FARMVILLE – Whenever Fuqua School head boys basketball coach wants to motivate his team during practice, he points to the wall that displays Fuqua's numerous championship banners.

Two of the almost 30 banners along the wall opposite the stage were won by the boys basketball program. Both are red. Both are from the mid 1990s. Neither one is white.

Red equals conference championships. White equals state titles.

“I don't know another school that hangs a different colored banner for a state title like that,” said Gregory. “But it certainly sticks out. What sticks out to me, though, is that we don't have one. It's even been a while since we've gotten a red one.”

Since returning to the Virginia Commonwealth Conference in 2007, the Falcons have been a consistent top-four team in the VCC, which has earned them several invites to the VISBA Division III Tournament. But it wasn't until last year that the Falcons tasted a postseason victory.

“When I got here, I was surprised to find out that the school had never won a state tournament game,” said Gregory. “That was a big goal of ours last year, and we achieved it. Now that we've won in the postseason, we want to go even deeper into the playoffs. To get to where we want to be, we'll have to take care of business in the VCC.”

In other words. To get a white banner, the Falcons will have to first get a red one.

“We have some holes to fill due to graduation, and there were some places on the floor where we felt were weak last year and that we needed to address over the summer. I feel we were able to do that.”

The Falcons will have some holes to fill from a team that went 12-11 overall in 2011-12. The two biggest being shooting guard Landon Allen, who averaged 15.1 points per game, and Charles Williams, who only averaged 6.5 points per outing, but contributed in ways not measured by a box score.

“Landon was our leading scorer,” said Gregory. “We hope Antonio Gonzalez can step into that role. A big point of emphasis for Antonio in the offseason was learning how to control his speed. When to go and when not to go. I feel he's made big strides in that area, and we'll need him to score more to fill the role of Allen, but also know when to distribute the ball when the shot isn't there. Either way, we can compensate for that loss of point production.

“Replacing Charles may be more difficult. He was our emotional leader. He could calm us when we needed calming and pick us up when we needed to be picked up. He was a true leader, and his teammates looked up to him. Someone is going to have to step into that role.”

The Falcons at times ran a four-guard lineup with a power forward last season. It worked for their up-tempo style, but one of Fuqua's weaknesses was in rebounding.

“We got beat on the boards too many times. It wasn't because of a lack of hustle, per se, we just didn't have the size to consistently bang around in the paint.”

Senior Boris Ngundji a 6-5 210-pound forward/center should help forward Davis Cyrus (6-0) in the paint, and allow guard/forward Carter Cunningham (6-1), who averaged 10.3 ppg. in 2011-12, to move to a more natural position a little more on the wing.

The addition of Al Baker, a junior guard and Vasaun Boatwright, a sophomore transfer from Cumberland High School, should give the Falcons some more shooting strength on the outside.

“We're a lot deeper than we were last year. I think that's the biggest thing,” said Gregory, recalling a stretch of losses toward the end of the regular-season that was the result of fatigue as much as anything else. “Weather forced us to play a lot of games in a short time frame, and I think it caught up to us. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with that this year, but if we do, I think we'll be more prepared for it.”

Gregory also cited continuity as a strength for this year's team.

“This is the first time since I've started coaching, either at Cumberland or here, that I haven't had to put in a new system. We were able to pick up where we left off last year in our summer program and in the preseason. That has us ahead of where we were this time last year. With the way the schedule is laid out, we really can't afford to have a slow start.”

Fuqua begins regular season play on Friday night at home against VCC foe Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot.

“We don't have the luxury of non-counting games. Every game we play counts either in our standing in the VCC or our state ranking.”

Gregory sees Amelia Academy as the Falcons' main obstacle to getting a red banner (as well as a white one).

“They're the one we'll all be shooting for. They are in good position to win both a league title as well as a state championship. A team that can beat them will have a shot at both as well. That's where we want to be. That's what we've worked toward.

“Tidewater and Southampton will also have something to say about what goes on this year, and we had trouble with Kenston Forest last year as well, so we can't look past anyone. We've improved, but nobody is good enough to overlook an opponent.”