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Brandon Carden is entering his second season as head coach of the Beulah varsity boys basketball team. After the passing of Mike Powers, Carden stepped in as the head coach.

“Coach Powers ended up passing away all of a sudden, and we went with a temporary coach to finish the season,” Carden said. “Coach [Adam] Johnson asked me to apply and take over the program so I did.”

Before he coached the varsity boys team, Carden was the head coach of the junior varsity boys team. Carden doesn’t think there was too much of an adjustment to coaching the varsity level.

“It’s the same aspects I’ve always coached with,” Carden said. “The game’s a lot faster than it is from junior high, which is no big deal. Getting the kids ready is a big difference.”

The Bobcats are coming off of a 3-19 season, and Carden knows there’s work to be done.

“I only have one senior, so we have a lot of young guys that we’re trying to mold in the way we want to run the program,” Carden said.

Although it’s only summer, Carden has been able to evaluate his team’s strengths and weaknesses.

“We play defense really well, and that’s one thing I push as a coach,” Carden said. “I want to attack. What we have to build on this year is moving the basketball. When I got here, I noticed that a lot of kids don’t know how to move without the basketball on offense. That’s what this summer is about. We’re teaching them don’t just stand there and watch the game, you got a job and a responsibility to do something.”

Beulah will run a mixture of defenses that apply pressure, and that will be where this team excels.

“I go from man, and I love the 1-3-1. That’s my favorite defense,” Carden said. “When we’re able to run it correctly and run a full court trap, that’s where we get most of our points is just putting pressure on a lot of teams that way.”

Beulah will continue summer workouts throughout June and will start its season in November.