’ll find our chemistry, we’ll find our routine. I honestly feel like we can be regular season champions and conference champions.”
The team itself is young, with 12 players returning and seven freshmen joining the team. This gives opportunities for young players to step up and take on more playing time. As a whole, the Vikings look to play an exciting brand of basketball.
“We’re up and down the floor a little bit more now just because of our athleticism,” Johnson said. “It’s a fun group to come watch.”
The women’s basketball team looks to take on Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga. on Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. The Vikings will play at home against Wesleyan College on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.
Men’s Basketball
Even though the men’s basketball team won the conference last season, the 2021-2022 team has not talked about it since the rings were handed out during the preseason Blue and White scrimmage.
After Mitch Cole stepped down as the Vikings’ head coach to be named associate head men’s basketball coach at Samford University, long time assistant coach Trevor Lydic was named the interim head coach for the Vikings. With a new system in mind, Lydic is looking to use strengths of the returning players. Of the 10 returning players, only two are returning starters. With eight new players joining the team, Lydic sees this as a brand new team and explains why they do not dwell on the past success.
“We’re not really saying, ‘Oh we can’t just rely on what we did last year,’” Lydic said. “It’s a new season and we have to play like last year didn’t happen, even though it was a great success for our program.”
One of the returning players for this year is the 2020 SAA Newcomer of the Year, Michael Johnson. Because the Vikings have a new team, Johnson said they spent offseason getting to know each other better.
“This offseason we’ve spent a lot of time learning each other,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of new guys and returners in new roles. We know we have an X on our back and just preparing for every team to give us their best every night is something we are learning we will have to face.”
In regards to winning another conference championship, Johnson does not feel to pressure to repeat. Instead, he is looking to focus on each step it takes to get there.
“Of course I’d love to [win another conference championship] and we have a chance to do it,” Johnson said. “I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.”
With the new team and system, Lydic hopes to be able to play at a faster and use their size to their advantage to open up different spots on the court.
“I would like to be able to pound the ball inside and shoot a bunch of threes, Lydic said. “I think that either the threes are going to open up the inside game or the inside game is going to open up the outside game, I do believe this is one of the better shooting teams that we’ve had at my four years here at Berry.”
Men’s basketball will travel to Brevard College in Brevard, N.C. on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. The home opener against Warren Wilson College will be on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.