LOCKWOOD — The Lockwood girls basketball team appears to be turning a corner.
Even though the Lions don’t boast a single senior, they’ve garnered a ton of experience the last handful of years. But just when did head coach Rob Tedlund know things were starting to click?
“This summer we told them no excuses. Last year, not that we use excuses, but we were young. We're probably still the youngest team in the Eastern A, by far, but we're not going to use that as an excuse anymore," Lockwood head coach Rob Tedlund said. "We worked really hard this summer and told the girls no more excuses, whether we're young, small, doesn't matter. We have to go and compete with the big dogs."
The quick maturation of the Lions is noticeable. For instance, Lockwood rallied from 17-point first quarter deficit earlier this year against Laurel to eventually take the lead, something that likely wouldn’t have happened in the past.
“Last year it would have been, '19-2, we're not good enough to play with them.' This year we're still not there yet, but we have the ability to play with a lot of the teams in this conference," Tedlund said.
Another step in the growth of Lockwood happened early this season when star sophomore Tailey Harris missed time due to injury. That forced the other Lions to kick their game up a level.
“It was definitely a challenge since she's our starting point guard, but we adjusted well. It's obviously nice with her, but we try our best," said Dani Jordan.
“Learning how to play without her on the floor, our facilitator, and also knowing we don't need certain players on the floor to do certain things," Tedlund said. "She obviously makes everyone on the court better. She makes me look pretty dang good sometimes. But we've got to learn to play without her if she's in foul trouble or limping around or something with an ankle. You just never know. You've got to play without your best players sometimes."
The Lions are back in action on Thursday night at home against Shepherd.
