If losing nine seniors from a state championship team was enough cause for concern there wouldn’t be a repeat, the Memorial Titans haven’t bought into any doubts.

“A lot of people doubted us,” senior three-point specialist Kenneth Washington said. “They thought we weren’t going to have a repeat or make it this far.”

A 27-7 overall record and a District 21-5A co-championship are sterling marks of achievement following a big turnover in personnel from last season’s 34-5 Titans that won the 5A title last March.

Ten players — eight of them seniors — have been regular varsity members at Memorial after spending a majority of last season playing on the junior varsity team. Most of the 2018-19 varsity players — seniors Armand Callihan, Darvin Rubin, Washington and Steven Wilson, and juniors Kenneth Lofton Jr. and Colton Mitchell — were moved up to the varsity in time for the Titans’ run to last season’s 5A state championship.

“We were always on the JV together last year,” Wilson said. “We lost a few games, but that didn’t stop us. We’re still playing with the same team, basically.”

Senior Keigan Kenney has seen action after being sidelined with ACL tears the previous two years.

Only senior guard Jaden Conner (10 points per game) and junior center Nate Clover (12) came into the season with extensive varsity experience, and both have continued to produce. But so have forward Lofton (13), guard Wilson (11), freshman guard Amaree Abram (10) and senior three-point specialist Washington (8).

“Everyone knows how we were last year,” Conner said. “Everybody’s just bought in because they’ve seen the results from last year.”

There’s also been a change at the top since winning it all.

A member of the first Memorial graduating class in 2003, Alden Lewis was promoted to replace current Summer Creek coach Kenneth Coleman in May.

“It’s all about consistency,” Lewis said. “These kids saw it last year. They believed. They wanted to continue that trend and that tradition. Port Arthur is heavy on tradition as far as success. It shouldn’t be anything new to them. It should be in their blood. It should be something they want to continue to do, to have great success.”

Conner could hardly contain his excitement over Lewis’ promotion.

“Ever since he got the job, I was happy,” he said. “We were surprised when coach Coleman decided to leave, but when I knew someone in our program was getting the job, I was so happy. He works day in, day out, working on plays, getting film from other teams on the team we’re about to play next. I think he’s done a great job.”

Lewis learned plenty from Coleman, who was in attendance for Tuesday’s 86-69 win over Houston Madison that got Memorial into Friday’s 5A Region III semifinal against Pflugerville Connally (25-9).

“He’s a great guy, a great coach, he prepares really well, and that’s one thing that I took from him,” Lewis said. “He believes if his kids are prepared, they’ll go out and do the job.”

A second straight championship for 17-year-old Memorial High School, which had not reached the fourth round until last season, would begin a new dynasty in Port Arthur’s basketball history. Lincoln won seven UIL championships and made it to five other state semifinals (two runner-up finishes) between 1981-99. The school also won a Prairie View Interscholastic League 4A title in 1956.

Thomas Jefferson won the 1957 UIL 4A championship and fell one basket shy of a repeat. And Stephen F. Austin finished second to Lake Worth in the 1965 2A tournament.

“It’s a very good program,” Wilson said of Memorial. “All you’ve got to do is buy into what the coaches are saying and just play your role, you know? We have very skilled players here.”

Memorial won 14 straight games in between losses to Barbers Hill, the latter a 69-57 decision in Dayton for the No. 1 seed on Feb. 15, and that included a 58-57 decision at home over Nederland and 49-47 win over Barbers Hill. The Titans have beaten Galveston Ball 51-45, Region III favorite Shadow Creek 46-36 and Madison since.

The second loss to Barbers Hill, which lost to Fort Bend Hightower in the area round, served as a wake-up call for the Titans, Lewis said. Hightower will play Manor in the second Region III semifinal Friday for the right to play in Saturday’s final.

“It was a wake-up call to where we can’t take anything away for granted,” Lewis said, “because now, it’s one game and you’re done [if you lose]. So, if you don’t come and do your job and prepare and be successful, you’re going home. It’s win or go home. You can’t make any excuses. You’ve got to have good results.”

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews