Ben Whitehead
A new coach, a new team, and a new style. That is what you are going to see from the Lady Demons this season.
First-year head coach Andrew McClung is looking forward to surprising a lot of people this year. The Lady Demons are working to get back to the state playoffs where they feel they belong.
“I’m a new coach, this is a new team, and I think we’re going to catch some people off guard with what we’re going to do,” Coach McClung said after a scrimmage Thursday night against U.S. Grant.
This team is young and fast. Prior to the aforementioned scrimmage, the girls took on the Duncan freshman boys team for about an hour.
The girls hung in there for a while, but eventually the boys’ size advantage got the best of the Lady Demons.
Twenty minutes later, the Lady Generals arrived and the girls were back at it again, this time for over two hours. And they never showed any signs of fatigue.
“We can run up and down the court for two straight hours and we won’t wear down,” explained McClung. “That’s something that we want to do to other teams. We want to run them off the court. If they want to try to run with us, we feel that our horses can and will go longer.”
A fast-paced, break-away offense mixed with a relentless press defense including multiple zone traps will be something different for Duncan. It may even remind some people of the University of North Carolina.
“Get it and go,” said McClung. “A lot of teams that think they know Duncan girls basketball are going to be surprised when they see us. After a scrimmage last week, Chickasha’s Coach Laymen told me, ‘I don’t recognize one single face on your team.’”
That’s because it is a completely different team on the court. Only one player returns that had significant varsity minutes from a season ago, but Coach McClung thinks that is going to play into the Lady Demons’ favor.
“We have three seniors, one junior, and six sophomores on our varsity squad. Only one of them had playing time last year, so when people play us, they’re not going to know what to expect.
“We’re not very big so we’ll have to use our speed and just get after it all game long.”
An area of concern for McClung is down on the post. The Lady Demons really do not have anyone that can match-up with bigger bodies. However, it’s the depth and keeping fresh legs on the court that will be to Duncan’s advantage.
“We can play nine girls in every game,” said McClung. “This is a very good group of girls to work with, especially for me being a first-year head coach here. We practice hard and condition hard and I think that’s going to pay off for this team.”
With only a few scrimmages to go, McClung hopes to have his team ready for a special season. The Lady Demons tip-off the regular season at 6 p.m. December 1 when they host Elgin.
