Basketball. 

It’s more than a game, it’s a mentality. 

For junior Shelton Henderson, his offseason was basketball. All basketball. 

“This offseason I worked out three times a day,” Henderson said. “I went in the morning, then in the afternoon, and then again at night. I did that for six days a week and chilled on Sunday.”

These workouts consisted mainly of drills specifically focused on shooting. Even though practices took up the majority of his day, Henderson said that he had fun with each one. 

“I was also working on the little things like my mentality to make sure that I really had fun with each practice,” Henderson said.

The payoff for his practice came in the form of an invitation to the Team USA Junior Nationals minicamp. As one of only 84 high schoolers in the nation selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Development National Team Committee, Henderson traveled to Colorado to take part in a two-day camp that consisted of drills and scrimmages run by USA Basketball. 

“It was really cool to get invited and go to Colorado,” Henderson said. “All the best players were there and I was able to see how I matched up against them. I saw what I needed to work on and overall really enjoyed the experience.” 

During the offseason, the Cardinals brought on six first-year varsity players. It was vital for the Cardinal’s success that both the incoming players meshed with the team already in place. 

“A lot of us upperclassmen try and take the new players under our wing and coach them up,” junior Kohlman Dutton said. 

The responsibility fell on Henderson, as one of the players with the most time on varsity, to help create and influence the team chemistry. 

“Now, I have to take on a leadership role with the team,” Henderson said. “I want everyone to know that mistakes are going to happen. We just have to play through them. I share my own experience as a freshman having to play through my mistakes.”

Preseason tournaments like the one in McAllen were ideal spots for the team to bond. 

“We built a lot of chemistry [at McAllen] as a team, just having fun with each other off the court,” Henderson said. “That really helped us become closer as a team.” 

Preseason tournaments like McAllen are not only beneficial for the team’s chemistry but are also important for the team’s on-court familiarity with each other.  

“The preseason allowed us to learn what we are strong at.” Henderson said, “The entire team is really unselfish and we just really want to win. We also got to see what we need to work on which is defining our role. I think we are getting much better at that though, especially as the season goes on.”

As the district season begins, the Cardinals are setting their expectations high in both districts and eventually the playoffs.   

“I think we will definitely go undefeated in district,” Henderson said. “As a team, we want to get back to where we were in the playoffs and then get past that. We expect to definitely make a deep district run.” 

Nine months of rehab.

Three workouts a day.

One goal: get back on the court.

Junior Kohlman Dutton tore his ACL on Dec. 31, 2022 in a varsity basketball tournament. On Nov. 6, 2023, nine months after his surgery, Dutton’s physical therapist cleared him to return.

“It was a tough rehab, but I stayed diligent all along the way and I met all my goals,” Dutton said.

On Nov. 29, 2023, Dutton made his season debut against El Campo and scored 12 points, four rebounds and four assists in his return.

“He has a big leadership role and he’s going to really help the team,” Henderson said. “He’s been really engaged with all the games and pretty much all the practices.”

Dutton’s summer consisted of three workouts every day with a focus on plyometric workouts, leg exercises and jump training. In order to be cleared for competition, Dutton demonstrated the ability to jump and land with both legs, as well as 90% of strength in his injured left leg as in his right leg.

“I had never really worked out like that,” Dutton said. “I was just naturally athletic. Being disciplined enough to go and work out, not being able to do the stuff that I’m usually able to do and having to work that back up is confidence draining so that was the toughest part.”

Despite his injury, Dutton still stayed close with his teammates by attending their games and practices and giving them advice from what he observed.

“It was frustrating because there were a lot of things that I felt would be smoother for the team and all the pieces would come together if I were playing,” Dutton said. “Watching from a different perspective and seeing the things that happen on the court gave me new abilities that I didn’t really have before to read the floor when I am playing and facilitate the offense, so you could say it’s been a gift and a curse.”

Prior to his return, the Cardinals started their season with a 6-5 record. Five of the juniors in the team’s rotation, Shelton Henderson, Anthony Andrews, Egypt Gibbs, Jaren Brown and Dutton, have all played basketball together both at Bellaire and before high school, which Dutton said is helping him make a seamless transition back into the lineup.

“[The five of us] have all known each other since fifth grade,” Dutton said. “We already have a lot of chemistry and we know where we’re going to be on the court.”

With Dutton’s return to the lineup, the Cardinals have all their players back for the first time all season. Bellaire is looking to build continuity among all of the players on the court and the coaches during the next few months of district play as they prepare for the playoffs.

“I just want to come back better than I was before,” Dutton said. “I want to become a better player, a better team player and a better leader. I want to win, obviously, and hopefully we can get a state run this year, which I feel like we have the capability to do.”