MARIETTA, GA -- In basketball, you are only as good as your last game. For M.L. King, the DeKalb County team didn't want to be remembered on what they did last year.

The win-loss record is reset and so are the goals and expectations. On opening day, M.L. King is ready for people to remember what they do in 2013-2014. Paired against Chattahoochee, featuring top junior Marcus Sheffield, M.L. King used it's size, balance and depth to punish the opposition 70-46.

"It is the same exact players but they have a couple more inches," M.L. King head coach Eddie Johnson said with an approving smile after his team's win.

"Over the off-season, we put in a lot of work. We played a lot of fall camps, team camps, skills and drills, you name it, we played in it. The boys have been focused. When the last buzzer sounded last year and we were upset, they've had the taste in their mouth. They remember the feeling and they don't want to feel it again. You can tell in practice. Everything is intense. Everything is heightened. The atmosphere is different and the guys understand what it takes to get there."

The Lions have as big of a starting five as there is in metro Atlanta this year. Unsigned senior point guard Paul Jackson stitched the team together on both sides of the ball.

The 6-foot floor general set the tone and never looked back.

"We know the offense is going to come so we needed to focus all of our attention on the defensive end. We just went out to show that we aren't the same team as we were last year," Jackson said.

"Our goal this season is our defense is our offense," Johnson said. "We didn't install any offensive sets until we were three weeks into the practice season. If our defense works the way we want it to, we won't have to worry too much about offensive sets."

Jackson scored 17 points and handed out seven assists. He and big man Greg King were on the same page in the halfcourt. King, a 6-foot-7 unsigned senior, scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior Kevon Harris scored 16 points in the win.

The team, with all of it's size and defensive prowess, certainly came out and made a statement. Jackson said he's not getting ahead of himself with any expectations.

"We are just worried about winning. We aren't worry about the rankings or anything like that," Jackson said. "The bottom line is we want to get to the state playoffs and the championship game. We've been working hard in the off-season and everybody is giving it all in practice to make everybody better."

Chattahoochee struggled to get anything going on offensive end. Sheffield scored 25 points (13-18 FT) and did just about everything for his team. Vanderbilt and Georgetown were in town to see him in action.