Huskies senior Tre Ratliff

By Ryan Moxon – The Hough boys basketball team begins their season tonight with a new standard, a challenging schedule and a coach who wants his players to be the toughest team in the gym every night.

Head coach Beau Maye, beginning his second season at the helm, is looking to build on a first year that established the foundation for what he hopes will become a lasting culture at Hough.

The Huskies finished 20-7, their first 20-win season since 2013-14 when Maye’s older brother Luke played a starring role in the frontcourt.

Maye

Maye said he was proud of his players despite how last season ended, with a loss to South Mecklenburg after the Huskies beat the Sabres three times in the regular season. He singled out a senior class that navigated considerable coaching turnover.

“They fully bought in and made my job super easy,” Maye said. “I hate how it ended for us, and it still makes me mad thinking about it, but they fought like heck all year and set the standard for what the new Hough basketball is going to be about.”

That foundation is about more than winning games. Maye said one of his biggest lessons was the importance of investing in every player in the program, from varsity to junior varsity.

“We want to win ball games, but also build young men,” he said.

Ratliff leads returning group

Hough must replace five graduating seniors, including John Slusher, an all-conference selection.

But the Huskies return senior Tre Ratliff, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard who earned all-conference honors last season while averaging 15 points a game.

“He’s really talented and continues to get better,” Maye said. “He can score a lot of different ways and he is versatile.”

Maye also identified Ratliff as potentially the team’s best defender.

Senior guard Christian Coleman led the team in assists per game last season and brings a physical edge. He also plays football and will join the basketball team after the opening stretch of the season.

Junior guard BG Beshears offers size in the backcourt, scoring versatility and a willingness to rebound. Seniors Alex Swartzendruber and Nolan Lydeka also impressed the coaching staff in the offseason and are expected to be major contributors.

Faster pace, more defensive pressure

Hough plans to play faster, getting out in transition more often and using defensive pressure to disrupt opposing ball handlers.

“We’ll get out and run more,” Maye said. “We have some dynamic backcourt players that we think will make that a pretty seamless transition.”

With a smaller lineup across the board, Hough also plans to extend its pressure and make opponents work to initiate their offenses. Maye said he has been encouraged by the team’s offseason attention to detail and sees last season’s lessons carrying over.

Challenging schedule ahead

Maye expects a competitive conference season and deliberately assembled a challenging nonconference schedule to prepare the Huskies for the postseason.

One early game to watch comes Nov. 19, when Hough hosts Mooresville. The Huskies lost by three points to Mooresville to open Maye’s first season.

Hough also will travel to the Triangle in December to play Riverside-Durham and Chapel Hill. Myers Park and South Mecklenburg remain tough conference matchups.

The team opens the season on the road tonight against Chambers.

Maye said the team has three priorities: compete from the opening tip, win and lose with class, and bring a physical, relentless approach every night.

“We’ll win some and lose some — hopefully more of the former than the latter — but Hough is always going to be the toughest team in the gym,” Maye said. “Plain and simple, period, the end.”