Story by Rusty Ellis
Heading into last season, the Dekalb County Tigers were faced with replacing nine total seniors from the previous two seasons.
While it didn’t equate to a deep run in the postseason, there were players that emerged as key contributors that head coach Danny Fish will be relying on this season.
“We had a lot of new faces, and had a lot of new opportunities for kids to get playing time,” Fish said. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to build off of that this year. We got bounced in the first round of the district tournament against Smith County which was kind of a wake-up call…we still had a pretty good year with bright spots.”
Some of those bright spots included the play of Kadee Ferrell, the emergence of then-freshman Ella VanVranken, who was named the District 8AA Freshman of the Year, and the mid-season play of Madison Martin.
“Kadee Ferrell did what Kadee Ferrell does,” Fish said. “Ella VanVranken came on as a Freshman and she’s returning…I like to think that we’re going to be pretty competitive this year like we normally are.”
The tough district for DeKalb is nothing new for Fish, as he’s used to having to coach against some of the state’s best teams and coaches.
“I’ve looked across all the districts in 3A in the state, and by far this is the most competitive district,” Fish said. “Six out of our seven teams won 20 games last year. All seven teams have been to (the State Tournament) pretty recently…it’s going to be a dog-fight every single night.”
With that in mind, there doesn’t appear to be a feeling that there’s a clear-cut favorite, meaning that any team could make a deep run if they play well on the right night.
“If you don’t play well, you’re going to lose,” Fish said. “It’s hard to play at all of those places. We’re returning three of our five starters…I think everyone feels like it’s wide open, and everyone is working to get better. Everybody’s thinking the same thing, there are no gimmes.”
For Ferrell and VanVraken, Fish said he’s seen significant improvement in both of their games over the summer.
“I’ve really seen (Ferrell’s) leadership grow,” Fish said. “Last year was a building year for those leadership skills. I’ve seen her pull people aside and help them, and they respond to her…this will be a crucial year for (Ella). Everyone’s surprised by a freshman, nobody is surprised by a sophomore. During the summer, she shot the ball at a high volume and rate.”
Add in Martin, along with some other returning faces, as the ones who will help put together the supporting cast.
“I look for Madison Martin to have another good year,” Fish said. “She learned a lot last year, so I expect her to up her play…Xharia Lyons came off our bench last year, and towards the end of the year, she picked up some steam. We’ve got a couple young players in freshmen Dare Collins and Avery Agee, who played quite well in the summer.”
For Fish, his first goal this year is to get back to region tournament, but they don’t stop there.
“We talk about it every year and we set our goals with winning the district,” Fish said. “Getting into the region says you had a good year. Once you get into the region, you can play your way further. It’s one game and move on…it doesn’t matter if you’re the one seed or the four seed if you still make it to Murfreesboro.”
The Lady Tigers begin their season on Tuesday, as they hit the road to take on White House.