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Boys basketball: The Wright stuff: Senior guard back to lead Lewisville
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
Last season, Lewisville's boys basketball team had aspirations of returning to the postseason for a third consecutive season only to see a series of events and injuries drastically alter the Farmers' prospects.
The results were a short-handed and inexperienced group that finished strong, but still missed out on the playoffs out of District 8-5A.
Now the Farmers continue to rebuild in their second season under head coach Gary Collier and will do so with a squad that returns four varsity players. Lewisville will compete in the new-look District 5-5A that features Coppell, Denton Ryan, Flower Mound, Hebron and Marcus.
One reason for optimism is what the Farmers lack in experience, they make up for in size.
"We're bigger and taller than we've been," Collier said. "We have a lot of size and that's what jumps out to me early."
The size starts with 6-foot-5 inch sophomore Anthony Davis, who already has one season of varsity competition under his belt.
"Anthony can do a lot of things on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor and is a player we're really counting on," Collier said. "And we're hoping, and are confident, he will continue to improve."
Additional size comes in the form of junior Kaelin Love and sophomore Caleb Loggins, as well as returning senior forward Myles Ward.
"[Love is] another big guy for us," Collier said. "But he is also a guy that can step out and make perimeter shots. He's going to be one of our better shooters."
Lewisville's primary scorer figures to be senior Jaden Wright, who returns following a season in which he garnered second team all-district honors.
"He's going to be one of our top options," Collier said. "We're expecting good things from him and also for him to be one of the leaders of the team."
While Wright brings varsity experience to the backcourt, the rest of the Farmers are new to varsity.
Sophomore Marquise Williams will contribute at point guard and be backed up by junior Dejon Green.
"Marquis has done a good job of transitioning and starting the offense," Collier said. "He can really push the floor and passes the ball well. His distribution is probably his strength and he is also coming on as a leader.
"Dejon does a little of the same thing but he can come in and be more of a defensive guard."
Also chipping in at guard is returning senior varsity player Gabe Smallwood.
With Wright and Smallwood back at off guard, Williams and Green contributing at point and an increase in overall height, Collier is optimistic about Lewisville's versatility.
"A lot of our guys are pretty skilled and can score," he said. "But they can also rebound and play defense. I think we're really going to have the ability to match up with different teams whether they are big or small.
"I also think we're pretty deep. We should be able to play 10 or 11 guys every game. We're as deep as we've been, we just need to get them more experienced. We have to get in the habit of being able to compete night in and night out. But that's where the early tournaments come in and can really help."
In addition to gaining experience, Lewisville is working on its patience.
"We can still get up and down and have the personnel to do that," Collier said. "We have a lot of guys we can substitute and I think it's going to help that the pressure isn't going to be on just one guy. We had some issues with that last year if guys got into foul trouble. But we have to do a much better job of being more selective as a team."
If the Farmers can do that, they could again compete for a playoff spot out of 5-5A.
Hebron (5-2) is the lone team from the district ranked in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches' state poll at No. 10. Outside of the Hawks, the Farmers will get a look at Denton Ryan in its first season in Class 5A, while Marcus, Flower Mound and Coppell each welcome first-year coaches. The Marauders, which won state titles in each of the past two seasons, also have a vastly different roster.
"It could be wide open," Collier said. "It's too early to call who is the favorite right now and I think everyone is in it. In a six-team district, each game is more important than they normally would be."
Thus far, Lewisville has gotten out to a 2-1 start entering this weekend's Fantasy of Lights Tournament in Wichita Falls (results not available as of press time).
The Farmers recorded wins Tuesday against South Garland, 70-61, and last Saturday against Fort Worth Dunbar, 83-78, in overtime. Lewisville's loss was against Duncanville, 65-41.
"I actually thought we played Duncanville pretty well in the first half," Collier said. "That game was a little closer than I think the score showed. And I thought we played well against Dunbar. We fought hard in regulation and we took control for the overtime. We made good decisions."
Against South Garland, Lewisville had four players in double figures, including Davis (19), Williams (14), Wright (13) and Ward (10). Davis also had a team-high 25 points against Dunbar, while Loggins scored 15, Love had 13 and Smallwood posted 11.
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