DUNCAN — Being soft-spoken has nothing to do with taking charge on the basketball court. And this season, Duncan senior Bradley Toone is prepared to do just that.

Toone, and the Duncan Demon basketball team, opens the season on Tuesday at Northwest Classen. Despite coming off of a seven win season, the Demons enter the season looking to make an impact in the Class 5A playoffs. Bolstered by a strong senior class that has taken its lumps, Toone and his classmates want to make Duncan basketball matter.

“It’s a big deal,” Toone said. “The senior class has been playing together since seventh grade and this is a big year for us. Overall, the goal is that everyone wants the team to do well. We want to give basketball a good name.”

Basketball hasn’t had a very good name in years past at Duncan as the 2003-2004 team is the recent standard bearer with a state tournament appearance. Since that time there has been a drop-off in the program with a two-win season two years ago serving as the bottoming out.

This years’ senior class, sophomores during that season, have had to learn how to win on the job and gained confidence in that department last season with seven wins.

“During our sophomore year, we went into every game knowing in the back of our mind that we would probably lose,” Toone said. “Last year, we had a lot of close games and we began to learn the art of closing them out. There is a big difference between trying to win games and not trying to lose them.”

The turning point last season came in an upset of Lawton Mac, a game the Demons won by 12 points. Kyle Lee scored over 40 points and Toone tallied a triple-double. From that point on, Duncan played with more purpose and more confidence that it could compete.

During the preseason, that same confidence has been there as the team integrates itself into Smith’s system. The Demons are more up-tempo this season and Toone has played a big role, taking over at point guard in Jacob Miears absence.

“My sophomore year was the first time that I has played shooting guard,” Toone said. “I had always played point guard to that point. I has been a different experience but I like it. I take pride in making my passes.”

Leading up to this season, Toone has been busy in achieving his mission of making basketball matter at Duncan. He spent the summer playing on an AAU team, traveling as far as Nebraska and Kansas to play against the top high school basketball players in the nation.

Toone, who spends 10 to 12 hours a day in the gym outside of practice, also found time to work on his tennis game. But his heart belongs on the basketball court.

“I just love playing basketball,” Toone said. “It’s a fast-paced game. I have a lot more freedom to improvise. It’s just a blessing to mature like this. God has given me the ability to play basketball and it is a platform to give back to him.”

Basketball has also given Toone the platform to work towards a basketball scholarship. In a perfect world, Toone would suit up for Southwestern Oklahoma State next season but any college will do. That determination, along with the desire to deliver a winning season, should pay off dividends to Demon faithful.

“There is determination,” Toone said. “We’re not going to be cocky, we haven’t done anything yet. But the confidence is there. We can make some noise this year.”