Andalusia senior basketball player Trevor Parker knows the importance of being a leader and that there is more to it than just scoring points.

“The most important thing for me to be on this team is a leader,” Parker said. “Not necessarily someone that scores points, but someone who is in the right place at the right time on the court and stays on top of things in the classroom.”

As a senior, Parker not only knows that is his job to be a leader, but he welcomes it with open arms.

“I want be the leader,” Parker said. “The younger guys, they see the things you do and they look up to you. Whether they say it or not, if they see me cutting up at practice or doing something I shouldn’t they might say, ‘Well Trevor is doing it so it must be ok.’ I want to lead by example.”

Parker said it’s so important to be a leader because this is a team he believes has what it takes to make a run in the playoffs.

“We want to win and I want to for us to be great,” Parker said. “We didn’t get a chance at state championship in football, so now it’s time to try in basketball. We just have to keep working and grinding during holidays even when we don’t want too.”

Being a leader on the court is also a crucial part to the Bulldogs’ success, Parker said.

“A lot of times, a player is going to listen more to another player on the court during the game than he is his coach yelling from the sideline,” Parker said. “Some guys can’t take that and you just have to go over to them and say, ‘Hey man, we can’t have that,’ and they usually will calm down and get back in it. It’s important to have someone out that like that, someone that is the glue that holds the team together.”

Chasing a championship is something Parker acknowledged that everyone in the state wants to do, and that it’s the little things outside of practice that can help push to greatness.

“I get up every morning a dribble down the street looking up at the stop sign,” Parker said. “At practice, B.J. (Anderson) and I get there early to shoot free throws. We shoot free throws for a while and then we run laps and then its back to shooting free throws. Then we run down the court catching bounce passes and shooting jumpers. We do all that so that when our legs get tired in a game, we can still make those shots.”

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Dec. 26, when they head down the road to Red Level to take part in the 2015 Red Level Christmas Tournament.