MAYFLOWER -- The Braxtyn McCuien era of Mayflower basketball ended last March with a heartbreaking loss to Harding Academy in the Class 3A state championship game in Hot Springs.
That doesn't mean the Mayflower Eagles are in any kind of a rebuilding situation.
Far from it.
Mayflower (13-4, 5-0) took over sole possession of first place in the 3A-5 conference Friday night with a 66-52 win over Lamar (9-7, 4-1) at the Eagles gym.
"It doesn't surprise me," Mayflower Coach Brent Stallings said. "I told people last year after the season, people around Mayflower: People are going to think we're going to be really really down. We're not. We're going to be OK.
"I told people, 'We're going to be good, but we're going to be different good. You can be different good and still be darn gone good."
Those who were part of McCuien's supporting cast are stepping up leaders now, with strong guard play from senior Arian King (20 points) and junior Kaleb Moody, along with determined play inside coming from 6-3 senior Dalton Crumley (14 points, 12 rebounds) and 6-1 senior forward BJ Gilliam (15 points).
"They have to," Stallings said of this season's Eagles picking up for the departure of McCuien, a 6-6 presence who played all over the court. "Ever since he's played, we've been final four, final four, state finals. He was the reason, along with everybody else, but he was the biggest reason who pulled us through all those years."
Now, it's Moody (10 points) and King in the back court, Crumley and Gilliams underneath, along with junior Brailon Davis (6 points) and strong bench play from 6-3 junior Parker Stigall.
"I thought we would be strong in our league," Stallings said. "I don't know how that transfers over to statewide. We've got good guard play. Those two little guards are good. The thing about Arion and Moody, they may be small but they're strong, and they can jump.
"We've got a good little athletic team. It would sure help if they were all 4 inches taller. You play with what you got."
The same holds true for Lamar, which lost three starters from a team that reached state semifinals in Clinton, where it lost to Mayflower.
Senior guards Bradlee Kemp (21 points, 17 in the first half) and Dylan Mize (19 points, five three-pointers) kept the Warriors in the game after Mayflower opened a 27-12 lead early in the second quarter.
The Warriors outscored the Eagles 16-4 to cut Mayflower's lead to 31-28 at the 3:37 mark of the second quarter.
"We do things the right way, and then we just stop doing them for some reason," Lamar Coach Brett Sampley said. "They're not young by any means, they're just inexperienced. We do things the right way, then we quit doing those things and get back to where we were at."
It didn't help that Kemp turned his ankle right before halftime and was limping around at times in the final two quarters.
"I knew we had to slow him down," Stallings said. "I've seen enough to know we need to limit his touches. We didn't do a good job in the first half of limiting his touches."
The big problem for Lamar, Sampley said, was the work of Crumley, Gilliam and Stigall did around the basket.
"They absolutely dominated us on the offensive boards," Sampley said.
Lamar is gunning to be in the top three of the conference to get in position to win at least one game in regionals.
"We want it to be expected, at the end of the season, we're in the state tournament," Sampley said.
Mayflower, 38-8 since the beginning of the 2020-2021 season, already has that.
It's not something Stallings, in his 39th season as head coach, takes for granted.
"We've got a chance, but it's not going to be easy," Stallings said. "Everybody we've played has played us tough. We haven't beat anybody tremendously.
"They're all good ball teams. If we don't show up ready to play, they'll teach us a lesson."