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Although the Largo boys' basketball team will head into the season as the defending 3A state champions and boast the reigning Gazette Star Coach of the Year in Lewis Howard, the Lions have graduated Player of the Year Maurice Sutton and will have several new faces on the floor this winter.

"We get tested every night in the league and as everyone is well aware, Prince George's County basketball is the toughest county in the state," Howard said. "We have to be prepared night in and night out, because it's a grind. But I'm happy with the way we've looked in practices and scrimmages. Once you have a successful program established, the kids that step in are ready to play right away and they know what's expected of them."

With Sutton gone, Largo will rely on senior Aaron Martin (17 points, 12 rebounds per game last season), Maliq Thomas, E.J. Olumese and point guard Jayson Harmon for production. Howard would not commit to a fifth starter, noting that several returning players and others promoted from the junior varsity squad were still in competition for that spot heading into the season opener Friday against league rival Potomac High.

Charles H. Flowers

In recent years, the Flowers High School boys' basketball team has been among the perennial contenders for the 4A South Region title, including an appearance in the championship game two years ago.

But eighth-year coach George McClure is viewing the upcoming year, which begins Dec. 12 at DuVal, with considerably less optimism.

"We're definitely starting from scratch this year," McClure said. "We have talent on the team, but we're lacking playing experience. We're going to use our scrimmages to determine who is going to start for us. Right now, I just couldn't say. We have some talented kids, but we probably won't find out until midway through the season just where we stand. This is a tough league and there's no easy games in 4A."

McClure noted that seniors Kyle Evans and Davon Morris, a four-year varsity player, and junior Kyle Jackson have impressed him through the initial practices and scrimmages.

Bowie

Bowie will open its season Wednesday at home against Frederick Douglass with a new coach. Cedric Holbrook takes over for John Wiley Jr. and has six returning players, some key transfers and three players up from junior varsity who should get playing time.

"We're just looking to build on the success that the team had last year," said Holbrook, an art teacher at the school. "Our goal right now is to be in the [4A South] region final. We have a number of returning players and we've moved some guys up from JV that should help. Our main focus right now is getting ready for Douglass. I've liked what we've done in practice."

DuVal

Longtime Tigers' coach Artie Walker usually likes to downplay his team's chances of winning the 4A South Region title. But this year DuVal will have a tough task as it lost prolific scorer Justin Bess and inside presence Danny Agbelese to graduation. The Tigers will rely on seniors James Brown, Colin Beatty, Gary Martin, Christopher Johnson, Mark Nickens-Dempsey and junior Keith Crockett, who transfered from Montrose Christian.

"I think we'll have a good team," Walker said. "It's tough to replace guys like Justin Bess and Danny, but we have some kids that are definitely capable of playing key roles for us. The whole key is for them to play within the game plan."

Riverdale Baptist

Riverdale Baptist opened the season Monday evening with a 69-40 victory over visiting Takoma Academy and the Crusaders were on a plane the next morning to travel to San Antonio for the opening game of the Lone Star Invitational tonight against St. Mary's Hall. Riverdale Baptist could play as many as 39 games this season, including many against some of the best teams in the metropolitan area.

"We have a very, very good group of players on the team this year," said Riverdale Baptist coach Lou Wilson. "We're hoping to continue on the success that we had during the Falconers' League this summer when we went undefeated and the fall league when we also went undefeated. We had some successful scrimmages recently against Eleanor Roosevelt, Towson Catholic and Coolidge and we're in a tough bracket down at Lone Star."

Riverdale Baptist will have senior Chad Wilson at point guard, Cameron Gilbert at the shooting guard, Bryan Wilson at one forward, Javon Farrell at the other forward and senior Daniel Woods in the post. Chad Wilson, who is approaching 1,000 career points, is the coach's nephew and Bryan Wilson is his son. Farrell has already signed with the University of Massachusetts.

Queen Anne

The Lions (3-0) opened the season with three narrow victories, including a 79-76 overtime victory over Hebrew Academy. Coach Dave Montgomery has high hopes for the season. The team came within one game of winning the PVAC South Division last winter.

"Of the eight-man rotation only three of them are seniors," Montgomery said. "We're playing two freshmen regularly, which I normally don't do. I don't think we'll go undefeated, but I think we'll be all right."

In last week's 68-66 victory over Avalon, senior Edmond Wright led all scorers with 26 points and he capped the evening by hitting the game-winning jumper with 2.9 seconds remaining. Larry Haley finished that game with 13 points and freshman reserve Lloyd Bramble added 12.

Central

First-year coach Norris Powell might be new to the program, but he is hardly new to the school. He was the Central girls' coach last winter. The Falcons will have senior Javon Jordan, James Jordan, Devin White, El Rico Collins and Julian Fankham on the floor to start.

"The one thing that I've been trying to stress in practice is the fundamentals," Powell said. "We have to box out, get rebounds and limit turnovers. We have six or seven guys that we can bring in off the bench, so I think all 12 players will get in every game."

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.