Sports
Indians face new area, but familiar foes
By Griffin Pritchard
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Chris Washington has set a simple goal for his Indians basketball team: win more than one area game this year.
Last year, Wetumpka won only one area game in an area that was comprised of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Sidney Lanier.
Things changed last summer and the Indians are now in a new region with rival Stanhope Elmore, Auburn and Benjamin Russell.
“We had six wins last year,” said Washington.
“We were winning the county tournament but blew our lead. We had one area win last year, the year before they had three. We’ve got to improve across the board.”
One of the areas that Washington ”in his second year as coach of the varsity basketball team ” see the need for improvement is on the defensive side of the ball.
“We are going to be more assertive on defense and pressure opposing offenses more than we have in the past,” said Washington.
The offensive game, howeve, took a hit when three-point specialist Obrien Murphy transferred to Jefferson Davis. Murphy averaged more than 15 points per game. To fill that void, Washington plans to lean on returning players Marvin Shuford, Talmedge George, Kejuan Riley and Ikeem Means.
“I look for them to step up in their senior years and become key role-players for us,” said Washington.
Means and Riley, however, are unavailable until the end of football season.
“Last year, we talked about how we wanted to run a high-octane offense and run up and down the floor,” said Washington. “This year, we are going to make our defense our offense. While we were trying to run the floor, we slacked off on our defense. We aren’t going to do that this year. Our defense is going to become our strength and we are going to use it to create turnovers.”
Washington also plans on having both the starters and the bench players earn game experience.
“We are carrying 10-12 guys on our roster and with the type of defense I want to play,” said Washington, “there is going to be a lot of rotation and substitutions.”
