After losing six seniors last year, the Daviess County boys’ basketball team is still trying to figure out exactly what their rotation is going to look like.
Head coach Neil Hayden said the depth chart could constantly change early on, but he takes solace in knowing senior Dakota Walden will be at the core of Panthers’ game plan. Walden was the No. 2 player for Region 3 in the The Cats’ Pause preseason rankings, and he averaged 9.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last year.
“He should be on of the top players in the region,” Hayden said. “He’ll need to score quite a bit and create for other players.”
Walden is the only player who returns with much experience, though Hayden expects good production from senior Gavin Ray, junior Christopher Hillard and junior Ryan Thomson.
Though they played in several games throughout the year, the trio did not put up big numbers last season. Now, as the new core of the Panthers, they’ll be the start of a foundation that Hayden hopes will develop plenty of options.
“We’ll try to figure it out all year long,” he said. “We’ll have a rotation of seven or eight guys that we’ll play, but we don’t know the order. But if someone isn’t playing well, we have the depth to put in someone else.”
Hayden said they have some ultimate goals they want to achieve by the end of the year, though it isn’t something the team discusses too directly. Instead, they plan to work on improving and being tough.
“We want to compete in every game we play,” Hayden said. “You want to win the district tournament and get yourself in position to win the region. We don’t really talk about that too much. We just talk about each day and how to get better.”
Daviess County ended the 2017-18 campaign 19-11 overall, losing to eventual champion Owensboro Catholic in the first round of the District 9 Tournament.
Though he knows it will take time for his guys to figure everything out, Hayden is relying on the six seniors to help guide the team to a strong season. One thing he isn’t worried about is the effort the Panthers will bring each night.
“We’ve got six seniors on our team,” Hayden said. “I expect them to lead us regardless of their playing time in the past. This is a group that really competes and has the whole time they’ve been in school.”
