Team Chemistry
Airedales Kendrick, teammates begin key stretch this week against Cards, Panthers
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
There’s nothing like a good dad joke.
Only this one didn’t end well.
Miles Kendrick was a long way from the athlete he’s become when Greg Kendrick pounced into Charleston’s football weight room seething mad following the team’s lackluster first-half performance against the Atkins Red Devils.
It was Oct. 20, 2017. Charleston would win 12 games that season, including this one.
But not before Greg’s foot became close friends with a basketball ball rack.
“They weren’t playing very well,” recalls Miles, who swopped his Tigers’ gear for Airedale green and gold before seventh grade. “I used to go into the locker room with them at halftime, and he (dad, Greg) came in there mad and went to kick a basketball rack, and his foot got stuck in it, and he’s slinging the rack everywhere trying to get loose. He could not get it out.
“He just told me to get out.”
These days, Miles Kendrick has let dramatic halftime adjustments. But challenges?
There’s nothing like a good challenge.
Kendrick felt pretty good about Alma’s start against Mountain Home last week. Good balance, some timely 3-pointers, and some better defense helped the team build a 16-point first-half lead.
But when the Bombers closed to within two, Kendrick took a couple of bounces to his left and, with just enough time to launch a shot, fired up a 3-pointer.
Swish!
Kendrick’s 3-pointer extended Alma’s lead to five. Less than six minutes later, the lead had swelled to 13.
Trust is a word in today’s athletics. But that’s how Kendrick and his teammates feel about one another as the end of a three-year basketball run slowly begins to slip by.
“Growing up here has been great, but it’s flown by,” Kendrick said. “I remember like it was yesterday … we were playing seventh-grade basketball and we were undefeated. Growing up with the guys, we’re just like brothers now - we’ve grown up together for the last five years. We’ve all gotten close.”
Despite taking their lumps as sophomores, the Airedales eventually bought into coach Dominic Lincoln’s tough nonconference schedule.
“Coach Lincoln gave us this really hard schedule our sophomore year, “ Kendrick said. “We didn’t really have the bodies yet, and going against seniors was tough. We knew it was going to be tough going into that year. It got tough losing senior or eight games in a row in conference, and we finally got that win and that’s when we finally knew we were going to be OK. Going into that off-season, going into our junior year, we worked hard and learned to play as a team. We took some hits early in our junior year, but once conference rolled around it finally just clicked for us.
“We ended up going 13-and-1 in conference and winning a game in the state tournament.”
Three games into their senior campaign, it became obvious that duplicating another 13-1 run wouldn’t be possible. But after Friday’s 70-59 win over Mountain Home, the 3-2 Airedales set sail for a tough three-game road trip that will take them to Farmington, Siloam Springs, and Russellville.
“We had a target on our back going into this year, but we’ve got to rebound better,” Kendrick said. “That’s what hurt us the other night. I feel like we have to go into our bigs (Israel Towns-Robinson and Eddie Tate) more. We have to get Eddie involved early, and once we do that things will get rolling again.”
Kendrick moved to Alma as a seventh grader, where former foes soon became lifelong friends.
“Me and Curd, and Izzy and Carmani, when we were in sixth grade when I was at Charleston, we got into a scuffle,” Kendrick said. “At first, when I came to Alma, we had a little tension, but now we’re all best friends. This team, growing up, it’s been great. I feel like I have such a strong relationship with all of them, even with Easton being a junior, I feel like we’ve gotten pretty close. It’s been a great place for me.
“Playing basketball coach Lincoln, he’s made me fall in love with the game, work hard, and try and play at the next level.”
Kendrick hopes to play beyond high school, especially if it means signing on with UAFS or Arkansas Tech.
But his real vision is to follow in the footsteps of his dad.
“I’d love to play college ball, if it worked out, and play close enough for my grandparents to come to watch me play,” he said. “I want to coach, too.”