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There are three boys' basketball state championship banners on the wall of the High Point High School gymnasium, but the last time the Eagles put up a new one was 1992.

It's too soon and much is still unproven to be talking of possible state titles this year, but third-year coach Ron Moore has his team believing they can accomplish a lot.

"I think we're going to do very well, this year, very, very well," said junior center Joseph Thompson, who scored a game-high 32 points in the Eagles' 77-66 victory over visiting Long Reach of Howard County. "We have high expectations because last year we did good, but this year we're ready to put the nail in the coffin."

High Point finished 12-11 a year ago, after winning just three games the year before.

The victory against Long Reach was a convincing start if High Point is to take a step up as a regional contender. The Lightning won the state 3A title two years ago and were 16-7 last year. Still, outside of two runs generated primarily by the Long Reach defense that High Point eventually adjusted to, the game was never in doubt.

"This is the start that I wanted," Moore said. "This season, I'm looking forward to this group doing some really good things."

The Eagles get a better idea of their season prospects on Friday when they play at Charles H. Flowers in their first game against a 4A opponent this season.

"I don't know what Flowers has this year, but they were pretty good and they beat us twice last year," Moore said. "But we're going to go there and do what we do, and hopefully we'll come out of it with a W."

He's back

Anyone who thought two years away from high school basketball would mellow former Oxon Hill boys' coach Billy Lanier should think again.

In Charles H. Flowers' 70-68 victory against North Point on Monday, Lanier was prowling up and down the sideline of his new team, stomping his foot and yelling at his players when they made mistakes.

And he was loving every minute of it.

"Oh, it's great," Lanier said. "I told the guys pregame that I was thankful that the school allowed me to come back. I've really missed it."

Lanier took Oxon Hill to the state tournament's semifinal round four times, and his teams won state championships in 2000 and 2003. But he retired after the 2006-07 season.

Flowers was in need of a coach after George McClure left earlier this year to become the athletic director and boys' basketball coach at Suitland High. In the Jaguars, Lanier inherits a team that was 9-12 last season. He decided to keep four sophomores and two freshmen on his varsity roster. One of those freshmen is his starting point guard, Brandon Green.

Flowers (1-0) faces a test Friday when it plays host to High Point.

The battle for intensity

During pregame warm-ups Friday night, the Eleanor Roosevelt boys' basketball team got itself hyped by doing a cheer in unison then diving on the floor. That intensity didn't show up in the first half, but it definitely did in the third quarter.

The Raiders limited River Hill to only four points in the third period, as their full-court press put pressure on the Hawks' inbound passes. Three times the Raiders dived to knock passes out of bounds, including one ball that came within inches of hitting a Roosevelt cheerleader square in the face. After narrowly escaping what surely would have been a bloodied nose or a black eye the cheerleader and a few of her fellow squad members shook it off and continued cheering.

Roosevelt senior center Alex Bates said the team is going to work on keeping the intensity up from the start this week in practice.

And in the process they'll do their best not to injure any cheerleaders.

Contributing at crunch time

Kevin Kuteyi spent most of DuVal's 62-61 win on Friday sitting next to coach Artie Walker, firmly planted on the bench. Although Walker said he is one of the team's best shooters, the sophomore guard was neglecting his defensive responsibilities and showing some careless ball-handling.

"He can score, but he wasn't playing defense, and he looked like he was going to turn the ball over," Walker said. "I told him, ‘If you want to stay on the floor, play defense and don't give me a heart attack with the ball.'"

Walker yanked Kuteyi after only a few minutes on the court. When starters Keith Crockett and Andrew Council both fouled out, Walker still didn't go to Kuteyi. But when he needed a 3-point shot to win with two seconds left, he finally gave Kuteyi another chance. Kuteyi showed no ill effects from entering a pressure-filled situation cold off the bench, draining a half-court buzzer-beater to win the game for DuVal.

"I'm glad we won, but we got lucky," Walker said.

Staff Writers Ken Sain, Hunter Pavlik and Thomas Floyd contributed to this report.

Correction: The original version of this story gave the wrong first name for High Point coach Ron Moore.