2021-22: 12-12 (4-6), 5th in CAP 6, 1st Round of Playoffs (L to Pine Forest 51-63)
Key Losses
Will Otto – 16ppg, 4rpg – Transferred to Greensboro Day School
Grady Bizyak – 12ppg, 6rpg – Graduated – Playing at Rhode Island College
Charles Denning – 8ppg, 2rpg – Graduated
Devin Emerson – 4ppg – Playing at Averett University
Key Returners
McCallum Wright – Senior – 10ppg, 4rpg, 2spg
Manning Lasso – Senior – 7ppg, 6rpg, 2apg, 3spg
Hayes Carlin – Senior – 7ppg, 2rpg, 35 3pm
James Parrish – Senior – 4ppg, 3rpg
Luke Ledford – Senior – 3ppg, 2rpg
Projected Rotation
Starters: Hayes Carlin, James Parrish, McCallum Wright, Luke Ledford, Manning Lasso
Bench: Zyione Callaway, Chauncey Sumpter, Harrison Peatross, Sam Vander Vennet
Storylines
The Capitals finished last season with 2.21 Wins Over Average (WOA) which was good for 10th in Wake County, 19th in 4A East, and 38th in 4A overall. They rank in the top 10 in the county in returning production and return three different players that scored over 150 points a year ago.
The biggest storyline for the Caps this year will be replacing their superstar combo guard, Will Otto, to Greensboro Day. Will was electric in all aspects of the game and replacing his production is going to be a tall task. With there is still a lot of talent at Broughton.
McCallum Wright will be the guy that is looked towards the most this season. He is their leading returning scorer and showed serious flashes last season. McCallum is a wideout for the Broughton football team and he uses that dynamic athleticism on the court. He isn't afraid to jump with anyone and has highlight play written all over him when he gets on a fast break. He is a skilled shooter and driver as well and is strong enough and quick enough to be hard to stop once he gets going downhill. He showed some off-the-dribble scoring ability last season and even though it was just in flashes, it still causes serious optimism.
Hayes Carlin is going to be the lead guard for this team, and I am a huge fan of that. You can read our write-up on Hayes in our article that is embedded below. Hayes is a serious outside threat and one of the better shooters around. He is also a steady ball handler that doesn't make mistakes. I want to see him evolve as a playmaker and become even more dynamic. However, Broughton performs this year, I know that Hayes will be a net positive whenever he is on the court.
James Parrish is a smart and crafty off-ball guard that will be a good connecting piece for this team. The biggest with James is that he was efficient on low volume last season. If he can keep up the shooting percentages that he had (47% fg & 38% 3p) but on higher volume, this guy could be extremely dangerous on the wing. I also like James as a secondary creator that can get his teammates involved in creative ways. I wouldn't be surprised if he has the most evolved role from season to season on this team.
The frontcourt at Broughton is very interesting because they don't have a conventional center. There are two forwards, Manning Lasso and Luke Ledford, whom both play a small ball center type of role on this team. I would expect Manning to be the second or third leading scorer as he is an athletic finisher that can score through contact well. He is also able to handle the ball decently well, although I don't know if he can consistently beat people off the dribble yet. Luke is more of a wild card to me as I regard him as a good shooter, but he only made 11 threes last year. If Luke can improve his consistency and be a good shooter for the whole year, the combination of these two could give serious problems to their opponents.
The bench is largely inexperienced with just 11 total varsity points returning to the second unit. My guess for the most impactful player would be Zyione Callaway. Zyione is a guard with good size and crazy potential. I don't think that this is the year that he explodes in terms of production, but I do think that we will see a much improved and matured version of him come November. Other valuable members of the rotation include Chauncey Sumpter, Harrison Peatross, and Sam Vander Vennet. These three are all wildcards as they have very limited varsity experience, but I look at them as positives as they all had very productive summers with the Caps.
Expectations
Losing your top 2 scorers from a playoff team should be, in most cases, cause for concern. With this Broughton team though, I don't think that it is. This team oozes potential breakouts, especially McCallum, James, and Zyione. I think that a team with a ceiling that is this unknown is always dangerous and at their floor, I still think they are as competitive as last year. With that being said, I will be keeping a special eye on Broughton as they might have the most variability in outcomes out of any team in the county.
