The worst part of the Hapeville Charter Hornets’ first varsity season could very well be behind them.

In five of their first six games—all losses, the Hornets were defeated by double digits in each contest.

“None of the players have ever played varsity basketball before,” Hapeville Charter coach Carl Green said. “They are all new to it but I have some really talented freshman. So in the years to come we’re going to be pretty good.”

But after a historical 80-74 victory over Our Lady of Mercy on Dec. 13, Hapeville Charter has not lost more than two games in a row and has won four of its last five contests, including two Region 9A victories.

“I wanted to put them in the fire early before region play,” Green said.

Now, even though the Hornets are just 3-4 in the region, they still have a chance to land one of the top four spots. And more than likely, this will occur if freshman Datruan Poole (forward), Kamau Perry (point guard) and Marquez Abernathy (point guard) continue to get better.

“We should be at .500 right now,” said Green on Jan. 13. “But a lot of games we lost were because of mental errors, free throws, decision making and things like that. Other than that, I think we are coming along very well to finish out this region and be one of the top four teams in the region.”

On Saturday, Hapeville Charter faces Eagles Landing Christian – which the Hornets lost to by six on Dec. 10 – then concludes its region schedule against Landmark Christian, Strong Rock Christian and Tech, respectively.

“Our philosophy is to play harder than the next team because people are going to be bigger than us, be a little more skilled and older,” Green said.

The Hornets are also driven by another factor.

“We are like a school up north,” Green said. “We don’t have a gym and practice at a church in East Point. All of our games are away because this school was built off of academics only.

“So we operate like a school in New Jersey or New York where we have to go out and play,” Green said. “But we don’t use that as an excuse but as motivation to say ‘we did it without the luxuries of the other schools around us.’”