Tigers Basketball Optimistic About 2019 Campaign

The DeKalb County Tigers went through a rebuilding year of sorts in 2018, as they won six games, four of which were in district play.

The Tigers are optimistic about what they can achieve this year, as their seniors think what they’ve seen thus far could lead them further than where they went a year ago.

“I hope that we can go to regions or even Substate this year,” senior Dallas Cook said. “We have to continue to play like a family and continue to give everything we’ve got on the defensive side of the ball.”

That’s one thing that you’ll hear a lot from the Tigers. They are putting a heavy emphasis on defense and making sure that they focus and give that side of the court the same amount of effort as they do on offense.

“Defense is where you win games,” senior Dakota White said. “Offense wins the crowd, but defense wins championships. That’s really true, that’s what we strive off of here.”

White also says that everyone counting them out in the district is motivating them to go even harder on the court.

“We just want to prove everyone wrong,” White said. “Everyone has us really low (in the rankings), so we just want to prove everyone wrong.”

The way they’ve started this year’s journey included growing closer as a team, something that will have to keep improving if they want to surpass last year’s club.

“Last year was a lot ‘me’ ball, and this year, it’s more ‘we’ ball,” Cook said. “This year, we’ve got a healthy rotation, and everyone’s managed to stay healthy…we can knock down shots, but with as many good defensive players as we’ve got, we should be able to stop a lot of people from scoring.”