Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Chambers County got its first look at the new era for Valley basketball as the Rams took the court for the first time under new head coach Robert Cotton. It was a tough day for Valley as the Rams went 0-3 with losses to Lee-Scott, Troup County and Auburn at the 10-team playdate hosted by LaFayette. 

It was a tough showing for the Rams in matchups that likely would not have happened if the playdate had not been scheduled prior to Cotton’s hire less than two weeks ago. The team is still in the very early stages of learning Cotton’s scheme and beliefs as a coach. 

“I’m disappointed, but usually in the past when I came in I didn’t go anywhere and play anywhere,” Cotton said. “This date was already planned. I have to get them in the lab and teach them my way. My way is defense. I like playing several players, but it looks like I’m narrowed down to seven or eight guys who want to do it my way.” 

Valley struggled on defense throughout its matchups on Tuesday. The Rams consistently allowed easy layups in transition. 

Valley soared out to a double-digit lead against Troup County early on, but the Rams were behind after the halfway mark. Cotton has focused on running a full-court press on the defensive side, and it is something that is fairly new to the Rams. 

“We’re going to work that into practice,” Cotton said. “Some are using excuses because they lifted weights this morning too.” 

Valley is replacing a lot of talent from last season as the entire starting lineup graduated. Galvin Goss is one of the few returning players who saw action last season. Goss was a bright spot in the matchup against Troup County as he finished with 12 points. 

Aaron Frazier and AZ Jennings saw most of their action on junior varsity last season. Jennings led Valley in its matchup against Troup County with 13 points while Frazier added 12 points for the Rams. 

“Offensively, they’ve got to step it up a little bit, but my concern is defense,” Cotton said. 

There are always challenges as a first-year head coach taking over a program, but Cotton is facing a whole new set of challenges with following Marshon Harper and having an extremely youthful roster. 

Cotton is still working on getting his team to adjust to his style of basketball while also sharing most of his roster with the football team during the summer. 

“They’ve got to get out of their feelings,” Cotton said. “They’ve got to understand, you are Valley. You’re the target. You can’t come in laid back. They came in laid back and thought Lee-Scott was going to give it to them.”