The Danville girls’ basketball team is coming off a district championship season in which they went 20-6 and 10-2 in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, and while the team graduated a large group of seniors, six letter winners are coming back and look to lead the team on another title run.
“We have a great group of young ladies this season,” said coach Matt Proper, who is in his 10th year season as the head girls basketball coach. “Our lone senior, Jaylyn Workman, will have a big impact as a leader for us this year. Our junior class is very strong. Jaylyn Smith, Ella Proper, Kylee Hess, Broegan Staats and Grace Gronberg will all play pivotal roles for us this season. We are going to ask a lot of our sophomores this season, and we are looking forward to watching Addison Mickley, Ashley Smith and Heloisa Vasquez develop into filling these roles. Our lone freshman, Erin Crider, will also see time at the varsity level this season.”
Proper’s coaching philosophy has roots tied to his father, who was a longtime coach in basketball, football and track. He said his influences on him have led to his firm belief in teaching fundamentals and how important at all levels they are for player development and having success.
Proper said that the team shows great perimeter shooting and unselfish play, which are a couple major strengths along with the team’s basketball IQ. He said a concern heading into the season is learning new roles to play as the team graduated an excellent senior class last spring.
“Our team has a high basketball IQ, so our offense relies on read-and-react principles,” Proper said. “This offense takes a lot of time to develop, but our team has also played a lot of basketball together. This offense allows us some versatility in our game planning, and we can customize our offense to our team's strengths each season.”
Proper said that on defense, the Lady Blue Devils will rely on their high court IQ and discipline. He said the team is “super hard working” and “great anticipators.”
“We like to apply a lot of pressure in the backcourt through different looks but are primarily a man-to-man defensive team,” Proper said.
In the past nine seasons, the Blue Devils have won nine sectional championships, played in seven district championship title games and have won three district titles. Proper said he has high expectations every year for the team, and this year is no different in that regard.
“Our players have a lot of work to do, but we fully expect to be highly competitive in the KMAC and the Central District this season,” Proper said.
The Blue Devils begin KMAC play Dec.3 vs. Centerburg.
