Pictured are members of the Stealth team that plays in the Church League at Rock Springs Baptist Church. They are coached by William Shelton (back row, Clemson shirt) and team members include: Russell Knox, William Jolley, Cameron Babb, Cohen Durham, Izaiah Cunningham, Landon Crowe, Evan Massey, Lyric Mauldin, Caleb Gantt, Jacory Cousar and John Knox.
Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress
Easley High School senior Jacory Cousar (No. 3) goes up for 2 of his 26 points last weekend in a victory over the Hawks in Church League Hoops.
Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress
EASLEY — Church league hoops … you gotta love it.
You’ve got a run-and-gun style of offense, launching 3-point shots from the cheap seats. Little defense is played and plenty of bragging rights are on the line. Church-league basketball has really grown the last couple of years in Easley – taking up all of Saturday at Rock Springs Baptist Church with two gyms being used. Three years ago, they had 313 kids and last year they 390 kids. But currently, there are 60 teams in the league this season with close to 500 players and close to 600 participants (counting the coaches).
“I really enjoy it. It’s a solid league,” said Stealth Coach William Shelton, a 2016 grad of Easley High School and a 2020 grad of Clemson University. “The environment is really good. The kids are just awesome. Half the kids are church kids and half are community kids. It’s the whole point of it – having fun. I coach the middle school team too and we are a little more structured. Most of them (on the team) are older guys – juniors and seniors – and I just try to let them play free, and let our speed and athleticism be an advantage.”
Shelton and his Stealth team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 69-57 win over the Hawks. Easley High School senior Jacory Cousar had 26 points for the winning team.
“Through First Baptist (Church), we do a mentoring group on Tuesday nights and he (Cousar) is one of the kids that I do a mentoring group with,” said Coach Shelton. “He tried out for school ball and got cut and didn’t make the team, which is okay. His smile is infectious and personality-wise he’s always smiling and happy. The kind of kid you love being around. I just love coaching here and we are for the church part of it, too.”
EHS senior Evan Massey – mostly known as the kicker and punter for the Green Wave football team – also plays a key part for the Stealth team. Uniquely, though, Massey had to find a new way of shooting free throws to be more effective.
“The way that I normally shot free throws – they normally went to the left,” Massey said. “However, I tried one day doing the ‘granny’ (shot). Luckily, they went straight and some of them went in. So, that’s what I’ve stuck with. I was 2-for-6 (on Saturday).”
Added Coach Shelton, about the granny shot of Massey, “I coached him for two or three years and he has never been able to hit a free throw. So, he embraced that and I was all for it.”
Massey is planning to attend Anderson University and study medical imaging. “We’ve stacked on scholarships so that’s what made that possible,” Massey said. “Hopefully after track season, I will be able to get more scholarships.”
Did you know?
Rick Barry spent 14 years playing professional basketball between the ABA and NBA with the “granny style” free throw, better known as the underhand style. He is the only player to ever lead the NCAA, NBA, and ABA in scoring. Barry once described his shooting style from the free-throw line as: “The mechanics of shooting the underhand free throw makes so much more sense because everything is done – it’s not one motion, then another motion, it’s a fluid motion, the ball has a softer touch when it goes up there.”
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.