<p>Winning sectional championships has become a somewhat regular occurrence for Greenwood Christian sports teams in recent years.</p>
<p>No group of Cougars has taken the next step beyond that — yet.</p>
<p>Inside the school’s gymnasium, GCA’s boys basketball team is preparing to not only win the first regional title in school history, but to potentially go all the way. With the top three scorers and rebounders returning from a squad that lost by just two points in the Class A regional finals a year ago, coach Jonny Marlin and his players are warmly embracing the high expectations surrounding them as the new season approaches.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>“We have two program goals,” Marlin said. “One is to grow spiritually — that’s the most important one — and the second one is to win a state championship. It’s definitely something that we’re not afraid to say. We do realize that it’s never been done here, and we know that even a regional championship has never been done here. But those are our two goals, and they will hear that pretty much every day of the season.”</p>
<p>“This year, even more than last year, we recognize the potential that we have,” junior Styles McCorkle added, “and so we’ve been disciplining ourselves way more and putting in more work, and we think we have a real shot at the state championship.”</p>
<p>That belief centers around the team’s three largest known commodities. Styles McCorkle and senior forwards Andrew Anderson and Champ McCorkle combined to score more than 40 points per game last year, and all three check in at 6 feet, 6 inches this winter. Add two senior transfers — 6-2 Derek Peterson and 6-0 Cam Paulin — in the starting backcourt, and GCA has one of the biggest lineups in all of Class A.</p>
<p>But that doesn’t mean the Cougars will just lean on bullying opponents in the post. Sure, they can — but that trio of returning bigs also hit 100 3-pointers between them last winter, and all of them are comfortable with the ball in their hands on the perimeter.</p>
<p>“One of our advantages is definitely our versatility; almost every single player can do more than one thing,” Champ McCorkle said. “So depending on who we play, we can change that and manipulate what we’re going to do, and it’s going to be a lot harder to stop us offensively.”</p>
<p>Champ McCorkle (18.7 points per game), the lone returning player on last year’s All-County team, started drawing more defensive attention as last year went on. He scored 33 points in an early-season game against Indianapolis Lutheran; when the Saints keyed on him in the sectional rematch, it was Styles McCorkle (18 points) and Anderson (12) that took advantage in leading the Cougars to another win.</p>
<p>With as many weapons as Marlin has at his disposal, centering a defensive game plan around stopping one star player is likely a waste of time — especially when that player is an unselfish one.</p>
<p>“He knows that when people are keying on him, he can make the decisions that need to be made in order to win,” Anderson said of Champ McCorkle. “He wants to win first. To him it’s not about points and stats. He wants to win, and that’s what makes him so dangerous.”</p>
<p>“When you look at really good players, they make everyone better, and so that’s what we’re looking for Champ to do this year,” Marlin added. “That’s hard to do when you’re young, and I think he’s ready to take on that challenge this year.”</p>
<p>Judging from the talk around the GCA gym so far, there may not be a challenge the Cougars aren’t ready to take on. After coming so close to making school history last time around, they’re eager for one more opportunity.</p>
<p>“A lot of people have a lot of high expectations for us,” Champ McCorkle said, “and I feel like everyone kind of agrees that we’re going to meet them.”</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Scouting the Cougars" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Coach: Jonny Marlin (third season)</p>
<p>Last season: 16-11, won sectional championship; lost to Bloomfield in Class A regional final</p>
<p>Key returnees: Andrew Anderson, Champ McCorkle and Gabe Vessely, seniors; Styles McCorkle, junior</p>
<p>Top newcomers: Noah Harris, Cam Paulin and Derek Peterson, seniors; Evan Stinnett, junior</p>
<p>What to expect: The Cougars fell one basket short of the first regional championship — in any sport — in school history last winter. With the top three scorers returning in the McCorkle brothers and Anderson, expectations are now even higher. Paulin and Peterson, both Center Grove transfers, should bolster the backcourt. GCA has good size across the board, a rarity in Class A, and Marlin and his players aren’t shying away from talking about their ultimate goal: a state championship. If they can handle the ball effectively against smaller, quicker foes, that goal just might be a realistic one.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="3 points with Styles McCorkle" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><strong>1. Besides your own, what’s your favorite gym to play in?</strong></p>
<p>I’m going to have to say Greenwood. When we play in Greenwood’s gym, the energy’s super high and usually the fans are against us, but that gets us going. We feed off that stuff.</p>
<p><strong>2. Which nonconference opponent are you most looking forward to playing?</strong></p>
<p>Also Greenwood. Every year I’ve played, we’ve opened against Greenwood. They’ve beat us the last two times we’ve played them, but this year I think it’s going to be different.</p>
<p><strong>3. If you could steal one skill from one of your teammates, what would it be?</strong></p>
<p>It would be Champ’s post play.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
