Dustin Faught is proud of who his Central Bobcats boys’ basketball players have shown themselves to be.
“It’s always nice to have that one superstar, but for us our versatility works in terms of what we want to do and the style we want to play while also making us one of the hardest teams around for any opponent to really scout,” Faught told Texas Scorecard.
The Bobcats’ four-pronged attack of guards Dev Minix, Michael Bonner and Tristan Lopez and senior big-man Hunter Gibbs combines to average better than 50 points a night for Central 14-12 overall and 3-3 in 6A Region 1 District 3 play.
The sharpshooting Minix sets the tone, averaging 18 points and shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range.
“He’s an all-around good player on both ends of the floor,” said Faught. “More and more, teams are stretching their defenses to try to account for him and he’s worked on his midrange and getting to the hoop. In everything he does, he leads by example.”
Bonner and Lopez have been quick studies, combining for another 25 points on the perimeter while helping to control pace for Central.
“From game to game, our style depends on what we think are our best matchups,” Faught added. “We’ve won games by grinding it out and we’ve won by pushing the pace and those guys are a big reason for that versatility.”
On the inside, the 6-foot-4 Gibbs “does a little bit of everything,” while guarding the other team’s post man.
“We go to every game feeling like if we’ve got at least three of those guys going good we’ve got a pretty good chance,” Faught said. He added the team’s focus now is to finish strong in district to make sure they carve out a spot in the postseason.
“We’ll need a strong second half and to win a few games on the road,” he said. “But like I tell the guys, this District is so talented that any team that gets hot at the right time has a good chance of going a long way.”
