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The long and difficult journey has begun again. Llano boys and their coach are trying once more to right a basketball ship that has faced water so tortuous the great whites would have declared the current, “Unsafe at any Teeth.”

There’s progress. The Jackets took on such foes as Ingram, Lampasas, and Fredericksburg in a league at Harper and won seven out of ten. Progress, indeed, for a team that was winless in district this past winter and hasn’t reached the playoffs since 1996.

“It’s the first winning record in a spring or summer league since I’ve been here,” head coach Shannon Taylor said. Taylor has yelled, encouraged, taught, drilled, paced, thrown his head back, thrown his arms out, and brooded over hardwood fate through eight campaigns of struggle. He must think Sarah Palin is plenty lucky: one (at a time) and done. This is a man who knows what winning is like: he led Danbury to runnerup in state in Class 2A in 2001 and then moved to Llano.

“We’re trying to make adjustments in our offense,” the coach declared, as he turned to specifics. “We want to make sure the right people have the ball; this means getting it inside, and if the posts are successful, the guards can be, too. If we establish something that works, the other teams will try to take it away, and that could mean other guys can get open.”

Marshall Benavides is one of those guys. “I thought the players last year had, as a team, a big heart,” he noted, “but I think there’s more heart in this bunch. I think we’re improving all the time, and no one wants a repeat of ‘09.”

Matthew Ratliff, who is six-foot, three-inches, and Sterling Jameson were the highest scorers in the Harper games. Matthew Center, who is a 6’1” freshman, also did well. Will he grow? “He wears a size 15 shoe now,” Taylor pointed out. “I hope that means he will.” I’ve never seen socks where the wrapping said, “Good for size 12-18.”

“Marshall did a good job,” the coach continued, “and so did another guard, Layne Sprey. Charlie Durham, Connor Chauncy, and Aaron Francis also showed they can help us this year.”

A talented trio of no-quit seniors—Josh Wisdom, Jeffrey McLerran, and Marc Vricella—did their best to help the Jackets collect a few wins last season, but, while 8-3A didn’t contribute any Final Four finishers, it provided a solid offering of one tough opponent every Tuesday and Friday night. Benavides’ reflections: “I can apply last season to my whole life; even though it was very difficult, it taught me lessons I think will always stay with me.”

“We should have a more experienced squad,” Taylor states to bring out the positive—but, “we will be young; we won’t have many seniors. I do think (positive territory again) the youngsters can be like sponges and absorb the information they need to. We want to put last year behind us, and I think they proved at Harper they can look forward, not backward.”

“One thing we want,” Benavides declared, “is support of the fans, and I realize we have to win more to get that. I know the way we’ve played hasn’t helped us put people in the gym.” Candid remarks from the young man, who adds: “We’ll play better at home with a bigger crowd.” That’s one reason they call it a home-court advantage.

“It’s easy to get enthusiastic when you see kids come to an open gym, voluntarily,” coach T maintained. “If they’ve ingrained in your mind that they care, then that makes it much easier for me. It doesn’t take much effort for the coach to be psychologically up if the kids want to do well, and I believe this group of guys wants to succeed.”

“We’ve played together for two or three years,” Marshall Benavides says. “That should make us better right there. And, yes, I think the new district is a big relief. We won’t slack off, though; we’ll play as hard as we can and harder.”

The new alignment for one year for all sports besides football calls for district 8 in Region One to include: Llano, Burnet, Liberty Hill, and two schools from the Leander ISD, Rouse and Vandergrift. They will only have freshmen and sophomores.

“I rejuvenate every year,” Taylor discloses. “I love what I do, and I’m an optimist. Llano basketball can be good; it’s important I believe that—if I didn’t, and if I didn’t believe that success were possible, I shouldn’t be coaching, because it wouldn’t be fair to the kids. I feel like I’m a hard worker who dedicates a lot of time, effort and thought to what’s needed here. I’m ready for football and basketball; I feel it will be a good year for Llano High—this is a great place to be.”