BRAY — There is a good mix of experience and youth on the Bray-Doyle Donkeys basketball team this season.

New head coach Darren Dickson has three seniors, Ethan Cummings, Blake Moore and Jordan Mayes, to work with and a pair of juniors to go along with six talented freshmen.

That being said, Dickson knows that there is a lot of work to do to get the team to come together.

“The schedule looks like we are going to be able to make some mistakes early on without it killing us,” Dickson said. “It is a schedule where we can have some mistakes and come out with some wins. Our height is going to cause some of those teams some problems.”

Mayes and Cummings are well over the 6-foot mark, as is junior Logan Mayes. Freshman Hayden Dickson, the coach’s kid, is close to breaking 6 feet at 5-11, and Corbin Byford is past 6 feet.

With height and experience to lead, Dickson is upbeat about the start of the season.

“Ethan Cummings averaged 17 points a game last season, and Ethan and Jordan are my returning starters,” Dickson said. “Logan Mayes got some varsity experience last season, and we’ll also have junior Josh Turner. I’ve got four other freshmen besides Hayden and Corbin. Gage Williams and Heath Maxwell will get a lot of time. Jesse Barton and Zack Hutto will also play up.”

Even with them being young, Dickson thinks that two of his freshmen are ready to play.

“Corbin and Hayden have been seasoned playing AAU together,” Dickson said. “If I can get our seniors to step up and buy into the system, our season looks pretty good. I can’t say we’re going to win 20 games, but there is the potential to do that if those guys step up.”

Dickson also said that he thinks that his Donkeys will be able to get up and down the floor a bit more than teams in the past have.

“We are going to be more athletic than what they were last year,” Dickson said. “We can do a lot even though we’re inexperienced. It just seems like we’ll be able to do a lot more. I think we’re going to try and step up the tempo.”

The defense for the Donkeys is going to remain similar to what it was last season.

“Defensively, there isn’t anything that changes,” Dickson said. “It is a base defense that is fundamental. I’m a defensive guy. Our defense is going to complement our offense.”

Dickson admits that a team that will have so many underclassmen contributing valuable minutes will have to grow up in a hurry.

“We do have to mature. We have to learn to play this game at this level,” he said. “Even though our freshmen are talented, we still have to remember that they are freshmen. We have to have those upperclassmen playing up to their potential. Our freshmen have to avoid playing like freshmen.

“It is virtually a 15-year-old going against an 18-year-old. That is where we are asking them to take on a role that they might not be ready for.”

Team chemistry is also an important factor.

“The thing that will keep us from being a successful team is us not playing together,” Dickson said. “This team isn’t about seniors and juniors, it is about us being a team. This is these seniors’ third coach in three years, and I need to get them to buy into my system.”

There are also some things that need to be worked out on the court for Bray-Doyle to notch wins.

“We have to handle the ball better,” Dickson said. “Our one weakness is our guard play. It has always been that way here at Bray.”

Since he came in during the summer, Dickson said he has seen things change for the better.

“When I came in here this summer, I didn’t feel like these guys had an agenda, and I do now,” Dickson said. “The practice habits have changed. They are practicing harder.”