Allen County-Scottsville's Owen Stamper (11) is double teamed by South Warren's Mason Day (right) and Nathan Neal Tuesday, November 27, 2018, during the Patriots' 71-61 win at Allen County-Scottsville High School. (Bac Totrong/photo@bgdailynews.com)

SCOTTSVILLE – There is a buzz around the Allen County-Scottsville boys’ basketball program – the likes of which hasn’t been seen in a decade.

Allen County-Scottsville heads into the new year 12-2, off to the program’s best 14-game start since 2006-07. The Patriots have already surpassed their win total from each of the last three seasons and are looking for the program’s first winning season since 2009-10.

That turnaround comes with ACS’s fifth coach in five years – former girls’ basketball coach Brad Bonds.

“I don’t think anybody was expecting a 12-2 start, including us,” senior guard Brett Rippy said. “It’s exciting. The school is excited. Students are coming to us asking what our record is. We are getting a lot more student support than we have the past few years. We’ve been trying to build that and I think this year we are showing that we are a good team and how well we can play.”

Bonds, who came over with longtime assistant coach Jeff Rippy from the Lady Patriots, said he knew this team had potential despite a drought that had seen ACS fail to get out of the District 15 tournament since 2013.

“When we took the job, I knew these boys could be successful,” Bonds said. “I needed something different and it was a good fit. I kinda had seen the end of the rope on the girls’ side and when this opportunity came I thought it would refresh me in basketball and so far it has. We would not have taken this team if we didn’t know that we could be successful. You are stepping away from two of the top players in the region on the girls’ side.

“It has been a very welcome change of pace. The boys have responded. They have done everything we have asked them to do. Did I think we were going to be 12-2? No. I would have been happy with 8-6. I probably wouldn’t have been too disappointed with 7-7, but I knew there was potential.”

Junior forward Owen Stamper said Bonds has brought stability to a program that has been in flux in recent years.

“Day 1 when we met them they were like, ‘Hey guys, we are here and we are here to stay,’ ” Stamper said. “That gave us extra confidence and it has just been building throughout the season.”

Brett Rippy said before this season it was tough, with each year bringing uncertainty if the coach would return for another season.

“We kind of got used to switching coaches – putting a new offense in,” Rippy said. “It’s been tough, but I think this last coaching change was the right move. I think for years to come the Patriots program is on the rise.”

Bonds saw the four coaching changes as a potential positive.

“The fact that they previously had four schemes in four years kind of gave me hope that we’re going to be willing to change to anything because they had done it four years in a row,” Bonds said.

The Bonds era didn’t get off to a good start, however, with junior forward Charlie Calvert suffering a season-ending ACL injury during summer ball – leaving the Patriots without one of their top inside players.

“He was playing really well this summer and was probably our best guy statistically this summer,” Bonds said. “He had a lot of length. We were kind of doing a lot of schemes around his ability, but I’ve always said on the girls’ side. ‘We are not a one-man team’ and we were not going to envision ourselves as a one-man team on the boys’ side either.

“We lost Charlie. It was unfortunate, but we kind of passed it to the next guy up. With that being said, Charlie has learned a lot being on the sidelines this year and he’s going to come back next year as a senior and I think he is going to be able to play from a different perspective next year.”

Without Calvert, Allen County-Scottsville’s offense has still thrived. Rippy, Stamper and sophomore guard Mason Shirley all average more than 11 points a game. The Patriots – whose season high for points scored was 69 last season – are averaging 69.4 points a game this season.

Stamper said scoring at least 70 points in each of the first five games, all wins, was what told him that this year would be different than the previous years.

Rippy said it was the sixth game, a 58-56 win at District 15 rival Barren County, where he sensed something special might be brewing for this season.

“We didn’t play great, but we found a way to win,” Rippy said. “We’ve continued to find ways to win and that’s what good teams do. Even when they are not playing great, they find ways to win that game.”

That confidence led to wins against Daviess County and Owenboro Catholic last weekend, as well as a buzzer-beating overtime win against Greenwood. Even the losses have been competitive, with the Patriots’ two losses coming by a combined three points.

Now comes the big test, a January schedule that features all three District 15 rivals. Of the eight games in January, six are against teams .500 or better. The other two games are against teams currently one game under .500. It starts Friday at Monroe County, which is off to a 2-0 start in district play.

“January is going to be tough for us,” Bonds said. “You’ve got a lot of district games. You play Warren Central. You play Bowling Green. You’ve got Clinton County. There is so much that can happen here, but I really feel like that we have a locker room full of young men that are going to compete each and every night.

“In the next 14 games, are we going to go 12-2 again? Man I hope so, but if we are not I feel like we have a locker room full of kids that will be able to take regardless of what we are, learn from it and continue to get ready for the postseason run because that’s really what is most important.”

Stamper said they are ready for the challenge.

“We are excited about this stretch,” Stamper said. “We have a lot of district matchups and some games against ranked teams that we are really excited about.”

And with each win the Patriots feel closer to the big goal – a return trip to the Region 4 Tournament for the first time since 2013.

“That’s been the ultimate goal – to get to Diddle Arena and play on that court,” Rippy said. “That’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid, to play on that court. I think this is the team to do it with for sure.”

Stamper added that with Bonds at the helm, the team believes this year is only the beginning.

“I watched coach Bonds build the girls’ program here,” Stamper said. “They have made a state run and multiple region runs. It feels amazing to have that security, knowing they will be here when I come back from golf season and knowing what (system) we will be running. We can just build off this. I am really excited about that.”{&end}