Last season was a good one for the Marietta Lady Indians. They had a great record, won several tournaments, and made a good run in the playoffs, a success by anyone’s standards. But they lost several key senior players, three of them currently playing college basketball, so the team has some big positions to fill.
“We’ve got some young ones stepping up,” said Head Coach Tory Douglass. “We had a lot of girls who are good players, but they didn’t get much playing time last year. Now they’ve got more basketball underneath their belts. They have the ability to play, so the question is not CAN they do it, but WILL they do it. They have to believe it.”
The team will lean heavily on senior Reagan Denham, who plays guard and can bring the ball up and score. Junior Ashlyn Douglass, guard and forward, will see a lot of time.
Also Maddie Torres will be a key player. Torres, a sophomore is a team leader who played quite a bit last year and – according to Coach Douglass – will stay on the floor as long as she needs to, never asking questions and always giving it 100 percent.
So even though Coach Douglass lost a herd of seniors, he has another herd, mostly sophomores, coming up. The only thing he worries about is injuries. For instance Jolie Heydon, Laney Hicks, and Olivia Rutledge, who have talent and ability aplenty, have all been hurt and are recovering. Coach Douglass hopes to have them back and in good health for the beginning of the season.
Kaiya Douglass will also play a lot. She’s put in the time this summer and will be counted on to do some scoring for the Lady Indians.
“Our summer started off a little rough,” said Coach Douglass, “but several of our girls are stepping up and staring to score more. I’ve told them they have to because they don’t have anybody to lean on this year. They’re finally seeing what I’ve known all along and realizing that they can do it. If we can get some kids healthy and keep them that way, the team has a lot of promise. I think we’ll be better than alright.”
By next year, who knows.
This year’s eighth grade group is, in Coach’s words, “pretty good.” The group has some injuries, but he’s hoping to have them all ready to contribute when they hit high school.
The Lady Indians are a group that is on the go a lot. Many play basketball on traveling teams, some play softball, others are in the weight room.
“It’s great for me because they’re staying active and in shape, so I’m not having to get them in shape, I can just jump in and start coaching,” said Coach Douglass. “I’m trying to teach them the game of basketball, not just teach them plays.”
One thing that Coach Douglass is counting on, despite some inexperience, is mental and physical toughness.
“Our biggest hurdle this year is going to be that we lost some size,” Coach Douglass said, “but these girls are scrappy. The weight room this summer has been great for them. When we’ve gotten beat in scrimmages it has been because the team was just much better or bigger than us. We’ve not gotten tired or been outworked or out-hustled.”
Coach Douglass said that the weight training has helped in several ways, not just with endurance, but with power.
“Our girls are hitting shots from two or three steps behind the three-point line because their legs have gotten stronger, and they’re jumping higher, too,” he said. “It’s been really good for them. That’s on them for being dedicated and on Coach Doby for getting them going in the weight room.”
Despite the loss of a senior-heavy team, Coach Douglass is looking forward to the season, to seeing what his young team can do.
“It won’t be easy, but I believe they have what they need to win,” Coach Douglass said. “it’s just a matter of whether they believe it, too.”