GOLCONDA, IL -- (WSIL) Sometimes it's hard to get to the small schools but we haven't forgotten about you.
We go beyond the highlights with the Pope County Pirates.
"I think what you want to see is a team playing together. Kids liking each other, kids playing hard for each other, kids playing hard for the school, for the coach and all that really comes together and if you get a team playing hard you can win a lot of games." Pope County Head Basketball Coach Jim Simmons said.
Pope County is starting to gel. They've shown more patience on offense and have won three of their last 4 games. And one of those wins handed NCOE their only loss in the Greater Egyptian Conference.
"We just got to keep our energy and keep our confidence. We're rolling now. Beat a 5-0 team. That's a big win for us," Pope County senior Logan Wilson said.
"Our bigs kind of got off to a rough start this year. Sometimes they wouldn't finish when they needed to or something but when you get a couple of games going and they are playing good, averaging more than what they have been, it's going to give them more confidence and it's going to make our team better," Pope County senior Jackson Eddington said.
"We're not very big so for us we have heart we have desire, and hustle and for each game our rebounds, defense, scoring it's rolling for us," Wilson said.
Jackson Eddington is the leader of this team. He was recently named the Banterra Player of the Week and he makes the Pirates go.
"I just like getting the best possible shot in the offense. If that means me coming off a screen taking a shot or me coming off a screen dumping down to a big. If it's the best shot, its the one we will take," Eddington said.
"I've coached him for four years and he's done a tremendous job. He started for me as a freshman and he's been through the thick and thin with us and he's done a good job. He makes other players better. He's very competitive. He does an excellent job on the floor," Simmons said.
