HARLINGEN — The military aspect of Marine Military Academy and academics come before athletics in terms of importance at the academy in Harlingen.
Plus, long breaks during the winter tourney season, cadets switching schools and the practice limitations the cadets face — they do not have a hoop in the driveway for extra practice — makes it a challenge to compete against other schools.
So, when a team is able to advance to a state tournament, that is special.
Marine Military Academy meets Leadership Prep in the Texas Charter School Academic and Athletic League semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Howard Payne University’s Brownwood Coliseum in Brownwood.
“It is a different situation,” said Mo Molina, the Leathernecks’ 17-year head coach. “In public schools, your kids are with you since their freshman year. Here, we have new kids every year. So, you have to develop chemistry. It is different, but I like it. I enjoy the challenge.”
With more than 40 years of experience, Molina has never guided a team to the final four, he said.
“This is one of the biggest teams that I have had,” Molina said. “It could also be one of the best teams that I have had since being here.”
Molina could start five players over six feet tall if he wanted. Ken Jones, the shortest at 6-foot-0, would be joined by Mehkhi Blue and Frank Ratliff at 6-5, John Shields is 6-4 and Noah Fisher is 6-3.
Shawn Elsner, Elijah Ferdinand and others are not as lengthy as their teammates but are equally as important, especially against smaller teams that can shoot.
“We are going up against people our size,” Molina said. “So, it will be big on big. Down here, we are bigger than most teams, so we had problems with matchups.”
The big players can still move, Molina said. With a few personnel tweaks they can stay in a man defense, Molina added.
The Leathernecks did have some matchup problems against Weslaco IDEA at Bert Ogden Arena for the regional championship. Weslaco IDEA found spots in the defense for easy looks and built a huge lead before the Leathernecks, led by captain Jones and Ratliff, helped charge a comeback that saw the academy comfortably thorough to the state tournament.
“It is not like we were getting clamped,” Jones said. “We just could not hit shots, even the easy ones — the floaters, layups — but I think there was a court factor, too.”
The captains joked about the crowd size and playing on a professional court before praising the chemistry of the teams this season.
“It is just a step up from last year,” Ratliff said. “You did not know, going into the next game, if we were going to play good together or if you are going to watch someone else play.”
The Leathernecks are 13-1 on the season and went 11-1 in league play.
“We came together as a team,” Jones said.
Jones leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 ppg. Fisher goes for 13 ppg, Ratliff and Blue put up nine a game and Shields is good for seven while also grabbing seven boards.
“We are going to play some tough teams, it looks like it,” Jones said. “I am excited, it is different competition, but at the end of the day it is just basketball.”