A decade ago you could find Wes McKenzie and TJ Holt feeding off each other on the basketball court at Liberty High School.

McKenzie was the leading scorer, averaging more than 20 points per game his senior year. Holt ran the offense, usually finding McKenzie to set up the drive.

Flash forward 10 years, and Holt is back at McKenzie’s side, but this time on the sideline at Banning Lewis Preparatory Academy, building the boys’ basketball program brick by brick.

For the last three years Banning Lewis has played C-squad teams, JV opponents and independent programs to prepare for introduction to the Colorado High School Activities Association. And Monday that work will be put to the test as the Stallions play their first varsity contest as a CHSAA member school.

Starting a program from scratch is a unique opportunity for the young coaches, and one that some wait decades for.

“People go through 40 years of coaching without a chance to do something like this,” McKenzie said. “We’ve had to commit to each other and that has created a different level of love and trust. We are willing to fight for each other. It’s been awesome to build something from the ground up and do it our way.”

McKenzie coached for two years as a graduate assistant at Northern State before accepting the coaching position at Banning Lewis.

His first call, he said, was to Holt.

“We were childhood best friends and I had no doubt that he was the one I wanted to do this with,” McKenzie said. “From the start he has been my guy, and it didn’t matter what level we were at or where we were going to go. He’s the most loyal person in the world and he’s been there from the jump.”

Jim Masterson, who coached McKenzie and Holt in high school, said he remembers their friendship on and off the court at Liberty.

“It just gives you such pride as a coach to see former players decide to coach,” said Masterson, who is the coach at St. Mary’s and will host Banning Lewis in a Tri-Peaks clash Feb. 9. “You remember them as little kids and now they’re grown men impacting other students. It’s pretty exciting to watch and to coach against them — unless of course they beat you.”

It has been a gradual process. In 2017 McKenzie and Holt gathered 11 freshmen players, many with no experience, to tip off the Banning Lewis program. They were offered a blank slate, and took pride in the opportunity to mold a culture focused on energy, effort and enthusiasm.

“From the start we had high expectations of the freshmen, and each year they’ve continued to grow on everything we’ve put out there for them,” Holt said. “Now we have a couple of those guys who have stepped into a leadership role and we are really blessed to have that. But I feel like our leadership isn’t just one or two guys but a whole team that puts our culture out.”

Senior Tyler Vergara was one of the 11 freshmen to show up on Day 1, and enters his senior season as the team’s top scorer. He averaged 20.7 points per game for the Stallions in their first varsity season, in which they went 16-2, playing independent programs throughout the state.

“I think we’ve been flying under the radar a little bit and last year we had an opportunity to explode this year,” Vergara said. “We are going to run on some teams. We are very well conditioned and our chemistry with each other is getting closer. I think we are going to be good. We just need to work together and play hard.”

Their first season the Stallions played mostly C-squad teams from some of the larger schools in Colorado Springs. Following that first season, their numbers began to grow. And so did their success. In three years the team has grown from 11 freshmen to more than 40 athletes showing up for tryouts last week.

Vergara said there’s an “unwritten rule” to hold each other accountable at Banning Lewis, a trend that formed organically since his freshman year.

“We work hard, we are loud, we are vocal and we pick each other up,” Vergara said. “Everybody holds each other accountable and comes in here and works hard every day.”

The team will travel to Atlas Prep on Monday to open the 2021 season, and will kick off 3A Tri-Peaks competition the following week.

Contact the writer: lindsey.smith@gazettedev.gazette.com