-
Maroon Devil Josiah Glaspie catches the pass and goes toward the basket at the away game vs. Smoky Mountain. Photo by Joanna McMahan/Swain Schools
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Last week the Swain High School basketball season kicked off with the teams traveling to Sylva to take on the Smoky Mountain Mustangs.
The Maroon Devils varsity team and the Mustangs battled it out in the first quarter of the game, with Smoky Mountain going into the 2nd quarter one point ahead of the Devils. Unfortunately, Swain just couldn’t keep up with the Mustangs in the 2nd quarter as they scored 15 to Smoky Mountain’s 26 points. The Mustangs pounded into halftime with a 12-point lead with 37-25.
After the half, Swain fought back but still fell short with 14 points to the Mustang’s 19. In the final quarter Swain outscored Smoky Mountain by two points but ultimately lost the game 74-59.
The team lost 11 graduating seniors from last season, but are working hard to fill those spots, as upperclassmen step up.
Head Coach Scotty McMahan said he is most looking forward to working with the new group of athletes.
“We have four guys back off of our entire team from last year. It’s hard to replace 11 seniors,” Coach McMahan said by email. “I think the thing we are looking forward to most is figuring out who we are and what our identity is going to be. We have a great group of young men who really work hard and try to get better every day.”
McMahan’s approach is not to try and replace seniors from last year but to work with new players to determine their specific strengths and skills.
“Our goal is not to fill or try to replace people that we lost from last year. Our goal is to figure out how to use the talent we have and create a plan that will make us successful,” Coach McMahan said. “Basketball is a long season and sometimes teams pick it up faster than others. We have the players we need to be successful. We have to figure out what works best for this group. I was told a long time ago it is not where you start but where you finish. If we can keep that mindset, then we will be just fine.”
Coach McMahan said that the team’s goal, just like every year, is to win a conference championship and to make a run at the state level.
The Maroon Devils JV team won 47-42 over Smoky Mountain.