After making big strides toward the end of last season and working hard over the summer, the Daviess County girls’ basketball team expects to be more competitive out of the gate this year.
The Lady Panthers finished only 7-22 last season, but an impressive final two months included a handful of narrow losses that could have swung the other way. DC held late leads in many of those games but couldn’t hold on.
Head coach John Kirkpatrick is hoping a renewed defensive effort will help the Lady Panthers this year.
“During the offseason, we placed a strong emphasis on defense, an area where we have drastically improved,” he said. “My assistant coaches do a great job of preparing our team on both ends of the floor, but they’ve really developed some ownership on the defensive end.”
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Offensively, the Lady Panthers are a sharpshooting team that’s most dangerous from 3-point range — they hit 18 in a single game last year.
The biggest hurdle for DC will be playing against bigger teams, but Kirkpatrick hopes their toughness will help them succeed.
“Size and depth could limit us some, but hopefully our speed and work ethic will propel us past our shortcomings,” he said. “Several of our kids have been developing their game and we are confident that they will add to our size and depth.”
The top returning player for DC is senior guard Emma Anderson (7.1 ppg, 4 rpg). Anderson has is currently receiving therapy for a functional movement disorder, but Kirkpatrick said she has stayed strong throughout the process and expects her to be a leader.
Other key players coming back include junior forward Brooklyn Daugherty (5 ppg, 5 rpg), sophomore guard Katie Mewes (6 ppg), senior guard Shea Mason and sophomore guard Ella Payne. Top newcomers will be Adalyn Ayer, Druree Glenn and Madison Spurrier.
Kirkpatrick said a big key will be flipping the turnover and rebounding differential — something they were often on the wrong side of last year. If they can, he expects DC to be a bigger threat this season.
“We hope to be competitive in the always-tough 9th District,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have a chance to reach our goal and make it to the 3rd Region tournament.
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