SCOTTSVILLE – One time through District 15 play, the Glasgow boys’ basketball team is right in the thick of the race.

Glasgow improved to 10-3 with a win at Allen County-Scottsville on Tuesday, already six more wins than last season when the Scotties finished 4-24. The next victory will equal the win total for each of the previous three seasons combined and the 10-3 start is the best start for the program since going 11-2 in 2011-12.

So what has been the key to the turnaround?

Head coach James Willett sums it up in a word – health. After suffering through an injury-plagued season last year that saw only six players play 20 games or more, the Scotties are healthy and the young players that were perhaps forced into action a bit too early are gaining confidence after getting thrown into the fire last year.

“We’ve got good players,” Willett said after Tuesday’s win at ACS. “We are putting kids out there that can play and are healthy. That’s a big difference. The kids aren’t playing out of position. We had a 3-man playing the point last year some and put a lot of pressure on the guys.

“Last year was nobody’s fault. It was just ill-fated.”

Sophomore guard Kobe Brents, who played 20 games last season, said it was tough at times but the players knew they could learn from the experience.

“We just kept pushing and pushing,” Brents said. “We stayed humble and prepared for this year.”

Willett admitted last year was hard.

“I told myself a lot of things last year,” Willett said. “I told myself that we just had to get through the year. Something else that year taught us was who our warriors are. I think everybody that is back is a warrior and handled adversity very well.”

The Scotties are young again this season, with Peyton Mills and Dalvin Smith the lone seniors, but Brents, Nick Sorrell and Jaden Franklin are part of a sophomore class that has helped Glasgow enjoy immediate success this year.

Franklin points to an 80-79 win at Monroe County on Dec. 15, won on a last-second shot by Smith, as a win where he started to feel like the Scotties could do something special this year.

“It was a very big win for me and my team,” Franklin said. “I feel like we grew up a lot in that game and was able to get the job done.”

Franklin and Smith have also brought a winning mentality from football, part of a Scotties team that reached the Class 2A playoffs.

“Glasgow as a whole came out and supported us,” Franklin said. “They wanted that support (in basketball) just like (we had in football). We’ve got it. The fans are really coming out. The Dog Pound (name for Glasgow’s student section) has been great and we are just feeding off all of that energy.”

Willett said his guys all expect to win and know how to win.

“I tell you what, these basketball guys are used to winning (too) at the middle school level and freshmen level as well,” Willet said. “It’s a different ballgame when you start talking about varsity and high school basketball in this state, but they still have a will to win and they know how to get it done.”

And they are learning about themselves more as the season progresses. Losses to Warren Central and Barren County have showed the team where it needs to be if it wants to build off the success in the first half of the season.

“We learned a lot from the Warren Central game,” Willett said. “We knew that we weren’t quite ready for that level yet, but learned from that and I think we are getting better each and every game. We’ve had a couple hiccups, which can be expected at this level, but we are learning about each other and gaining valuable experience.”

And Willett is hopeful that gaining experience can lead to a deep postseason run.

“We haven’t hit our stride yet,” Willett said. “We want to hit it around February. Of course all coaches do, but right now we have a team that can potentially be better than we are right now. We have to work at it and stay together. Right now we are together. We are a pretty tight-knit group.”{&end}