De'Arion Holley leads Barberton to boys basketball league title after a winless season

BARBERTON — The Barberton boys basketball team accomplished quite a feat Friday night by winning the Suburban League American Conference championship after going winless last season.

Barberton's players wear a T-shirt that says "REVENGE TOUR" on the back when they warm up before each game.

The Magics (17-2, 11-1) have gotten payback this season after being humbled last season.

"This started with our practices," Barberton senior Mike Jones said Friday night after the Magics earned a 58-50 win over Kent Roosevelt on Jack Greynolds Floor. "We started as a new team with our practices. We went hard and we knew what we needed to do this year. We needed to bounce back from the winless season last year."

Barberton has bounced back with a new coach, alum Chad Hazard, and three impact transfers — juniors De'Arion Holley, Kameryn Kennerly and Kardiay Tyler — to win its first league title since the 2008-2009 season.

"It has been great," Holley said of playing at Barberton. "Love the city. Love the support here. Just trying to give the team my all. ... We need to keep a steady train. Don't get too high and don't get too low on ourselves."

Holley, who is 6-foot-5, led Barberton with 21 points, five rebounds and two assists. Jones added 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals against Kent (8-11, 5-8).

"They impact us greatly," Barberton senior Kenny Larry said of Holley, Kennerly and Tyler. "They have really helped us out this year."

Holley and Tyler played on Hazard's East team last season that topped Revere in a Division II district semifinal and then lost to eventual state runner-up Lutheran West in a district final. East finished second in the City Series to eventual Division II state champion Buchtel.

"This started during the summer, playing fives at the park and developing chemistry," Tyler said. "Scrimmages came along and we got closer then. I really didn't know how to play with these guys at first, but as time goes on and you play with each other so many times, eventually you get used to each other. We are on everybody's neck and holding everybody accountable. We are making it known that we are not coming to lose.

"This is not about to be the same thing. Me, Holley and coach Haz, we didn't come from a losing squad. We are not trying to go back down that road. We came from a winning team. Everybody rode with us and we are all on the same mindset. Now look at us, league champs."

Kennerly had eight points, six rebounds and two steals, Tyler contributed six points and three assists, and Larry scored five points.

"It has been amazing playing here," Kennerly said. "I came from Firestone last year. We had a losing team both years I was there, so it is really good to be on a team that wins now. I am really proud of my teammates.

"... It is different. Last year, obviously they didn't win a game. It kind of was a little weird coming from Firestone and being the new kid here. It is a little different, but after a while they got used to me and I got used to them and, honestly, I love it here."

Friday's game also served as Senior Night for Barberton players Mike Jones, Kenny Larry, Cory Martin, Robert Davis, Angelo Harper, Xzavier Macon, Dylan Alati, Jeremy Sharp and Fidel Brown.

All nine players were with Barberton's program last season.

"Coming here, they heard about the three transfers — me, Holley and Kardy," Kennerly said. "There was a lot of pressure from not winning a game. Everybody thought this season could be the same thing. Everybody had to come in with the mindset that this is a new team, we are going to rebuild and really start over. Being 17-2, we have proved that we are here."

Larry praised Hazard for his coaching and the contributions from all of his teammates.

"Our coach is on us all the time and we practice really hard," Larry said. "We are a really good defensive team. That is what we do in practice. We work on defense a lot."

Hazard is in constant motion on the sidelines and is often in a defensive stance when his players are defending.

"It has been hard to win [this championship] because we are offensively challenged," Hazard said. "Every game has been like this the whole year. We have won 17 games and 14 of them have been close. They have been just like that. Nailbiters. We are like a Big Ten football team — three yards and a cloud of dust. We try to grind on you, wear you down and win at the end.

"This team is a blue-collar team. What more Barberton can you be than this team? Think about it — gritty, tough, sloppy, win ugly, diving on the floor, missing layups, missing free throws, hustling and stealing balls. It almost seems like a rugby match out there, doesn't it half the time? You gotta give credit to these guys. To accomplish winning 17 games with what we have and the talent level that we have is amazing. You gotta give credit to these guys. It is not easy to win close games."

Barberton's only losses are to Revere and North Canton Hoover by a combined nine points. Between those games, Barberton won 11 in a row. Friday's win over Kent was Barberton's sixth in a row.

The Magics have already defeated Copley, Aurora, Cuyahoga Falls, Tallmadge and Kent twice each. They can split with Revere on Feb. 13 and sweep Highland on Feb. 16.

"We made practices hard, we made them grueling and we made them tough at the beginning," Hazard said. "That is the first thing. We worried about X's and O's and all of that later. We played defense for a week straight without really talking about offense. You gotta be tough as nails. That is how you go from zero to .500. Now, you start executing on the offensive end and you can start thinking about winning 12, 13, 14 games. You gotta put them in the fire."

Kennerly was on Firestone's team that beat Barberton 74-54 last season and 50-48 two seasons ago. He helped Barberton top Firestone 72-55 this season.

"I am proud of my team," Tyler said. "Everybody has the same mindset. We are going to keep this going and hopefully we will make a good run in the playoffs."

Junior Carter Foreman paced Kent with 11 points and 11 rebounds, senior Jack Smith scored nine points and sophomore Gavin Peeps had eight points and six rebounds.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: De'Arion Holley leads Barberton to boys basketball league championship