Central – The Daniel High School boys basketball team was good in the non-region portion of its schedule with a 10-6 record. It has been great in Region 1-AAA play, winning seven of its first eight games.
“We are excited about this year’s team’s progress thus far,” said Lions head coach Ben Touchberry. “With a tremendous stretch of quality teams played, we are starting to understand the importance of controlling the things we can control. Our defensive effort and intensity appear to be consistent. Although we have the ability to score, execution on the offensive end continues to be a strong focus for us.”
DHS has three players averaging in double figures in scoring. Five others are averaging between 7.7 and 5.2, respectively.
Senior Hayden Anderson is leading the way with an 11.5 per-game average. Juniors Simms Disbrow and Tristyn Carrington were averaging 10.8 and 10.1, respectively.
The other two starters are seniors Brady Jones and Ian Williams. Jones is averaging 7.7 points, while Williams is averaging 5.7 points and a team 6.8 rebounds.
The other four players in the rotation are senior Erik Lipsey (7.1 ppg), junior Noah Smith (2.7 ppg) and sophomore Will Swann (6.9 ppg) and sophomore Jackson Conley (5.2 ppg).
“We seem to be scoring the ball really well at times,” said Touchberry, whose team was averaging over 64 points a game. “This is predicated many times off of our high-intensity defense and getting out in transition and getting easier shots. We also have the ability to put a lineup in the game that can stretch the floor with shooters.”
Conley was averaging 1.3 blocked shots along with 4.3 rebounds, while Anderson was averaging 5.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. Disbrow was the assists leader at 3.3 followed by Jones at 3.2. Carrington was leading in steals at 2.1.
Touchberry said Daniel has to get better at taking care of the basketball and being smarter defensively as the postseason draws near.
“As we enter the playoffs we will have to be better at taking care of the ball and limiting live ball turnovers in a high-possession game,” he said. “In addition, we have to play smarter defensively when we get a lead or it is a close game. Sometimes we have a tendency to over-pressure when not needed.”
DANIEL GIRLS IN BATTLE FOR REGION TITLE
After a slow start to the season, the Daniel girls basketball team caught fire when it began region play as well
The Lady Lions, who were 12-9 overall, won seven of their first eight region contests.
Freshman Lila Mann was leading the team in scoring and assists with averages of 12.5 and 3.3, respectively. She was also averaging 3.6 rebounds.
Freshman Janivah Wilson was averaging 8.5 points, freshman Shala Williams was averaging 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds, and sophomore Braelin Cumbie was averaging 6.8 points. Another sophomore, Siena McIntyre, was leading the team in rebounding at 5.6 while scoring at a 6.0 clip.
Junior Ashlyn Land was averaging 6.1 points, while junior Colleen Dimalo was averaging 5.8 points and 4.2 rebounds. Eighth-grader Campbell Epting was averaging 4.8 points.
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