Boys basketball: Pride's Carson back with reinforcements

Last year, Mountain Pointe boys basketball team got beat up a bit.

But this season sophomore Jahii Carson is back and he's brought some friends with him.

The Pride survived a 3-23 season when, as a freshman phenom, Carson scored more than 18 points a game, had 152 assists, 16 blocked shots and 96 rebounds.

"Jahii can carry a lot, but he can't carry it all," Mountain Pointe coach Brian Fleming said.

This season the Pride hope to lighten the load on the 5-foot-8 point guard with newcomers like 6-foot Davon Jones and 6-5 Ben DeMarr, as well as returnees like 6-3 sophomore Israel Marshall and 6-3 junior Michael Ramirez.

Marshall was the team's leading rebounder with 131 boards before he was injured with 10 games remaining in the season. Ramirez was the second leading scorer behind Carson averaging a little more than 16 points a game.

But like Marshall, Ramirez has been injured late in the season and it will be December before Fleming knows if he will have either or both back this year.

"We hope to have them back because that could change a lot of things," Fleming said. "Those two kids represent 17 boards and 20 points a game."

Mountain Pointe will have four seniors, including Erik Gregory, Jared Morrison and Daniel Woulf, who had playing time last season.

"We're still very young and probably still a year away from being a really good team," Fleming said. "There have been some long days. These guys haven't grasp how good they can be because they're so young. But maybe the light will go on and, hopefully, it will be sooner than later."

In the first week of the season the Pride will face Gilbert Mesquite, Yuma Kofa on the road and Scottsdale Desert Mountain.

"It will help to get a fast start, put some wins on the board and gain some confidence," Fleming said. "Last year was miserable, but we knew it was going to be miserable. This year depends on how much they want to work."

Carson honed his game over the summer playing with Jones, who, like DeMarr, is off the football team.

"Jahii has improved over the summer in scoring and rebounding," Fleming said. "He can play defense with anyone and he and Davon played well together over the summer."

Carson is already rated as one of the top guard prospects in the country, according to Rivals.com.

"He gets more mail than I do," Fleming added. "And he'll be even better this year. He'll grow as the other guys grow. If they have a phenomenal season, which they could, it will make Jahii even better because they can't double up on him."

If Marshall and Ramirez are able to play in December and be on the floor with players like Woulf, Gregory and Morrison, the Pride can be a surprise.

"We've got guys like DeMarr, Marshall and Jones the region hasn't seen yet," Fleming added. "Jahii is going to have some guys around him now that can be forces to be reckoned with."