Boys

The boys’ basketball team is ready to have a successful season under the leadership of Coach Scott Chalk. Coach Chalk is hoping to bring even more improvement to the team which ended the season last year with a record of 17-13.

The varsity team has five returning seniors and a sophomore. It is led by seniors Kyle Clark, Vince Davis, Troy Black, Jordan Hurst and Donnie Lewis along with sophomore Darius Williams.

“We have a fairly inexperienced team but they are quick and coachable,” said Coach  Chalk.

Coach Chalk said the team’s main focus this season should be on defense in order to be successful. The team will have to work hard on some of the fundamentals.

“We are not a big team so we will have to play faster and be good at rebounding,” said Coach Chalk.

Although the team may be inexperienced, it also has its fair share of strengths. One of the main strengths is team chemistry. All five of the seniors have been playing at Dunbar since they were freshman so they know each other pretty well.

Coach Chalk said, “Our strengths are quickness and depth. We have some talented young players that will push the older guys for playing time.”

The upcoming season is one of new opportunity for the players.

“Only a couple of us played significant varsity minutes last season, so we’re a new team. We’re continuing a lot of what we did last year, but the team will have a different look,” said Clark.

Last year, the team won the district for the first time in 17 years, but ended up losing in double overtime to Henry Clay in the regional tournament.

“The loss gives us motivation in the sense that we want to do better and go further than last year’s team,” said Clark.

As for the team’s major goal this season, Chalk said, “Winning the district again is our top priority.”

The boys on Dunbar’s basketball team are hoping to have a season full of victories that will take them to district and they will definitely be a team to watch this year.

Girls

The Lady Bulldogs are prepared to perform their best this coming season. Third year coach, Mrs. Sara Bridenbaugh is happy and willing to lead the team further into the term. They have been doing their best so far and will to continue to do so.

“I am very excited about this group of young ladies as we look to win the district tournament this season,” said coach Bridenbaugh.

To fulfill this goal, she has planned out what she will be doing this season. She is aiming to keep record of how the girls perform and refer back to that throughout the season.

“Over the course of the season I will do my part in teaching the team the responsibilities to be successful on and off the court. We will reflect on both wins and losses to learn our mistakes and correct them for the future,” she said.

Not only is the coach super excited, but the girls are, too. When asked about what their vision for the season is, they all had positive outlooks.  Last season provided them with great experience which is sure to be beneficial for this year.

“I think our team has come together really well this summer and pre-season. So I think we are going to have a great season, with a lot of exciting games,” said junior Kari Lakes.

The girls are eager to have a great season and are efficiently preparing themselves for it. After winning a majority of the games last year (17 of 29), the team is confident in the results for this season as well. The girls have also been practicing since summer, getting themselves in shape. That will prove valuable for the first few games.

“We played 30 games over the summer, and we have practiced and conditioned since the end of last season. We want to be ahead of every other team so we’re getting as much experience and practice as we can get,” said junior Kristina Rosen.

The students at Dunbar could also be of great help for the girls. Cheering them on at games could make the season more exhilarating and fun.

“The student body can come support us at our games because it gets old having a total of 5 people in our student section. The games this year will be exciting and worth watching,” said Rosen.

With the positive outlook and encouragement from each other, this upcoming season has great potential. The coach and the girls are willing to achieve their set goals and are sure to perform accordingly. Paired with some cheering from the PLD students, the girls are sure to do great.